§1Felix sacramentum aquae nostrae, quia ablutis delictis pristinae caecitatis in uitam aeternam liberamur! non erit otiosum digestum istud, instruens tam eos qui cum maxime formantur, quam et illos qui simpliciter credidisse contenti non exploratis rationibus traditionum intemptatam probabilem fidem per imperitiam portant.
Happy is the sacrament of our water, because, our sins of pristine blindness having been washed away, we are set free unto eternal life! This treatise will not be idle, instructing both those who are at this very moment being formed, and also those who, content with having simply believed, carry a faith that is unexamined though probable, out of ignorance, not having explored the reasons for the traditions.
atque adeo nuper conuersata istic quaedam de Gaiana haeresi uipera uenenatissima doctrina\' sua plerosque rapuit, inprimis baptismum destruens.
And indeed, recently there spent her time here a certain most venomous viper of the Gaian heresy, who carried away many by her doctrine, especially destroying baptism.
plane secundum naturam. nam fere uiperae et aspides ipsique reguli serpentes arida et inaquosa sectantur.
Plainly, this was according to her nature; for indeed, vipers and asps and the basilisks themselves seek dry and waterless places.
sed nos pisciculi secundum iXeūv nostrum Iesum Christum in aqua nascimur nec aliter quam in aqua permanendo salui sumus.
But we, little fishes, according to our "Fish" Jesus Christ, are born in water, nor are we safe in any other way than by remaining in water.
itaque illa monstrosissima, cui nec integrae quidem docendi ius erat, optime norat pisciculos necare de aqua auferens.
Therefore, that most monstrous woman, who did not even have the right to teach soundly, knew best how to kill the little fishes by taking them away from the water.
§2Sed enim quanta uis est peruersitatis ad fidem labefactandam uel in totum non recipiendam, ut ex his eam impugnet, ex quibus constat! nihil adeo est quod tam obduret mentes hominum quam simplicitas diuinorum operum quae in actu uidetur et magnificentia quae in effectu repromittitur: ut hic quoque, quoniam tanta simplicitate, sine pompa, sine apparatu nouo aliquo, denique sine sumptu homo in aquam demissus et inter pauca uerba tinctus non multo uel nihilo mundior resurgit, eo incredibilis existimetur consecutio aeternitatis.
But indeed, how great is the power of perversity for undermining faith, or for not receiving it at all, so that it attacks faith from those very elements out of which it is established! There is nothing that so hardens the minds of men as the simplicity of the divine works which are seen in action, and the magnificence which is promised in the effect: so that here also, because with such great simplicity, without pomp, without any novel preparation, and finally without cost, a man is let down into the water and, while a few words are spoken, is baptized, and rises again not much or not at all cleaner, for that reason the attainment of eternity is deemed incredible.
mentior, si non e contrario idolorum sollemnia uel arcana de suggestu et apparatu deque sumptu fidem et auctoritatem sibi extruunt.
I lie, if on the contrary the solemnities or mysteries of idols do not build up faith and authority for themselves from their staging, preparation, and expense.
pro misera incredulitas, quae denegas deo proprietates suas, simplicitatem et potestatem! quid ergo? nonne mirandum et lauacro dilui mortem? atquin eo magis credendum, si, quia mirandum est, idcirco non creditur.
Oh, wretched unbelief, which denies to God His own attributes, simplicity and power! What then? Is it not to be wondered at that death is washed away by a bath? Indeed, it is all the more to be believed, if, because it is to be wondered at, it is therefore not believed.
qualia enim decet esse opera diuina, nisi super omnem admirationem? nos quoque ipsi miramur, sed quia credimus.
For what kind of works befit God, if not those which are above all admiration?
ceterum incredulitas miratur, non credit.
We also ourselves wonder, but because we believe; whereas unbelief wonders, but does not believe.
miratur enim simplicia quasi uana, magnifica quasi impossibilia.
For it wonders at simple things as if they were vain, and at magnificent things as if they were impossible.
et sit plane ut putas, satis ad utrumque diuina pronuntiatio praecucurrit. stulta mundi elegit deus, ut confundat sapientiam eius, et praedifficilia penes homines facilia penes deum. nam si deus et sapiens et potens, quod etiam praetereuntes eum non negant, merito in aduersariis sapientiae potentiaeque id est in stultitia- \'titia et inpossibilitate materias operationis suae instituit; quoniam uirtus omnis ex his causam accipit, a quibus prouocatur.
And let it be plainly as you think, yet the divine pronouncement has sufficiently run ahead to meet both: "God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound its wisdom," and "things very difficult with men are easy with God." For if God is both wise and powerful (which even those who pass Him by do not deny), He has deservedly established the materials of His operation in the opposites of wisdom and power—that is, in foolishness and impossibility; since all power receives its cause from those things by which it is provoked.
§3Huius memores pronuntiationis tamquam praescriptionis, nihilominus quam stultum et impossibile sit aqua reformari tractamus.
Mindful of this pronouncement as if it were a prescription, we nevertheless discuss how foolish and impossible it is to be reformed by water.
quid utique ista materia tantae dignationis meruerit officium? ut opinor, auctoritas liquidi elementi exigenda est.
Indeed, what service has this material deserved of so great a dignity? In my opinion, the authority of the liquid element must be examined.
atquin plurima suppetit et quidem a primordio.
And indeed, a great deal is available, and that from the very beginning.
nam unum ex his est quae ante omnem mundi suggestum impolita adhuc specie penes deum quiescebant.
For it is one of those things which, before any arrangement of the world, rested with God in an as yet unpolished form.
in primordio, inquit, fecit deus caelum et terram.
"In the beginning," it says, "God made heaven and earth.
terra autem erat inuisibilis et incomposita et tenebrae erant super abyssum et spiritus domini super aquas ferebatur. habes homo inprimis aetatem uenerari aquarum, quod antiqua substantia; dehinc dignationem, quod diuini spiritus sedes, gratior.
But the earth was invisible and unformed, and darkness was over the abyss, and the Spirit of the Lord was hovering over the waters." You have, O man, first of all, to venerate the age of the waters, because it is an ancient substance; then its dignity, because it was the seat of the divine Spirit, more pleasing, of course, than the other elements of that time.
scilicet ceteris tunc elementis. nam et tenebrae totae adhuc -sine cultu siderum informes et tristis abyssus et terra inparata et caelum rude; solus liquor, semper materia perfecta, laeta, simplex, de suo pura, dignum uectaculum deo subiciebat.
For even the darkness was still entirely unformed without the beauty of the stars, the abyss was gloomy, the earth unprepared, and the heaven rude; the liquid alone, always a perfect, joyful, simple, and self-pure material, supplied a worthy vehicle for God.
quid quod exinde dispositio mundi modulatricibus quodammodo aquis deo constitit? nam ut firmamentum caeleste suspenderet in medietate, distinctis aquis fecit; ut terram aridam suspenderet, segregatis aquis expediit.
What of the fact that from then on the disposition of the world was established by God by means of waters that were, so to speak, regulating? For in order to suspend the celestial firmament in the midst, He did so by dividing the waters; and to suspend the dry land, He accomplished it by separating the waters.
ordinato dehinc per elementa mundo cum incolae darentur, primis aquis praeceptum est animas proferre.
Next, when the world was ordered through the elements and inhabitants were given to it, the waters were commanded first to bring forth living creatures.
primus liquor quod uiueret edidit, ne mirum sit in baptismo, si aquae animare nouerunt.
The liquid first produced that which had life, so that it should not be a wonder in baptism if waters know how to give life.
non enim ipsius quoque hominis figurandi opus sociantibus aquis absolutum est? de terra materia conuenit, non tamen habili nisi humecta et sucida, quam scilicet ante quartum diem segregatae aquae in stationem suam superstite humore limo temperarant.
For was not the work of shaping man himself also completed with the waters cooperating? It is agreed that the material was earth, yet not suitable unless wet and juicy, which of course the separated waters, before the fourth day, had tempered into clay with the remaining moisture in their station.
si exinde uniuersa uel plura prosequar, quae de elementi istius auctoritate commemorem, quanta uis eius aut gratia, quot ingenia, quot officia, quantum instrumentum mundo ferat, uereor, ne laudes aquae potius quam baptismi rationes uidear congregasse: licet eo plenius docerem non esse dubitandum, si materiam, quam in omnibus rebus et operibus suis deus disposuit, etiam in sacramentis propriis parere fecit, si quae uitam terrenam gubernat, et in caelesti procurat.
If after this I were to pursue all or many of the things which I might commemorate concerning the authority of this element—how great is its power or grace, how many devices, how many offices, how great an instrument it brings to the world—I fear lest I should seem to have gathered praises of water rather than reasons for baptism. Although I might thereby teach all the more fully that we must not doubt, if the material which God disposed in all His things and works, He has also made to serve in His own sacraments; if that which governs earthly life also provides for the heavenly.