The Divine Lamp

Section 7:

The bath of Baptism we may not receive twice or thrice; else, it might be said, “Though I fail once, I shall go right next time;” whereas if thou failest once, there is no setting things right, for there is One Lord, One Faith, and One Baptism (see Eph 4:1-6). None but heretics are re-baptized, since their former baptism was not baptism.

Notes:

This section continues the major theme of this lecture, which as I noted in my notes on section 1 is found in the words of Cyril: “He (God) looks for each man’s honest resolve…Honesty of purpose makes thee called: for though the body be here, yet if the mind be away, it avails nothing.” A man who acts in a good (but not right) conscience and receives baptism in a heretical sect is in a far better position than a man who in evil conscience receives baptism into the true Church. The former is a victim of error, the latter is a perpetrator of sacrilege.

St Cyril appeals to Eph 4:5 in the above quote, but I referenced the broader context. By accepting Baptism, Christians are responding to God’s gracious call to a new life; therefore, their response must be genuine, not feigned. For this reason St Paul begins his moral exhortation in Ephesians 4:1-6:20 with these words: “…live a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called” (RSV). As St Cyril warned in the previous section (#6) “But beware lest with the name of believer thou have the purpose of an unbeliever.”

Section 8:

For God seeks nothing else from us, save a good purpose. Say not, “How are my sins blotted out?” I answer thee, from willing, from believing; what is shorter than this? ut if thy lips declare thy willing, but thy heart is silent, He (God) knows the heart who judgeth thee. Cease then henceforth from every wicked thing: refrain thy tongue from light words, thine eye from sin, thy mind from roving after useless matters.

Notes:

Refrain thy tongue…thine eye…thy mind Concerning sins of the tongue see James 3:1-12; Matt 5:22, 33-37. And consider this exhortation of Origen’s “Let us therefore take away abominations out of the mouth, removing slanders, words vain, idle, and about to bring accusation against us in the Day of Judgment.” -Homily #5 on Jeremiah

Concerning sins of the eye see Matt 5:27-30; 6:22-23. Concerning sins of the mind see Eph 4:17-19; Romans 1:18-23.