1. Tertullian, , On Baptism, ed. Ernest, Evans (London, 1964), ch. 19.Google Scholar

2. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, trans. Gifford, E. H., series 2, vol. 7 (repr. Peabody, U.K., 1994)Google Scholar, may be taken as representative.

3. For a convenient outline of the fourth-century period of preparation and the initiation rites, see the introduction in Yarnold, Edward, The Awe-Inspiring Rites of Initiation: Baptismal Homilies of the Fourth Century, 2d ed. (Edinburgh, U.K., 1994)Google Scholar. Broader treatments are found in Riley, Hugh M., Christian Initiation (Washington, D.C., 1974)Google Scholar; Finn, Thomas, The Liturgy of Baptism in the Baptismal Instructions of St. John Chrysostom (Washington, D.C., 1967)Google Scholar; and the extensive collection of sources with explanation in Finn, , Early Christian Baptism and the Catechumenate, 2 vols. (Collegeville, Minn., 1992).Google Scholar

4. In pre-Christian Egypt, 5 January was celebrated as a time when certain springs yielded wine instead of water, and 6 January as the birthday of Aion/Dionysus. The first evidence of an observance of the baptism of Christ in Christian circles concerns the followers of Basilides, “who hold the day of his baptism as a festival, spending the night before in readings,” Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 1.21. This passage is the point of departure for Vigne, Daniel, “Enquête sur Basilide,” Recherches et Tradition: Mélanges patristiques offerts à Henri Crouzel, S.J., ed. André, Dupleix (Paris, 1992), pp. 285–313.Google Scholar More orthodox Christians wanted to associate the “manifestation” of Christ with his birth, but the association of 6 January with the baptism continued. On this issue, see Botte, B., Les Origines de la Noël et de l'Epiphanie (Louvain, Belgium, 1932)Google Scholar; McArthur, A. A., The Evolution of the Christian Year (London, 1953), pp. 31–76Google Scholar, who argues for a unified celebration of the Incarnation and the baptism before the former was associated with 25 December; Bainton, R., “The Origins of Epiphany,” Early and Medieval Christianity (Boston, Mass., 1962), pp. 22–38, reprGoogle Scholar. in Ferguson, E., Studies in Early Christianity (New York, 1993) 15:340–356Google Scholar (Bainton argues for the association with the birth from the early second century); and Mossay, J., Les fêtes de Noël et d'Épiphanie d'après les sources littéraires cappadociens au IVe siècle (Louvain, Belgium, 1965).Google Scholar

5. Examples of such exhortations include Basil of Caesarea, Exhortation to Baptism; Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration 40; and Gregory of Nyssa, Against Those Who Delay, which are studied in my “Exhortations to Baptism in the Cappadocians,” Studia Patristica 32 (1996): 112–120.Google Scholar

6. Gregory of Nyssa's is identified as In diem luminum (“On the Day of Lights”), but popularly as In baptismum Christi oratio; Chrysostom's, John is In Homiliam de Baptismo Christi et de epiphania.Google Scholar

7. Quasten, J., Patrology (Westminster, Md., 1960), 3:277Google Scholar; Daniélou, J., “La chronologie des oeuvres de Grégoire de Nysse,” Studia Patristica 7 (= Texte und Untersuchungen 92) (1966): 164Google Scholar; and introductory note in Migne, , Patrologiae Graecae [PG] (Paris, 1862) 49.361–362.Google Scholar

8. Text edited by Gebhart, E. in Gregorii Nysseni Opera [GNO] 9: Sermones I (Leiden, The Netherlands, 1967), pp. 221–242Google Scholar; translation by Wilson, H. A. in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2 (1893; repr. Peabody, 1994) 5:518–524.Google Scholar

9. Direct quotations are my own renderings from GNO9; references are to page and line. See also Chrysostom, On the Baptism of Christ 1 (PG 49.363), cited before note 34.

10. The fifteen occurrences are almost equally distributed between anagennesis (based on John 3:5), which appears eight times, and palingennesia (based on Titus 3:5), mentioned seven times. A form of baptisma, of course, occurs more often—twenty-one times—and because of the use of Old Testament episodes and the argument for the use of material elements, “water” is frequent—twenty-nine times (all occurrences). Other common terms in reference to baptism are loutron (“bath,” mentioned four times), charis (nine times, with reference to the “grace” of baptism, although judgments on some allusions may vary), and dorea (“gift,” three times). Chrysostom too uses regeneration frequently; see for example Harkins, Paul W., St. John Chrysostom: Baptismal Instructions, Ancient Christian Writers 31 (Westminster, Md., 1963), 9.12.Google Scholar

11. Gregory is a leading interpreter of the atonement as a ransom from the devil's dominion over humanity; see Catechetical Oration 22–26; Aulén, Gustaf, Christus Victor (London, 1961), pp. 62–71Google Scholar; and Turner, H. E. W., The Patristic Doctrine of Redemption (London, 1952), pp. 57–61.Google Scholar

12. In “On the Holy Spirit” (GNO3.1, p. 105) Gregory stresses the place of the Spirit in giving life in the water, even as in this sermon he stresses the necessity of water as the means through which the Spirit works.

13. Gregory's Catechetical Oration 37, starting with the description of humans as composed of body and spirit and continuing with the process of Incarnation, is parallel to this section of the sermon, including the affirmation, “The bread that is consecrated by the word of God is changed into the body of God the Word.”

14. This accords with the argument regarding ordination, one of Gregory's illustrations, in Ferguson, , “Laying on of Hands: Its Significance in Ordination,” Journal of Theological Studies 26 (1975): 1–12CrossRefGoogle Scholar (repr. in Ferguson, , Studies in Early Christianity [New York, 1993], 13:147–158Google Scholar), namely that the prayer, while accompanied by a physical action, is nonetheless the central element. For other passages in Gregory of Nyssa, see Atchley, E. G. C. F., On the Epiclesis of the Eucharistic Liturgy and in the Consecration of the Font (Oxford, 1935), sect. 14.Google Scholar

15. Gregory makes the same comparison in Catechetical Oration 33. Here Gregory gives an incidental piece of liturgical information, citing Psalms 104:24, “O Lord, how manifold are your works; in wisdom you have made them all,” as a verse “sung by all” (228.1), so attesting at his time the use of this Psalm that is part of the vespers of the Greek church.

16. I consider this exposition of the theological significance of water and the practice of triple immersion (228.4–229.18) as the climax of the first main topic on material means used for spiritual blessings, but it might be treated as an independent topic or as the theological premise of the second main division of the sermon.

17. See also Gregory of Nyssa, Catechetical Oration 35, for baptism in water as an imitation of Christ's burial in the earth and the triple action as representing the three days in the tomb.

18. See also On the Holy Spirit (GNO3.1, p. 105, line 32–p. 106, line 4), for faith in the Father first, then faith in the Lord, and finally faith in the Holy Spirit, all joined in baptism.

19. The number could be increased by two, since he relates two incidents from the stories of Isaac and Jacob respectively; or alternatively reduced by one, since the crossing of the Red Sea could be considered under the heading of Moses. Daniélou, Jean, From Shadows to Reality: Studies in the Typology of the Fathers (London, 1960)Google Scholar, studies the most important types employed by the church fathers; many of Gregory's types of baptism are not included.

20. First Corinthians 10:2 made the crossing of the Red Sea a favorite baptismal type with Christians. The destruction of the Egyptians as representing the defeat of the devil and his servants is vividly expressed by Origen, , Hom. Ex., in Sources Chrétiennes 16, ed. Fortier, R. (Paris, 1947), 5.1–2Google Scholar; and Cyril of Jerusalem, Mys. Catech., ed. Cross, F. L. (London, 1951), 1.2–3.Google Scholar

21. Gregory's brother Basil, in reference to this episode, implies the association of fire and Spirit and makes explicit the Trinitarian typology in the triple pouring of water; see Exh. Bapt. 3 (PG 31.428D–429A).

22. Isaiah 1:16; Psalms 24:5; Ezekiel 36:25–27; Zechariah 3:3; Isaiah 35:1–2; Psalms 143:6 and 42:2 quoted together (so I have counted them as one quotation; both are glossed with quotations from John 7:37 and 4:13–14); Psalms 1:4; and Psalms 29:3–4.

23. For “enlightenment” as a name for baptism, see Ysebaert, J., Greek Baptismal Terminology (Nijmegen, The Netherlands, 1962), pp. 173–175.Google Scholar

24. Tertullian, Bapt. 3; and Cyprian, Ep. 62.8 [63.8].

25. The same point is developed in his Catechetical Oration 40.

26. Ferguson, , “Some Aspects of Gregory of Nyssa's Moral Theology in the Homilies on Ecclesiastes,” in Gregory of Nyssa Homilies on Ecclesiastes: An English Version with Supporting Studies, ed. Hall, S. G. (Berlin, 1993), pp. 319–336Google Scholar; and Heine, R. E., Perfection in the Virtuous Life (Cambridge, Mass., 1975)Google Scholar. For this aspect of baptismal instruction in Chrysostom, see his Baptismal Instructions 4.17–33, 12.15–20.

27. See also Chrysostom, who speaks of the instruction in church enabling one to understand “with accuracy” Christian teaching (Bapt. Chr. 1, PG49.365).

28. Ferguson, , “Love of Enemies and Non-Retaliation in the Second Century,” in a Festschrift for Williams, George H., ed. Petersen, Rodney L., forthcoming.Google Scholar

29. The language of clothing may reflect the practice of clothing the newly baptized in a white garment; see Theodore of Mopsuestia, Serm. 4, On the Lord's Prayer and the Sacraments; and Ambrose, On the Mysteries 34.

30. For the renunciation of the devil and confession of faith at baptism, see Hippolytus, , Apostolic Tradition 21Google Scholar; Cyril of Jerusalem, Mys. Catech. 1.2–8, 2.4; Chrysostom, , Baptismal Instructions 2.20–21, 11.10–26Google Scholar; and Gregory, , On the Holy Spirit.Google Scholar

31. He proceeds to quote Isaiah 61:10.

32. PG 49.363–372.1 have made my own translation of the Greek.

33. We know of twelve baptismal catecheses delivered by Chrysostom, all of which are translated by Harkins, St. John Chrysostom. Harkins accepts the date of Lent 388 (the year after the sermon considered here) for some of these and suggests 390 for the others (p. 18).

34. Henceforth the reference for direct quotations will give only the chapter and column number from Migne, , Patrologiae Graecae 49Google Scholar. Chrysostom's Baptismal Instructions 6.1–7 complains of neophytes who deserted the church to run to the hippodrome.

35. The imagery of the church as a haven from storms was early; see Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus 2.14.

36. Malingrey, Anne-Marie, “Philosophia,” Étude d'un groupe de mots dans la litterature grecque, des Presocratiques au IVe siècle après J.-C. (Paris, 1961).Google Scholar

37. This image was quite early; see Plumpe, Joseph C., Mater Ecclesia: An Inquiry into the Concept of the Church as Mother in Early Christianity (Washington, D.C., 1943).Google Scholar

38. See van de Paverd, Frans, St. John Chrysostom, the Homilies on the Statues (Rome, 1991), p. 185Google Scholar, with reference to this passage and Hom. in Ac. 1.2; and van de Paverd, , Zur Geschichte der Messliturgie in Antiocheia und Konstantinopel gegen Ende des vierten Jahrhunderts (Rome, 1970).Google Scholar

39. See Ferguson, , “The Disgrace and the Glory: A Jewish Motif in Early Christianity,” Studia Patristica 21 (1989): 86–94Google Scholar. The theme of “the two advents” is less developed in the fourth century, but in the context of baptismal instruction see Cyril of Jerusalem, Catech. 15.1, and Chrysostom, Hom. 28.1 In Jo. 3.17, both of which use parousia.

40. Chrysostom elaborates on the distinction because only recently had the commemoration of 25 December as the birthday of Jesus been instituted in Antioch; McArthur, , The Evolution of the Christian Year, pp. 49–51.Google Scholar

41. Baptismal Instructions 9.13–20 contrasts the washing of the baths, the washing of the Jews (“more solemn [than the secular baths] but inferior to the bath of grace” as dealing only with ceremonial uncleanness), and Christian baptism (that forgives sins and cleanses the conscience).

42. Meeks, Wayne A. and Wilken, Robert L., Jews and Christians in Antioch in the First Four Centuries of the Common Era (Missoula, Mont., 1978)Google Scholar; and Wilken, Robert L., John Chrysostom and the Jews: Rhetoric and Reality in the Late Fourth Century (Berkeley, Calif., 1983).Google Scholar

43. Other authors handle differently the points of contrast between the baptisms of the Jews, John, and Christians; see, for example, Basil, , Exhortation to Baptism 1–2Google Scholar (PG 31.425A, 428A–B); and On Baptism 1.2 (PG31.1532C–1533C).

44. Baptismal Instructions 3.5–7 claims that there are ten gifts of baptism; 9.12–15 names the Christian purification as “bath of regeneration,” “enlightenment,” “circumcision,” and “cross,” and 12.6 says God gives justification, sanctity, purity, adoption, and the kingdom of heaven.

45. Chrysostom's homilies on Matthew (dated 390) deal with Luke 3:3. John's baptism did not really bring forgiveness, he says, since the sacrifice of Christ had not yet been offered, but brought people to a consciousness of sins and to a desire to seek remission; Hom. in Mt. 10.2. Christ fulfilled Jewish baptism, and John's baptism lacked the Holy Spirit; Hom. in Mt. 12.4.

46. Studies of other treatments of the baptism of Christ in early Christian literature include Bertrand, Daniel A., Le Baptême de Jésus: Histoire de l'exégèse aux deux premiers siècles (Tübingen, Germany, 1973)Google Scholar; Vigne, Daniel, Christ au Jourdain—Le Baptême de Jésus dans la tradition judéo-chrétienne (Paris, 1992)Google Scholar; Wilken, , “The Interpretation of the Baptism of Jesus in the Later Fathers,” Studia Patristica 11 (1972): 268–277Google Scholar; Doignon, Jean, “La scène evangélique du Baptême de Jésus commentée par Lactance (Diuinae institutiones 4.15) et Hilaire de Poitiers (In Matthaeum 2.5–6),” in Epektasis: Mélanges patristiques offers au Cardinal Jean Daniélou, ed. J., Fontaine and C., Kannengiesser (Paris, 1972), pp. 63–73Google Scholar; and McDonnell, Kilian, “Jesus' Baptism in the Jordan,” Theological Studies 56 (1995): 209–236CrossRefGoogle Scholar, who employs especially the Syriac and Armenian sources with their emphasis on the coming of the Spirit at the baptism of Jesus.

47. The same definition of righteousness occurs in his Hom. in Mt. 10.1 and 12.1 on Matthew 3:15. The whole treatment of the baptism of Jesus in Hom. in Mt. 12.1–4 parallels the treatment in the sermon under study, including the description of the dove being like a finger pointing to Christ (Hom. in Mt. 12.3), but with the added observation that “the Spirit comes on you at your baptism.”

48. See also Aulén, , Christus Victor, pp. 66–67Google Scholar, for other images Chrysostom uses of dealings with the devil in atonement.

49. For example, Callistus in Hippolytus, Refutation 9.7; see also Chrysostom, De Lazaro 6.7 (PG 48.1037–1038).

50. Van de, Paverd, “Anaphoral Intercessions, Epiclesis and Communion-rites in John Chrysostom,” Orientalia Christiana periodica 49 (1983): 303–339Google Scholar, esp. 316–319 for the identification of this “canticle of victory” (his translation) as the Gloria in excelsis. The article includes many parallels in Chrysostom's other works to the conclusion of On the Baptism of Christ, notably the presence of the angels at the communion. Gregory too referred to the song at the conclusion of communion; Bapt. Chr. 241.19–21.

51. Chrysostom is an important representative of the use of realist language for the eucharist; see the list of references in Quasten, J., Patrology (Westminster, Md., 1960), 3:480–481Google Scholar; and the collection of Greek texts with Spanish translation in J., Solano, ed., Textos eucaristicos primitivos (Madrid, 1952), 1:441–664Google Scholar. For a recent survey see Crockett, William R., Eucharist: Symbol of Transformation (New York, 1989).Google Scholar

52. See Van de, Paverd, St. John Chrysostom, p. 186Google Scholar; and Van de, Paverd, Zur Geschichte der Messliturgie, pp. 398–402Google Scholar, for a thanksgiving after communion.

53. See note 4.