Rebaptism in the early church · Sophia Scriptura

Whether those baptized by heretics or schismatics must be baptized again. Part of Baptism.

On Baptism 15Tertullian · ca. 198–206 · There is only one baptism, given once; heretics, who do not share the same God and Christ, do not have true baptism.
Refutation of All Heresies 9.12.26Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 222–235 · Under Callistus a second baptism was introduced, and his community, which admitted all to communion, took the name Callistians.
Commentary on John 6.168Origen · ca. 230–248 · John's baptism was inferior to Jesus' baptism, since those baptized by John were baptized again by Paul in Acts.
Letter 69.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Answering Magnus, Cyprian holds that Novatian, like all heretics and schismatics, is outside the church and among the antichrists, so his baptism is no baptism.
Letter 69.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The church is one, a sealed fountain and the one ark of Noah; no one outside it can drink of its water or be saved by its baptism.
Letter 69.8Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Korah, Dathan, and Abiram worshiped the same God yet were destroyed for usurping the priesthood; schismatics who seize the right to baptize and offer are worse.
Letter 70.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · A council of thirty-one African bishops tells eighteen Numidian bishops that no one can be baptized outside the church, since an unclean minister cannot sanctify the water.
Letter 71.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Writing to Quintus in Mauretania, Cyprian insists that converts from heresy are not rebaptized but baptized for the first time, since outside the church there is no baptism.
Letter 71.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Returning lapsed members baptized in the church are received by the laying on of hands in penance; those first baptized by heretics must be baptized.
Letter 72.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The council informs Stephen of Rome that converts from heresy must be baptized, not merely receive the laying on of hands, as Peter baptized Cornelius's household after the Spirit fell.
Letter 73.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian tells Jubaianus that a council of seventy-one bishops has again decided that converts from heresy are to be baptized, not rebaptized.
Letter 73.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · That Novatian's followers rebaptize Catholics is no reason for the church to give up baptizing converts; he merely apes the church.
Letter 73.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Rebaptism of converts has been the African practice since the council under Agrippinus, and thousands of converts have gladly accepted it.
Letter 73.25Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · If John's disciples were baptized again, much more heretics'; to accept heretical baptism because it came first is to surrender the church's right, as Esau lost his birthright.
Letter 74.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian sends Pompeius a copy of Stephen of Rome's reply, which forbade rebaptism and required only the laying on of hands in penance.
Letter 74.12Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Converts from heresy are baptized; those baptized in the church who lapsed into heresy are received back after penance by the laying on of hands.
Letter 75.8Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Since Paul baptized John's disciples again before laying hands on them, converts from heresy must surely be baptized.
Letter 75.19Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Custom cannot outweigh truth; the Cappadocian churches have always rejected baptism outside the church, as the council of Iconium confirmed even for the Montanists.
Letter 75.21Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Those already admitted without baptism who have died are like catechumens who died before baptism; the living should be baptized, lest they receive the Eucharist unworthily.
Letter 75.25Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Firmilian mocks Stephen's “gentleness” in refusing even hospitality to the African envoys, argues that one baptism requires one God, faith, and church, and reports that Stephen called Cyprian a false apostle.
Letter 2Anonymous · uncertain · A spurious letter rebukes Cyprian for teaching that those baptized by heretics must be rebaptized, and urges him to withdraw his writings.
On Rebaptism 1Anonymous · ca. 250–258 (disputed) · The anonymous writer states the question whether converts baptized by heretics in Christ's name need only the bishop's laying on of hands or must be baptized again, and defends the ancient custom against the innovators.
On Rebaptism 6Anonymous · ca. 250–258 (disputed) · The apostles, baptized yet later failing, received forgiveness through the Spirit at Pentecost; so a baptism in Jesus' name received in error is completed, not repeated, when the convert receives the Spirit through the bishop's hand.
On Rebaptism 10Anonymous · ca. 250–258 (disputed) · Baptisms given by unworthy or unskilled bishops are not repeated; baptism given outside the church is completed by the bishop's laying on of hands for the Spirit, since there is one baptism and the invocation of Jesus' name cannot be undone.
On Rebaptism 12Anonymous · ca. 250–258 (disputed) · The invocation of Jesus' name calls those who bear it to seek the Lord; heretics baptized in that name need only the Spirit, but those who follow another Christ are lost, while anyone who confesses the true Christ under persecution is saved whatever his former state.
On Rebaptism 14Anonymous · ca. 250–258 (disputed) · Baptism in water and baptism in one's own blood are two kinds of the one baptism, both flowing from Christ's pierced side, and either can suffice; but two baptisms of water would break the rule of one baptism.
On Rebaptism 19Anonymous · ca. 250–258 (disputed) · The writer sums up his argument from John the Baptist, 1 John, and the Lord's words, and commends the ancient custom to God-fearing and humble people.
Opinions of the Bishops 0Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · At the council of Carthage in 256 Cyprian asks each bishop to give his opinion on baptizing heretics, insisting that no bishop may judge or coerce another.
Opinions of the Bishops 1Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Caecilius of Biltha holds that there is one baptism, in the church alone, and that heretics, who have neither true faith nor hope, cannot give it.
Opinions of the Bishops 2Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Primus of Misgirpa holds that since God, faith, and church are one, the one baptism exists only in the church.
Opinions of the Bishops 3Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Polycarp of Hadrumetum says that to approve heretical baptism empties the church's own.
Opinions of the Bishops 4Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Novatus of Thamugadi has baptized converts from heresy and schism, and received their clergy as laymen, following the Scriptures and an earlier council.
Opinions of the Bishops 5Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Nemesianus of Thubunae argues from many Scriptures that heretics must be born again of water and the Spirit in the one catholic church, since both sacraments, and not the laying on of hands alone, are needed.
Opinions of the Bishops 6Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Januarius of Lambaesis decrees on the authority of Scripture that all heretics be baptized.
Opinions of the Bishops 7Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Lucius of Castra Galbae argues that heretics, as salt that has lost its savor, lack the full baptismal confession and must be cleansed and baptized.
Opinions of the Bishops 8Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Crescens of Cirta judges that heretics must be exorcized and baptized, while lapsed members who had been baptized in the church are reconciled by the laying on of hands.
Opinions of the Bishops 9Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Nicomedes of Segermes holds that heretics must be baptized because no remission of sins is found outside the church.
Opinions of the Bishops 10Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Monnulus of Girba argues that since baptism is in the name of the Trinity and heretics have neither Father, Son, nor Spirit, they must be baptized in the church.
Opinions of the Bishops 11Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Secundinus of Cedias argues that heretics, being antichrists and Christ's enemies, cannot give saving baptism.
Opinions of the Bishops 12Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Felix of Bagai says that a heretic baptizing a heretic is the blind leading the blind into death.
Opinions of the Bishops 13Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Pollianus of Milevis votes to baptize heretics in the church.
Opinions of the Bishops 14Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Theogenes of Hippo Regius affirms the one baptism of the church.
Opinions of the Bishops 15Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Dativus of Vada will not hold communion with a heretic until he is baptized in the church.
Opinions of the Bishops 16Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Successus argues that heretics, who cannot give the Spirit because they lack it, cannot baptize either.
Opinions of the Bishops 17Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Fortunatus of Thuccabori holds that Christ built the church on Peter and gave the power to baptize to bishops, not heretics.
Opinions of the Bishops 18Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Sedatus of Thuburbo teaches that water sanctified in the church washes away sins, while heretical water heaps them up.
Opinions of the Bishops 19Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Privatianus of Sufetula asks how heresy, which is not from God, could have or give God's grace.
Opinions of the Bishops 20Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Privatus of Sufes says approving heretical baptism means communion with heretics.
Opinions of the Bishops 21Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Hortensianus of Lares claims the one baptism for the church alone, since Christ's adversaries cannot baptize in his name.
Opinions of the Bishops 22Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Cassius of Macomades holds that heretics must be baptized, while former church members who lapsed into heresy are restored by the laying on of hands.
Opinions of the Bishops 23Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Januarius of Vicus Caesaris says that truth cannot consent to error, and so the church baptizes all it has not already baptized.
Opinions of the Bishops 24Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Secundinus of Carpi argues that heretics, not being Christians, must become Christians by baptism and not merely by the laying on of hands.
Opinions of the Bishops 25Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Victoricus of Thabraca asks why heretics should be called heretics if they can give remission of sins.
Opinions of the Bishops 26Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Felix of Uthina asks all the bishops to confirm that heretics coming to the church must be baptized.
Opinions of the Bishops 27Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Quietus of Buruc applies the saying about washing after touching the dead to baptism by heretics.
Opinions of the Bishops 29Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Eucratius of Thenae holds that heretical baptism, which blasphemes the Trinity, must be rejected and heretics baptized in the church.
Opinions of the Bishops 31Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Leucius of Theveste judges that heretics who twist the Scriptures must be exorcized and baptized.
Opinions of the Bishops 32Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Eugenius of Ammaedara votes to baptize heretics.
Opinions of the Bishops 33Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Felix of Bamaccora holds that the church's fountain belongs to it alone, so that neither heretics nor schismatics can give or receive baptism.
Opinions of the Bishops 34Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Januarius of Muzula argues that one baptism cannot belong both to the church and to heresy.
Opinions of the Bishops 35Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Adelphius of Thasvalte denies that the church rebaptizes heretics: it baptizes them for the first time.
Opinions of the Bishops 36Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Demetrius of Leptis Minor says that those who accept heretical baptism make as many baptisms as there are heresies.
Opinions of the Bishops 37Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Vincentius of Thibaris holds that converts from heresy must first be exorcized with the laying on of hands and then baptized.
Opinions of the Bishops 39Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Sattius of Sicilibba argues that if heretical baptism forgave sins, heretics would have no need of the church.
Opinions of the Bishops 40Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Victor of Gorduba says that admitting heretics without baptism fails to cleanse them and defiles Christians.
Opinions of the Bishops 41Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Aurelius of Utica argues from Paul that communion with unbaptized heretics shares in their sins.
Opinions of the Bishops 42Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Iambus of Germaniciana says that approving heretical baptism means disapproving the church's own.
Opinions of the Bishops 43Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Lucianus of Rucuma argues that as God divided light from darkness, the church can have nothing in common with heretics.
Opinions of the Bishops 44Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Pelagianus of Luperciana argues from Elijah's challenge that heresy is not the church and cannot have its baptism.
Opinions of the Bishops 45Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Iader of Midili votes to admit no heretic without the church's baptism.
Opinions of the Bishops 46Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Felix of Marazana says the one baptism belongs to the catholic church alone.
Opinions of the Bishops 47Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Paul of Obba argues from Romans that where God is not, as among heretics, true baptism cannot be.
Opinions of the Bishops 48Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Pomponius of Dionysiana says that heretics lack the power to bind and loose, and so cannot forgive sins in baptism.
Opinions of the Bishops 49Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Venantius of Thinisa compares the bishops to a friend entrusted with a traveling husband's wife: sharing baptism with heretics betrays Christ's bride.
Opinions of the Bishops 50Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Ahymmus of Ausuaga says that allowing heretics to baptize makes two baptisms.
Opinions of the Bishops 51Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Saturninus of Victoriana asks why Christ and John would call heretics adversaries and antichrists if they could baptize.
Opinions of the Bishops 52Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Saturninus of Thucca says that even pagans confess the Creator whom Marcion blasphemes, yet some approve Marcion's baptism.
Opinions of the Bishops 53Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Marcellus of Zama says that not baptizing a heretic means communion with a sinner.
Opinions of the Bishops 54Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Irenaeus of Ululi says that accepting heretical baptism makes heresy greater than the church.
Opinions of the Bishops 55Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Donatus of Cibaliana says that whoever claims baptism among heretics must first prove the church is there.
Opinions of the Bishops 57Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Julian of Telepte says heresy can give baptism only if it comes from heaven.
Opinions of the Bishops 58Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Faustus of Timida Regia says that defending heretical baptism makes heretics Christians and the church heretical.
Opinions of the Bishops 59Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Geminius of Furni holds to the earlier decree to baptize heretics.
Opinions of the Bishops 60Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Rogatianus of Nova asks how the synagogue of Satan could have Christ's baptism.
Opinions of the Bishops 61Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Therapius of Bulla calls anyone who concedes baptism to heretics a Judas to Christ's bride.
Opinions of the Bishops 62Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Lucius of Membressa argues that God does not hear a sinner, and so not a heretic who baptizes.
Opinions of the Bishops 64Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Saturninus of Avitinae says heretics, being antichrists, cannot give Christ's grace.
Opinions of the Bishops 65Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Quintus of Aggya says heretics, having nothing, can give nothing.
Opinions of the Bishops 66Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Julian of Marcelliana compares baptism to the servant who cannot serve two masters.
Opinions of the Bishops 67Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Tenax of Horrea Caeliae asks how baptism can exist where God, Christ, and the church are absent.
Opinions of the Bishops 68Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Victor of Assuras says that where there is no church there can be no baptism.
Opinions of the Bishops 69Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Donatulus of Capsa has always held that converted heretics must be baptized.
Opinions of the Bishops 70Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Verulus of Rusicade says heretics cannot give what they lack, and schismatics have lost what they had.
Opinions of the Bishops 71Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Pudentianus of Cuicul, a new bishop, follows his elders in judging that heretics must be baptized.
Opinions of the Bishops 72Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Peter of Hippo Diarrhytus judges that those baptized in heresy or schism must be baptized in the church.
Opinions of the Bishops 73Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Lucius of Ausafa holds that whatever heretics have done must be annulled and their converts baptized.
Opinions of the Bishops 74Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Felix of Gurgites judges that those unlawfully baptized by heretics must receive baptism where it is lawfully given.
Opinions of the Bishops 75Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Pusillus of Lamasba says saving baptism exists only in the catholic church.
Opinions of the Bishops 76Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Salvianus of Gazaufala says heretics come to the church to receive what they lack.
Opinions of the Bishops 78Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Victor of Octavu, a new bishop, votes with his seniors to baptize heretics.
Opinions of the Bishops 79Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Clarus of Mascula argues that the bishops succeed to the apostles' power to baptize, which heretics do not have.
Opinions of the Bishops 80Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Secundianus of Thambeae warns that heretics admitted without baptism would blame the bishops at the judgment.
Opinions of the Bishops 81Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Aurelius of Chullabi argues from 2 John that heretics, who may not even be greeted, cannot be admitted to communion without baptism.
Opinions of the Bishops 82Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Litteus of Gemellae says that heretics, as blind guides, cannot give the enlightenment of baptism.
Opinions of the Bishops 83Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Natalis of Oea votes for himself and for the absent bishops of Sabratha and Leptis Magna that heretics must be baptized.
Opinions of the Bishops 86Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Junius of Neapolis holds to the earlier decision to baptize heretics.
Opinions of the Bishops 87Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Cyprian, voting last, refers to his letter to Jubaianus: heretics must receive the church's one baptism, becoming friends and Christians instead of adversaries and antichrists.
Church History 7.2.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Stephen became bishop of Rome; Dionysius wrote to him on whether converts from heresy should be rebaptized, against the old custom of laying on hands.
Church History 7.3.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Cyprian required rebaptism of converts from heresy; Stephen angrily defended the older tradition.
Church History 7.5.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Xystus II succeeded Stephen; Dionysius wrote him a second letter on baptism.
Church History 7.5.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Dionysius: Stephen had threatened to break communion with the eastern bishops who rebaptized heretics.
Church History 7.5.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Dionysius: great synods had decreed that converts from heresy be instructed and baptized; he pleaded with Stephen.
Church History 7.5.6Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Dionysius also wrote to the Roman presbyters Dionysius and Philemon about the question.
Church History 7.7.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Heraclas readmitted converts from heresy after public confession, without rebaptism, since they had already been baptized in the church.
Church History 7.7.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Dionysius: rebaptism was long decided in Asia Minor as well, and he will not overturn their ancestral decisions.
Church History 7.7.6Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The fourth letter on baptism went to Dionysius of Rome, later its bishop.
Church History 7.8.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Dionysius condemns Novatian for schism, for making Christ unmerciful, and for rejecting the church's baptism.
Church History 7.9.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · An old church member, hearing the baptismal questions, realized his heretical baptism had been nothing like the church's.
Church History 7.9.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Stricken in conscience, he asked to be baptized properly.
Church History 7.9.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Dionysius would not rebaptize a man who had long shared in the eucharist, and told him to take courage.
Church History 7.9.6Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Dionysius wrote further letters on baptism and one about Lucian.
Appendix of Ten Documents on the Donatist Controversy 4Anonymous · documents of 303–330 · The bishops of the council of Arles (314) report to Silvester of Rome the condemnation of Caecilian's accusers and summarize their canons: one date for Easter, clergy to stay where ordained, the excommunication of soldiers who desert in peacetime, of charioteers and actors, rules for Christian officials, and the reception of those baptized by heretics in the Trinity by laying on of hands alone.
Canon 19Anonymous · 325 · Followers of Paul of Samosata who join the church must be rebaptized, and their clergy reordained if worthy.
Canon 1Anonymous · ca. 345–348 · The council forbids the rebaptism of anyone baptized in the triune faith.
Letters 188, 189Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil's first canonical letter to Amphilochius rules on the baptism of heretics and schismatics, abortion, lapsed deacons, repeated marriages, homicide, divorce, oaths, and other cases; the ref ends with most of his letter to Eustathius the physician defending the one godhead of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Three Letters to Sympronianus 3.22Pacian of Barcelona · ca. 360-390 · Pacian calls the heretical congregation the adulterous woman and shows that Cyprian’s On the Lapsed, cited by Sympronian, concerns those who refuse to repent.
Oration 33.17Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory refuses a baptism that makes the Son or Spirit a creature and appeals to the baptismal confession into the one name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 1.2Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Had Christ's peace not been broken by schism, the Donatists would not be acting like the false prophets of Ezekiel, rebaptizing the faithful and destroying souls.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 1.5Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Optatus sorts Parmenian's treatise into what favors the Catholics, what favors both sides, and what is mistaken, and argues that Parmenian's own praise of the single flood and single circumcision tells against Donatist rebaptism.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 1.12Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Heretics, who have abandoned the true creed, alone have false baptisms; schismatics like the Donatists still hold the true sacraments they took with them from the church.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 1.24Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · The Roman council condemned Donatus for rebaptizing and for laying hands on lapsed bishops, and Miltiades pronounced Caecilian innocent.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 2.12Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · The Donatists, who pray in the Eucharist for the one church spread throughout the world, contradict their own prayer by rebaptizing even Christians who come from Antioch and Arabia.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 3.2Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Optatus reads Isaiah 22 as a prophecy of the Donatist schism: by rebaptizing they diverted the water of the old pool, the one baptism symbolized by the fish ΙΧΘΥΣ (Christ), and God's grief in the valley of Zion (Africa) foretold the events of 347.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 3.11Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · The Donatist slogans "Look behind you", "Redeem your souls" and "Be Christians" contradict the gospel: Christ alone redeems, and one baptized in the name of the Trinity cannot be called a pagan.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 4.6Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · The thief of Psalm 50 is the devil, whom the Donatists help when, by exorcizing and rebaptizing Catholics, they drive out God who dwells in them and leave them empty for the unclean spirit.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 5.1Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Optatus begins Book 5 on baptism: Parmenian's own figures of the single flood and single circumcision show that baptism, made holy by the Trinity and not by the minister, cannot be repeated.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 5.3Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Since neither side can judge itself, Optatus appeals to Christ's testament in the gospel: "He who has been washed once has no need to be washed again" and "one faith, one baptism" forbid rebaptism, and Catholics receive Donatist converts without it.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 5.5Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Christ did not rebaptize those baptized by John; Paul's rebaptism of John's disciples at Ephesus concerned a different baptism, not a different minister, so it gives no warrant for repeating baptism in the Trinity.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 5.9Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Parmenian's use of Naaman the Syrian proves nothing for rebaptism, since Naaman was washed only once and the credit belongs to the Jordan, not to Elisha.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 5.10Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Against Parmenian's reading of the wedding parable, Optatus says the wedding garment is Christ, put on once in baptism; the rebaptized will rise, but stripped of it.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 5.11Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · If Catholic baptism were void, those baptized by Catholics who have died would be lost; since the Donatists cannot rebaptize the dead, they should not rebaptize the living.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 6.6Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · The Donatists washed the walls of churches taken from the Catholics with salt water, an act Optatus mocks as inconsistent and designed to frighten simple people into rebaptism.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 7.4Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · The Donatists call the Catholics the "dying flies" that spoil the ointment (Eccl 10:1), but it is they who destroy the sweetness of the chrism by rebaptizing and reanointing.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 42.3.6Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Marcionites allow repeated baptisms, up to three or more.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 42.3.7Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Epiphanius explains repeated baptism as Marcion's answer to ridicule over his own sin.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 42.3.8Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Marcion invented a second and third baptism for those who sin after baptism.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 42.3.10Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Marcion bases repeated baptism on Jesus' sayings about a baptism and a cup still to come.
Apostolic Canon 46Anonymous · ca. 380 · Clergy who accept heretical baptism or sacrifice are deposed.
Apostolic Canon 47Anonymous · ca. 380 · True baptism is not repeated; baptism by the ungodly is no baptism.
Apostolic Constitutions 6.15.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · There is one baptism, given by blameless priests in the name of the Trinity, not by heretics.
Apostolic Constitutions 6.15.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Heretical baptism is not to be accepted, nor true baptism repeated.
Apostolic Constitutions 6.15.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · Rebaptizing the baptized insults the Father, the Son and the Spirit.
Book of Heresies 83.1Philastrius of Brescia · ca. 380s · The Donatists rebaptize.
Book of Heresies 89.7Philastrius of Brescia · ca. 380s · Hebrews excludes rebaptism, not repentance.
Eleven Tractates 1.5Priscillian · ca. 380–385 · Against the Patripassians they cite the Father–Son texts; against the Novatians, who rebaptize, they confess one baptism.
Canon 7Anonymous · 381–382 · Converts from some heresies are received by written renunciation and anointing with chrism; others, including Eunomians, Montanists and Sabellians, are received as pagans and baptized.
Letter 1 to Himerius of Tarragona, chapter 1Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Converts baptized by Arians are not to be rebaptized but received by the bishop's laying on of hands.
Letter 5 to the bishops of Africa, chapter 2Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Eight rules for all catholic bishops: no ordination without the primate's knowledge; no bishop ordained by a single bishop; no former soldiers after baptism, no clerics marrying widows, no laymen married to widows in the clergy; no poaching or receiving of other churches' clerics; Novatianist and Montensian converts received by laying on of hands.
Letter 23.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine tells Maximinus that he heard he did not rebaptize Catholics, but now hears that he has rebaptized a Catholic deacon of Mutugenna, which he hopes is untrue.
Letter 23.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine asks Maximinus to reply openly, to be read in church, and urges him, if he does not rebaptize, to say so freely without fear of his colleagues.
Letter 23.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine argues that the one baptism in the name of the Trinity must be recognized wherever it is found, comparing it with circumcision, which was never repeated even for a Samaritan becoming a Jew.
Letter 23.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine proposes that both sides drop the old charges about Macarius and the Circumcellions and that their letters be read publicly, so that the people may learn the difference between the Catholic Church and schism.
Letter 34.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine reports a young man who beat his mother, threatened to kill her, and was received and rebaptized by the Donatists.
Letter 34.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine imagines the young man's reasoning in going over to the Donatists and warns that he may now carry out his threat against his mother.
Letter 35.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine reports a deposed Catholic subdeacon, Primus, who was rebaptized by the Donatists with two nuns and now roams with the Circumcellions, and asks that Proculianus exclude him.
Letter 35.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine contrasts the Catholic practice of receiving degraded Donatist clergy only as penitents with the Donatist rebaptism of disciplined Catholics, who must declare themselves pagans.
Letter 43.21Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine charges the Donatists with schism and rebaptism and argues that tolerating the wicked in the church for the sake of unity does not defile the good.
Letter 44.12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine reports that Fortunius regretted the Donatist rule of rebaptism and his people's violence, and that they agreed to a further conference of ten bishops on each side.
Letter 51.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine argues that by accepting without rebaptism those baptized by Maximianist bishops, the Donatists have conceded the validity of baptism outside their communion.
Letter 53.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine argues from Scripture and from the Maximianist affair that the Donatists' charge of contagion through communion condemns themselves.
Letter 66.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine rebukes the Donatist bishop Crispinus for rebaptizing, by pressure, the tenants of an estate he had bought at Mappalia.
Letter 70.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine presses the dilemma that the Donatists accepted without rebaptism those Felicianus baptized in schism, yet reject the baptism of the whole world.
Letter 87.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine argues that if Emeritus could plead ignorance about Optatus, the churches of the East far more can plead ignorance of the African ‘traitors’, yet the Donatists condemn and rebaptize them.
Letter 87.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine explains that Catholics seek to reunite the Donatists to the root of the Church, without rebaptizing them, since the sacraments they hold remain Christ’s even in schism.
Letter 88.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The Hippo clergy state that captured Donatists are treated gently, instructed, and either reconciled without rebaptism or released unharmed, though some Catholic laity act more harshly.
Letter 88.11Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The Hippo clergy point out that the Donatists accepted without rebaptism those baptized by the condemned Maximianists, and themselves used judges to expel schismatics from basilicas.
Letter 89.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine argues that the worldwide Church cannot be condemned for crimes it could not know, and that the same Scriptures that foretell Christ foretell the universal Church.
Letter 93.38Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Cyprian's view on rebaptism is found only in his own writings, not Scripture; he may have corrected it, and some even think it forged.
Letter 93.39Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine accepts that Cyprian held rebaptism, since even so the church survived admitting the unbaptized, which refutes the Donatists.
Letter 93.40Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Cyprian either did not hold rebaptism, corrected it, or covered it by his love for unity, and his martyrdom pruned any fault.
Letter 93.46Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Catholics do not rebaptize Donatists because baptism is Christ's; converts keep their sacraments, which begin to profit them only within the unity of the church.
Letter 93.47Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Paul rebaptized John's disciples because John's baptism was not Christ's; Christ's baptism is equally valid whoever administers it.
Letter 93.48Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · If baptism by a drunkard is not repeated though John's was, neither is baptism by a heretic; Christ's baptism is the same whoever gives it.
Letter 98.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Infants are truly regenerated even if presented for bodily healing, because the whole church, through the Holy Spirit, offers them; even heretics' baptism is valid.
Letter 105.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Kings who hold the truth rightly legislate for it, as Nebuchadnezzar did after the furnace; the Donatists themselves say Amen to his edict in the liturgy.
Letter 105.12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The imperial law rightly states that baptism does not depend on the minister's merit; the Donatist view would make an unknown bad minister preferable to a known good one.
Letter 106.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine warns the Donatist bishop Macrobius not to rebaptize a Catholic subdeacon, since the Donatists do not rebaptize those baptized by the Maximianist Felicianus, now reconciled with them.
Letter 108.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine asks the Donatist bishop Macrobius why he rebaptizes Catholics when his own party accepted the baptism given by the Maximianist Felicianus.
Letter 108.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine praises the Donatists' own acceptance of Felicianus's baptism and argues that Macrobius cannot refuse to judge Primian while judging the whole world for Caecilian.
Letter 108.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine answers the Donatists' proof texts on baptism one by one, showing that their own reception of the Maximianists refutes each.
Letter 108.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine argues that Cyprian, whom the Donatists cite for rebaptism, loved unity above all and was purified by martyrdom within it.
Letter 108.16Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine argues that any honest Donatist defense of the Maximianist affair must adopt the Catholic principles on baptism, tolerance of the wicked, and moderate coercion.
Letter 108.19Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine explains that the occasion of the letter is the rebaptism of Rusticianus, an excommunicated and indebted subdeacon, and recalls a similar case that ended in violence.
Letter 128.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The bishops ask that the Donatists be reconciled, noting their own lenient reception of the Maximianists, and the letter is signed by Aurelius of Carthage and Silvanus of Summa.
Letter 129.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The bishops argue that the Donatists' own treatment of the Maximianists, including appeals to the state and acceptance of their baptism, condemns their case against the Catholics.
Letter 185.17Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The Donatists' readmission of the Maximianist schismatics, with their baptism, exposed their inconsistency and led many to return.
Letter 185.23Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The church rightly compels her lost sons to return, as shepherds recover straying sheep; their baptism, like a royal mark, is recognized, not repeated.
Letter 185.43Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Donatists coming over are not rebaptized, but must do penance; they receive the unity of the Spirit and love, without which baptism does not profit.
Letter 220.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine reproaches Boniface for remarrying after vowing continence, for letting Arians baptize his daughter and rebaptize consecrated women, and for reported concubines.
Sermon 71.32Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Those baptized in schism are not rebaptized when they enter the Catholic Church, but only within it do they receive the Spirit’s unity; outside, the sacraments have the form without the power.
Sermon 138.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Even granting that “noon” means Africa, the words are the bride’s, not the bridegroom’s: the Church overseas asks where in divided Africa Christ’s true flock is, so as not to fall among the Donatists and their rebaptism.
Sermon 146.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The newly baptized must not imitate bad Christians; the sheep are Christ’s, not the pastors’; schismatics who baptize outside the Church put Christ’s mark on stolen sheep, and the Song of Songs bids them go out with their own kids.
On Illustrious Men 69Jerome · 392–393 · Dionysius of Alexandria, Origen's pupil, wrote many letters, including one urging Novatian to end his schism, and books against Nepos's millenarianism.
Lines 91–103Augustine of Hippo · 393 · Donatus, seeking to rule all Africa, asked the emperor for overseas judges, lost his case at Rome, appealed to the emperor, and, defeated everywhere, began to rebaptize.
Lines 169–181Augustine of Hippo · 393 · The first harvest from Israel was winnowed by the cross; the second, from the whole world, grows among weeds and chaff until the final winnowing, so the sins of a Macarius are no ground for rebaptism.
Lines 206–218Augustine of Hippo · 393 · The Donatists do not rebaptize those baptized by their own deposed bishops, so their rebaptism of Catholics is inconsistent; the sins of the fathers do not pass to the sons, but no one cut off from the vine bears fruit.
Lines 219–231Augustine of Hippo · 393 · Catholics do not rebaptize because Donatist baptism has the true form, like a severed branch, but without life from the root; the succession of bishops from Peter’s see is the rock the gates of hell do not conquer.
Lines 232–244Augustine of Hippo · 393 · A Catholic asked to be rebaptized answers that if unknown sins of others defile, the Donatist himself is defiled by his own communion’s hidden sins.
Lines 245–257Augustine of Hippo · 393 · The Donatists cannot appeal to the mixed net or the chaff, since they broke the net; the apostles received the Supper with Judas and were not defiled.
Lines 258–288Augustine of Hippo · 393 · In the epilogue mother church pleads with the Donatists: she prayed for kings as the apostle commanded, bears the bad she cannot expel until the end, and asks why her sons have left her.
On the Christian Struggle 32Augustine of Hippo · ca. 396–397 · Augustine praises the Luciferians for not rebaptizing but condemns their schism, which arose from their refusal of the church's forgiveness to bishops who had yielded to the Arians.
Against the Letter of Parmenian 1.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400 · Parmenian’s own party received back Maximianist bishops Praetextatus and Felicianus without rebaptizing those they had baptized in schism, contradicting his rebuke of the Spaniards.
Against the Letter of Parmenian 1.12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400 · Augustine imagines the church of Philadelphia answering the Donatists: far from Africa and bought by Christ’s blood like all the nations, she rightly believed the neighbouring judges, and Donatist hatred and rebaptism of distant brothers show their condemnation was just.
Against the Letter of Parmenian 2.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400 · The Donatist council of Bagai itself called the Maximianists ‘asps’ eggs’ swift to shed blood, yet the Donatists readmitted Felicianus and Praetextatus and kept Optatus, the basilisk; their rebaptism sheds blood spiritually.
Against the Letter of Parmenian 2.20Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400 · Parmenian cites Jeremiah and other texts to show that those who forsake God cannot give true baptism; Augustine replies that on that reading the Donatists’ own hidden sinners, ‘dead’ men, and the readmitted Felicianus could not baptize either.
Against the Letter of Parmenian 2.21Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400 · If the texts meant that bad ministers cannot baptize, the Donatists’ hidden sinners could not have baptized either; if they reply that the Spirit cleanses the recipient while fleeing the false minister, they have answered for the Catholics too.
Against the Letter of Parmenian 2.27Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400 · Parmenian’s use of ‘what have you that you did not receive?’ fails, since by the Donatists’ own practice baptism is not lost by leaving a communion; so even Caecilian, if he had left, could still give it, and still more the world from which baptism came to Africa.
Against the Letter of Parmenian 2.31Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400 · The Donatists readmitted Felicianus, condemned at Bagai, in his rank with those he had baptized in schism, without rebaptism or reordination, proving Tyconius’s saying of them: ‘What we want is holy.’
Against the Letter of Parmenian 2.34Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400 · ‘Given from heaven’ means looking to God, not the minister; every Donatist rule about who can give baptism is broken by their own practice, and Scripture shows God giving without human intermediaries, as to the apostles at Pentecost and to Cornelius.
Against the Letter of Parmenian 2.35Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400 · Parmenian cites ‘what is crooked cannot be adorned’, but even the Donatists would not rebaptize someone who had held a false belief about Christ when baptized; the sacrament does not adorn the crooked but remains whole in him for judgment.
Against the Letter of Parmenian 2.38Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400 · The Donatists do not glorify God, since they deny the fulfilment of his promises to the nations and despise his baptism; Catholics glorify him by trusting his promises and honouring his sacraments even when handled by the unworthy.
Against the Letter of Parmenian 3.18Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400 · Augustine mocks the idea that Majorinus, Donatus, and Parmenian winnowed the world, pointing to the circumcellions, drunkards, and usurers in the Donatist party and to Primian’s schism and readmission of Felicianus with those he baptized.
Against the Letter of Parmenian 3.21Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400 · The Donatists accept the baptism of the Maximianists whom their own Council of Bagai condemned, yet rebaptize the world they never condemned in any council; Augustine ironically suggests they condemn the world at Bagai so as to spare its baptism.
Against the Letter of Parmenian 3.22Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400 · By accepting only the baptisms of Maximianists who returned with their bishops, the Donatists honour Felicianus more than Christ, whose baptism they reject throughout the world.
Questions and Answers to the Orthodox 14Anonymous · 5th century (disputed) · Heretics who join the orthodox are not rebaptized or reordained: their error is corrected by change of belief, their baptism completed by anointing with chrism, and their ordination by the laying on of hands.
Canon 57 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · Those baptized as children among the Donatists who later join the catholic church by the laying on of hands may be ordained clergy.
Letter 2, chapter 8Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Converts baptized by Novatianists or Montenses are received by laying on of hands, but catholics who were rebaptized by them must do long penance.
Letter 17, chapter 5Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent argues that receiving Bonosus’s clergy in their orders was a temporary concession, that the Nicene canon on the Novatianists applies to them alone, and that those who went over to Bonosus after his condemnation cannot be clerics.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 5.12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Augustine answers Donatist complaints of persecution: they suffered lawful correction, while they themselves persecute the spirit by trying to take from Catholics, through rebaptism, the baptism by which they live.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 5.13Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Rebaptism makes a Christian deny his baptism as the pagan persecutors tried to make martyrs deny Christ; against Donatist charges about the minister, the Catholic answers that the dove taught that Christ is the one who baptizes.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 5.16Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · To the Donatist argument that those baptized by John were rebaptized, Augustine answers that heretics, however wicked, give Christ's baptism, which John did not.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 5.17Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · If baptism must be repeated after a worse minister because the apostles baptized after John, the Donatists would have to rebaptize those baptized by their own drunken clergy.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 5.18Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Baptism given even by Judas was Christ's and was not repeated, while John's was his own and was followed by Christ's; so baptism given by any minister, however sinful, is Christ's.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 5.19Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · As Paul rejoiced that Christ was preached even by the envious, so Christ's baptism given by one who hates, a 'murderer', is not repeated, for the sacrament cannot be polluted by its minister.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 6.12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · The Donatists, too, have bad members and do not rebaptize those baptized by them; since Christ is the one who baptizes, baptism given by chaff is valid, and the 'raven' should not rebaptize after the 'dove'.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 6.16Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · One baptized outside the Church is guilty not for receiving baptism but for receiving it outside; the baptism is kept and recognized, as a deserter is corrected but the King's mark is not altered.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 6.19Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · In Noah's flood the same water 'baptized' timbers inside and outside the ark; the dove refused to be 'rebaptized' and returned, bringing a fruitful olive branch, while the raven perished; so Catholics should bear fruit and call outsiders back.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 11.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · There are two births, of the flesh and of the Spirit, and neither can be repeated; so baptism, like birth from the womb, cannot be given again.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 11.12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Ishmael's “play” with Isaac, which Paul calls persecution, signifies the heretics' enticement to a second baptism, a worse persecution than bodily affliction.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 12.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Spiritual birth, like bodily birth, happens only once, so baptism is not repeated; the promise to Abraham fulfilled among all nations exposes those who separate from them.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 12.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Ishmael was disinherited not for his birth from a slave woman but for his pride, so the worth of the baptizer matters less than the humility of the baptized.
Homilies on the First Epistle of John 7.11Augustine of Hippo · ca. 407 · Love is not laxity but corrects and disciplines without bitterness, like the gall-less dove; the Donatist schismatics hate both love and the dove, and their baptism, bearing Christ's mark, is recognised, not repeated, in the Catholic Church.
Instructions 1.5Eucherius of Lyon · ca. 428-434 · Paul rebaptized John's disciples because they were not baptized in the name of the Trinity; heretics baptized in that name receive only the laying on of hands.
Commonitory 6Vincent of Lérins · 434 · Pope Stephen's resistance to the rebaptism of heretics shows that the church keeps what was handed down and rejects novelty, even when its advocates were great men like Cyprian.
Chapter 18Quodvultdeus of Carthage · ca. 437-450 · The Jews’ malice served salvation, and their dispersion with the prophetic books witnesses to Christ against the pagans; then (chapter 19) the Holy Spirit is confessed equal to Father and Son against the Arians, who rebaptize.
Against Five Heresies 7Quodvultdeus of Carthage · ca. 437-450 · Against Sabellians and Arians the preacher argues from Isaiah 45, Christ’s prayer, and the Transfiguration that the Father and Son are two and equal, and protests against Arian rebaptism and bribery of Catholics.
Sermon on the Barbarian Time 8Quodvultdeus of Carthage · ca. 437-450 · Through the narrow gate of Christ’s opened side the robber, the Jews, and the pagans enter, while the Arian heretic goes out; the faithful must not be rebaptized, and must help the captives and refugees of the invasion.
Letter 159 to Nicetas of Aquileia, chapter 6Leo I, bishop of Rome (Leo the Great) · 440–461 · Leo rules that those who were rebaptized are to be received back through penance and the bishop's imposition of hands, with communion given in danger of death.
Letter 159 to Nicetas of Aquileia, chapter 7Leo I, bishop of Rome (Leo the Great) · 440–461 · Leo rules that those baptized by heretics are not to be rebaptized but received by imposition of hands with invocation of the Holy Spirit; the letter is dated 21 March 458.
Part 2, chapter 19Quodvultdeus of Carthage · ca. 445-450 · Abimelech, son of a concubine who killed his brothers and was slain by a woman’s millstone, figures the heretics who kill souls by rebaptism and are overthrown by the Church.
Part 4, chapter 14Quodvultdeus of Carthage · ca. 445-450 · The garment to be kept is Christ, put on in baptism; those rebaptized by heretics or lapsed in persecution have lost it and should return in repentance like the prodigal son.