Dimensions of Baptism Biblical and Theological Studies

CROSS The Meaning of 'Baptisms' in Hebrews 6.2 185

At one point in his refutation of the Donatist Petilian, Augustine asserted

that 'only those are baptized in their own blood who are put to death for

righteousness' sake'.^86 In his On the Soul and its Origin, Augustine speaks

of martyrdom accomplishing the same as baptism, declaring of the thief on

the cross that the Lord 'at once bestowed so great felicity on one who,

though not baptized, was yet washed clean in the blood, as it were of

martyrdom'. Shortly after, he speaks of the thief 'as he hung by the side of

the crucified Lord' being 'sprinkled, as in a most sacred baptism, with the

water which issued from the wound of the Saviour's side'.^87

A final piece of evidence for the connection of baptism and martyrdom

is to be found in ancient Christian architecture, specifically in the juxta-

position and similarities in style of the baptisteries and martyria. J.G.

Davies notes that:

There is.. .evident a close link between tombs, martyria and baptisteries,

and this provides an explanation of the siting of the baptistery near to or

directly behind the sanctuary... [T]he baptistery was thus associated with a

tomb and this corresponds to the doctrine widespread in the early Church,

and especially in North Africa, that there is a parallelism between the

baptism of water for neophytes and the baptism of blood for martyrs.

He then cites Tertullian on the two baptisms {On Baptism 16) and com-

ments that:

The siting of the baptistery close to the altar, which contained the relics of a

saint, whether to the rear, side or.. .in a crypt immediately beneath the sanc-

tuary, affirms this unity of the two baptisms. In an age when martyrdom

was a thing of the past, the candidate for initiation was nevertheless assured

by the positioning of the baptistery that he could share in and receive the

fruits of the death of Christ, the supreme martyr.^88

While these passages from the Fathers do not always show direct

literary dependence on either Mk 10.38-39 or Lk. 12.50, they nevertheless

reflect and even share a common developing tradition which viewed the

baptism of blood/martyrdom as an imitation of Christ's baptism of death

and, in time, the highest call upon a disciple.

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 1.4 (repr. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans; Edinburgh:

T. & T. Clark, 1996), pp. 458 and 460 respectively.

86. Augustine, The Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 2.52, in NPNF 1.4, p. 543.


87. Augustine, A Treatise on the Soul and its Origin 1.11, in P. Schaff (ed.), NPNF
    1.5 (repr. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans; Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1997), p. 319. Cf. also
    Treatise on the Soul 2.17, p. 339, on martyrdom in lieu of baptism.


88. J.G. Davies, The Architectural Setting of Baptism (London: Barrie andRockcliff,
    1962), pp. 17-18. Also Cramer, Baptism, p. 80.