Stewart—“The Rule of Truth... which He Received through Baptism” 157
baptismal interrogation. However, although the syntaxis in later rites is found as a rite
distinct from the baptism itself, there is evidence that the syntaxis had originally taken
place by the water, that in some circles at least this formed the baptismal declaration of
faith, and that this statement, as suggested already, was christological. This is particu-
larly prominent in Syrian rites. Again I refer to ps-Hippolytus’s De Theophania where a
christological confession that is closely joined to renunciation takes place immediately
before baptism. Thus rather than assuming that there must be interrogations, simply
because the earliest evidence points to interrogations, we may observe that there is
ample evidence of early declarations, taking place immediately prior to baptism, and
may then further suggest that a declaration prior to baptism might have been the form
known to Irenaeus, and that it is to be found at the syntaxis. This in turn implies that
the complex of apotaxis-syntaxis—renunciation and profession—is a relatively early
development in some baptismal rituals. Here we may allude to a suggestion of Rordorf
that a rite of this sort might have been known as early as the first century. His argument
is essentially that the marked eschatological dualism of the rite points to an origin in
early Judaism, and suggests, moreover, that the two-ways instruction, to which the
Didache bears witness, might well give rise to such a ritual.^43
Having already argued for a christological confession as part of the rite of syn-
taxis in some rites, we may here allude to the Armenian baptismal rite, employed by
Lietzmann as a crown witness for his theory of the separate development for the chris-
tological sequence. The most primitive form preserved in the manuscripts is a simple
trinitarian interrogation: “Do you believe in the Father? Do you believe in the Son? Do
you believe in the Holy Spirit?” This simple trinitarian formula is supplemented in later
manuscripts by a series of other questions relating to the salvific activity of Christ. “Do
you believe in the birth of Christ? Do you believe in the baptism of Christ?”^44 There is a
point of comparison with Irenaeus in that the christological material is a postscript to
the trinitarian form. We must stress, however, that this is at the rite of syntaxis rather
than at the baptism itself.
The reason for stressing that this occurs at the syntaxis rather than at the baptismal
interrogation is that this points up the possible origin of the christological sequence.
Namely, that whereas in western rites there is a threefold interrogation, and so a trin-
itarian-shaped creed developed, in Syrian rites the baptism is not so closely linked to
the statement of faith, but rather the statement of faith, originally simply christologi-
cal, preceded the baptism itself. We should not confuse the interrogatory rites of the
West with eastern rites as the two are entirely distinct. Although there is a widespread
assumption that interrogation is an earlier form than any rite involving a statement of
faith, there is ample evidence that the two forms are equally ancient. The statement of
faith, however, was joined to a renunciation. The situation is directly comparable to
Haer. I.10.1.
Thus I suggest the regula fidei here is said, by Irenaeus, to have been delivered in
baptism because its strong christological element is a reflection on the christological
confession which formed the syntaxis, and on the basis of which baptism was deliv-
ered. It is also delivered in catechesis, and herein the trinitarian form of the regula fidei
is represented.