The Church Fathers - Baptism by Water, Alone?
The fathers certainly regarded water baptism as important. Yet a number of them also recognized that the saving reality associated with baptism could be present without the ordinary application of water.
The following examples are arranged roughly chronologically.
Tertullian — Baptism by Blood
Tertullian (c. 155–220) is one of the earliest and clearest witnesses.
In On Baptism, chapter 16, he calls martyrdom a second baptism, baptism in blood. More importantly, he says that this baptism:
“stands in lieu of the fontal bathing when that has not been received”
In other words, Tertullian explicitly describes blood baptism as taking the place of water baptism when water baptism has not occurred.
This is important chronologically because it shows that the idea is not something Augustine invented in the late fourth century. It was already present in North African Christianity around the beginning of the third century.
What this establishes: Tertullian did not understand the saving significance of baptism to be absolutely confined to the physical application of water. He recognized martyrdom as a second baptism that could stand in the place of water baptism when the water rite had not been received.
Origen — Water, Spirit, Fire, and Blood
Origen (c. 185–254) is particularly valuable because he explicitly recognizes water, Spirit/fire, and blood as forms of baptism.
In his Commentary on John, while discussing John the Baptist's statement that Christ would baptize with the Holy Spirit, Origen says that Christ is:
“baptism of water, and baptism of Holy Spirit and of fire, and to some, also, of blood.”
He connects the baptism of blood with Jesus' words about His coming baptism in Luke 12:50.
Even more interestingly, Origen says that martyrdom can bring forgiveness of sins. In Homilies on Leviticus 2.4–5, he lists several means by which sins are remitted, including baptism, martyrdom, and repentance.
What this establishes: Origen recognized water baptism, baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire, and baptism associated with blood as distinct biblical realities. He also connected martyrdom with the remission of sins.
Cyprian — Baptism of Water and Baptism of Blood
Cyprian (c. 210–258) develops the same idea.
He explicitly distinguishes:
baptism of water
baptism of blood
and associates the former with remission of sins and the latter with the martyr's crown.
In Epistle 72.22, he discusses people who believe and repent but are killed before receiving water baptism. His argument is that such catechumens receive the “baptism of blood.”
He explicitly connects this with the thief on the cross, saying that those who are baptized in their own blood are perfected and receive the grace of God's promise.
And in Treatise 11, Cyprian makes the distinction particularly clearly:
“In the baptism of water is received the remission of sins, in the baptism of blood the crown of virtues.”
So Cyprian definitely does not collapse water baptism and blood baptism into exactly the same thing. But he recognizes blood baptism as a genuine baptism with saving significance.
What this establishes: Cyprian continued to regard water baptism as the ordinary Christian baptism, but he also recognized baptism by blood as a genuine baptism for a believer who died before receiving water. The absence of the physical water rite did not automatically mean that such a believer was lost.
The Anonymous On Re-Baptism — The Spirit Before Water
The anonymous treatise On Re-Baptism, probably from the third century, is extraordinarily important for this question. Its exact authorship is uncertain.
It argues from Acts 10: Cornelius and his household received the Holy Spirit before water baptism.
The author says:
“the Holy Spirit is found to have been given to men who believe, by the Lord without baptism of water”
The author then immediately cites Peter's experience of the Spirit falling upon Cornelius and his household before Peter commanded them to be baptized in water.
The preceding discussion also distinguishes the “baptism of the Spirit” from the “baptism of water.”
The work therefore recognizes that the Holy Spirit can be given to believers before the physical water baptism occurs.
The same work also considers the case of a person who hears the gospel, confesses Christ, and is then killed before he can receive water baptism. The author asks, in substance, whether such a person should be considered to have perished because he was not baptized with water. The answer is no. The author appeals to Christ's promise concerning those who confess Him and describes martyrdom as accomplishing what water baptism could not in that circumstance.
What this establishes: On Re-Baptism provides evidence for both Spirit baptism occurring apart from the timing of water baptism and a believer receiving the saving benefit associated with baptism despite dying before receiving water baptism.
Gregory Nazianzen — The Different Kinds of Baptism
Gregory Nazianzen (c. 329–390) gives an even more interesting text.
In Oration 39.17, he explicitly says:
“Let us speak about the different kinds of Baptism.”
He then identifies:
- Moses' baptism — water, cloud, and sea
- John's baptism — water and repentance
- Christ's baptism — in the Spirit
- baptism by martyrdom and blood
- and even a fifth baptism involving tears and repentance.
Most importantly for this question, he says:
“Jesus also baptized, but in the Spirit. This is the perfect Baptism.”
He also calls martyrdom a “Fourth Baptism”—baptism by martyrdom and blood.
What this establishes: Gregory explicitly distinguishes water baptism from baptism in the Spirit, calling the latter the “perfect Baptism.” He also recognizes martyrdom as another genuine form of baptism. For Gregory, therefore, the biblical concept of baptism is broader than the physical water ceremony.
Ambrose — The Valentinian Case
Ambrose is essential because Augustine's thinking is not occurring in isolation.
In AD 392, Emperor Valentinian II died while still a catechumen, before Ambrose could baptize him.
Ambrose's funeral oration asks whether Valentinian nevertheless received the grace he desired:
“Did he not obtain the grace which he desired? Did he not obtain what he asked for?”
Ambrose answers affirmatively because Valentinian had desired baptism and requested it.
This is historically important because a recent scholarly study identifies Ambrose's 392 funeral oration as the first clear articulation of what later became known as baptism of desire.
What this establishes: Ambrose provides evidence that a person who desired baptism but died before physically receiving it could nevertheless be regarded as having received the grace he sought. The physical rite had not occurred, but the desire for the rite was treated as spiritually significant.
Augustine — The Thief and Baptism Received in the Heart
Augustine's earlier writings provide particularly interesting evidence.
In De diversis quaestionibus 83, Question 62, written approximately AD 391–395, Augustine considers the thief on the cross, who received Christ's promise of Paradise even though he could not physically receive baptism.
Augustine writes:
“baptism was imputed to the believing thief”
and says that it was considered received “in his free mind” because he could not receive it in his body while hanging on the cross.
Augustine's reasoning is significant because he is not simply calling the thief a martyr. He is explaining how the reality of baptism could be credited to someone who could not physically receive the rite.
What this establishes: In his earlier writings, Augustine recognized that the physical absence of baptism did not necessarily mean the absence of the reality God associated with baptism, particularly when a person was prevented from receiving the rite.
Augustine — Faith and Conversion Can Supply What Baptism Lacked
Augustine later develops the argument even more explicitly.
In On Baptism Against the Donatists, Book IV, chapter 22, Augustine discusses the thief and concludes:
“not only martyrdom for the sake of Christ may supply what was wanting of baptism, but also faith and conversion of heart”
when baptism cannot be received because there is no time.
Augustine's point is striking. He does not limit the thief's case to martyrdom. The thief was being executed for his own crimes, not because he was a Christian martyr. Yet he believed, turned to Christ, and received Christ's promise.
Augustine therefore recognizes that faith and conversion of heart can supply what baptism lacked when the sacrament cannot be received.
What this establishes: Augustine explicitly says that faith and conversion of heart can supply what baptism lacked when baptism cannot be received. The thief therefore provides an example of salvation in which the visible sacrament of baptism was absent.
Augustine — Cornelius Received the Spirit Before Baptism
Augustine also discusses Cornelius in Acts 10.
Cornelius had not yet received water baptism when the Holy Spirit came upon him. Augustine recognizes this sequence and uses it in his discussion of baptism.
The Spirit therefore came upon Cornelius before the water baptism that followed.
Augustine does not use Cornelius to reject water baptism. In fact, he maintains that Cornelius would have been guilty of contempt if, after receiving the Holy Spirit, he had refused baptism.
But the sequence itself remains important:
The inward work of the Spirit came first. The outward water baptism followed.
What this establishes: Augustine recognized that the Holy Spirit could be given before water baptism. The outward sacrament did not necessarily precede the inward work of the Spirit.
Pelagius — Water, Spirit, Fire, and Blood
Pelagius, commenting on Romans 6:1–4, discusses the meaning of baptism in the context of dying to sin and walking in newness of life.
He writes:
“Baptism is received in the Scriptures in three ways: with water; with the Holy Spirit, who is also called fire; and with blood in martyrdom, concerning which [our] Saviour said: ‘I am to be baptized with a baptism’ (Luke 12:50).”
Pelagius then returns to Paul's teaching in Romans 6, explaining that those baptized into Christ are buried with Him, die to their former life, and rise to walk in newness of life.
The importance of the statement is that Pelagius does not use the word baptism exclusively for the physical water ceremony. He identifies three biblical forms: water, the Holy Spirit/fire, and blood in martyrdom.
What this establishes: Pelagius understood the biblical category of baptism to extend beyond water baptism. The term could describe baptism with the Holy Spirit and baptism associated with martyrdom as well as the ordinary baptism with water.
Apostolic Constitutions — Book V, section 6
This is a particularly strong passage because it addresses a catechumen who has not yet received water baptism and then dies for Christ.
The text says:
“though he be but a catechumen, let him depart without trouble; for his suffering for Christ will be to him a more genuine baptism, because he does really die with Christ, but the rest only in a figure.”
John Chrysostom — Panegyric on St. Lucian, 2
The passage is remarkably explicit:
“I have called martyrdom a baptism; for here too the Spirit descends with great abundance, and a removal of sins and a certain wonderful and extraordinary cleansing of the soul takes place.”
He then compares the two:
“just as those who are baptized with waters, so those who bear witness are washed in their own blood.”
What Does the Evidence Show?
These writers do not all make exactly the same argument, and they should not be made to say more than they actually say.
They consistently affirm the importance of ordinary water baptism. Some of them describe it as the normal or necessary means of receiving baptism. Yet they also repeatedly recognize circumstances in which the reality associated with baptism is present without the ordinary application of water.
The evidence includes:
- Tertullian: martyrdom is a second baptism that can stand in place of water baptism.
- Origen: baptism can be spoken of as water, Spirit/fire, and blood; martyrdom is connected with forgiveness of sins.
- Cyprian: a believer who dies before water baptism can receive the baptism of blood.
- Anonymous On Re-Baptism: the Holy Spirit can be given before water baptism, and a believer who dies before receiving water need not be regarded as lost.
- Gregory Nazianzen: Christ's baptism is baptism in the Spirit, and martyrdom is another baptism.
- Ambrose: a catechumen who desired baptism but died before receiving it could nevertheless receive the grace he desired.
- Augustine: baptism could be imputed to the believing thief who could not physically receive it.
- Augustine: faith and conversion of heart could supply what baptism lacked when the sacrament could not be received.
- Augustine: Cornelius received the Holy Spirit before water baptism.
- Pelagius: Scripture speaks of baptism in water, in the Holy Spirit/fire, and in blood.
Taken together, these examples establish a clear historical pattern:
The early church did not understand the saving reality associated with baptism as being absolutely confined to the physical application of water.
Water baptism was regarded as the ordinary Christian practice and was often strongly defended. Nevertheless, Spirit baptism, baptism by blood, faith, conversion, and the desire for baptism were recognized by various early Christian writers as realities through which God could act when ordinary water baptism was absent or impossible.
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