426 A TREATISE ON RE-BAPTISM. deserthiscamp, and in the very differentcamp of the enemy shouldwish to take an oath of a far otherkind,itis plain thatin thisway he isdischargedfrom hisold oath. 17. Moreover, if a man of thissortshould again return to thee,thou wilt assuredlyhesitatewhether he may have baptism or no ; and yet itwillbehove thee,in whatever way thou canst,to aid even thisman if he repent. For of this adulterous,yea, murderous baptism, if there is any other author,it is then certainlya book devisedby these same hereticson behalfof thissame error,which isinscribedThe Preaching of Paul? in which book, contraryto all Scrip tures,thou wilt find both Christ confessingHis own sin— although He alonedid no sinat all— and almost compelled by His mother Mary unwillinglyto receiveJohn's baptism. Also,that when He was baptized,firewas seen to be upon the water,which is writtenin neitherof the Gospels ; and that aftersuch long time, Peter and Paul, after the col lationof the Gospel in Jerusalem, and the mutual con siderationand altercationand arrangement of things to be done finally,were known to one another as if then for the firsttime ; and certainother things devised of this kind disgracefullyand absurdly;— allwhich thingsthou wilt find gathered togetherinto that book. But they who are not ignorantof the nature of the Holy Spirit,understand that what is said of fireis said of the SpiritHimself. For in the Acts of the Apostles,accordingto that same promise of our Lord, on the very day of Pentecost,when the Holy Spirithad descended upon the disciples,that they might be baptized in Him, there were seen sittingupon each one tongues as if of fire,that it might be manifestthat they were baptizedwith the Holy Ghost and with fire— that is, with that Spiritwhich was, whether fire,or as fire,such as was the firewhich burned in the bush, and did not consume the bush ; and such as isthat firewhich isthe Spiritof the 1 RigaltiussaysthatJeromementionsthisdocument,andregardsit asapocryphal.And EuscbiusreferstotheTltploioiUirpcv,which,ac cordingtothecommon readingofPeterforPaulinthetext,may point tothesamedocument.