{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p><span class=\"smcap\">Chap. xlix.</span>—59. Do not therefore any longer say, \"The\r\nconscience of one that gives in holiness is what we look for\r\nto cleanse the conscience of the recipient,\" lest you be asked,\r\nWhen a stain on the conscience of the giver is concealed, who\r\ncleanses the conscience of the recipient? And when you<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_462\">[Pg 462]</a></span>\r\nshall have answered, Either God or an angel (since there is\r\nno other answer which you possibly can make), then should\r\nfollow a consequence whereby you would be confounded:\r\nThose then are justified with greater holiness who are baptized\r\nby undetected evil men, so as to be cleansed by God or by an\r\nangel, than those who are baptized by men who are genuinely\r\nand manifestly good, who cannot be compared with God or with\r\nthe angels. But prevail upon yourselves to say what is said\r\nby Truth and by the Catholic Church, that not only when the\r\nminister of baptism is evil, but also when he is holy and good,\r\nhope is still not to be placed in man, but in Him that justifieth\r\nthe ungodly, in whom if any man believe, his faith is\r\ncounted for righteousness.<a id=\"FNanchor_1131_1131\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_1131_1131\">[1131]</a> For when we say, Christ baptizes,\r\nwe do not mean by a visible ministry, as Petilianus believes,\r\nor would have men think that he believes, to be our meaning,\r\nbut by a hidden grace, by a hidden power in the Holy Spirit,\r\nas it is said of Him by John the Baptist, \"The same is He\r\nwhich baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.\"<a id=\"FNanchor_1132_1132\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_1132_1132\">[1132]</a> Nor has He, as\r\nPetilianus says, now ceased to baptize; but He still does it,\r\nnot by any ministry of the body, but by the invisible working\r\nof His majesty. For in that we say, He Himself baptizes, we\r\ndo not mean, He Himself holds and dips in the water the\r\nbodies of the believers; but He Himself invisibly cleanses,\r\nand that He does to the whole Church without exception.\r\nNor, indeed, may we refuse to believe the words of the Apostle\r\nPaul, who says concerning Him, \"Husbands, love your wives,\r\neven as Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it,\r\nthat He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of\r\nwater by the word.\"<a id=\"FNanchor_1133_1133\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_1133_1133\">[1133]</a> Here you see that Christ sanctifies;\r\nhere you see that Christ also Himself washes, Himself\r\npurifies with the self-same washing of water by the word,\r\nwherein the ministers are seen to do their work in the\r\nbody. Let no one, therefore, claim unto himself what is\r\nof God. The hope of men is only sure when it is fixed on\r\nHim who cannot deceive, since \"Cursed be the man that\r\ntrusteth in man,\"<a id=\"FNanchor_1134_1134\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_1134_1134\">[1134]</a> and \"Blessed is that man that maketh the\r\nLord His trust.\"<a id=\"FNanchor_1135_1135\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_1135_1135\">[1135]</a> For the faithful steward shall receive as<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_463\">[Pg 463]</a></span>\r\nhis reward eternal life; but the unfaithful steward, when he\r\ndispenses his lord's provisions to his fellow-servants, must in\r\nno wise be conceived to make the provisions useless by his\r\nown unfaithfulness. For the Lord says, \"Whatsoever they\r\nbid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after\r\ntheir works.\"<a id=\"FNanchor_1136_1136\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_1136_1136\">[1136]</a> And this is therefore the injunction that is\r\ngiven us against evil stewards, that the good things of God\r\nshould be received at their hands, but that we should beware\r\nof their own evil life, by reason of its unlikeness to what they\r\nthus dispense.</p>","headings":["WRITINGS IN CONNECTION WITH THE DONATIST CONTROVERSY.","BOOK THIRD."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg45843-paragraph-738"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"6f2f97c795b6c75935a265321d5884a0c1bb85a8146cefeeebd8e6201b778aba","edition_title":"Writings in Connection with the Donatist Controversy","edition_translators":["John Richard King"],"edition_year":1872,"explicit_reference_candidates":[{"book":"ROM","chapter":4,"kind":"unreviewed","source_notation":"Rom. iv. 5","verse":5,"verse_end":5}],"headings":[],"id":"pg45843-Footnote_1131_1131","license_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html","public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"original-editor-translator-note","review_required":["work and recension attribution","original-work chronology","Bible reference numbering and citation kind","English edition rights and attribution"],"review_status":"needs_review","rights_evidence":"Provider catalog reports public domain in the USA. Title leaves identify J. R. King, T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1872; catalog identifies translator John Richard King (1835-1907). Gutenberg credits Internet Archive/American Libraries without an exact scan identifier. Full provider license preserved with acquired original; republication and per-work metadata remain unreviewed.","source_anchor":"Footnote_1131_1131","source_ebook":45843,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_1131_1131\"></a><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#FNanchor_1131_1131\"><span class=\"label\">[1131]</span></a> Rom. iv. 5.</p></div>","source_sha256":"a7a04003f4d3c49eb73db6c5936713979fcecadd86884373a9914ac54373ac5b","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/45843/pg45843-images.html#Footnote_1131_1131","text_sha256":"23327fc7b13166d80e054cff1fd4a0d81abf0611da71cfdba77507ecd42b3588","verified":false,"work_id":null}