Reading Sample
The following passage is from On Baptism (Against the Donatists), 1.12.18. This particular translation is from William Harmless, Augustine in His Own Words (Washington, D.C: The Catholic University of America Press, 2010), 256-57.
(12.18) Let them acknowledge that a person can be baptized with the true baptism of Christ, and yet that person's heart, if it perseveres in malice or in sacrilege, can block allowing the abolition of sins to take place; and so let them understand that people are able to be baptized in communions separated from the Church, communions where the baptism of Christ is given and embraced in the very celebration of the sacrament, but that baptism will be of no avail for the remission of sins unless the person, now reconciled to unity, has stripped off the sacrilege of dissension, by which his sins are held onto and their dismissal not allowed. Take the case of one who, through deception, gets access to the sacrament; he is not baptized all over again, but purges himself by pious correction and a truthful confession, so that what was given before then begins to work powerfully for his salvation, once he withdraws that deception by a truthful confession. So too in the case of a person who received the baptism of Christ in some heresy or schism (from those who had separated themselves but not lost Christ's baptism) and so received it as an enemy of the love and peace of Christ; but when he corrects himself and comes to the community and unity of the Church, he should not be baptized over again because, by his reconciliation to peace, he receives this benefit: that now, in unity, the sacrament begins to produce the remission of his sins, what it could not produce when received in schism.
1. Place the Text in Context
First, I looked up the book On Baptism in Augustine Through the Ages. I found the entry listed by the main word in its Latin title: Baptismo, De. I read the first few lines and learned that Augustine wrote On Baptism because he had promised a detailed treatment of the theology of baptism. However, he focused particularly on the issues that separated Catholics from Donatists. Donatists had broken communion with the Catholic Church, but were still baptizing in the Triune formula. Everyone agreed that outside the true church (whether Donatist or Catholic) baptism does not forgive sins. So, this raises a question: do people baptized by schismatic sects need to be rebaptized if they later join the true church?
2. Read once quickly, locating key terms, technical terms, and unfamiliar terms
As I read, I marked two terms that I needed to look up: "sacrilege" and "sacrament." The dictionary told told me that sacrilege meant "the violation or profanation of anything sacred or held sacred." So, a heart persevering in sacrilege probably means someone who is being baptized insincerely or without truly repenting. Next, since "sacrament" appeared to be a theological technical term, I looked up "sacrament" in Augustine Through the Ages. The entry was pages long, and the first paragraph didn't have a definition, so I went back to the dictionary, which told me that baptism was a kind of sacrament, a visible sign that confers inward grace. Key terms seem to be "baptism," "sacrament," "schism," and "sins." All of them are now pretty straightforward. "Unity" appears to be something a technical term, signifying membership in the true church.
3. Read again, Analyzing the structure
"Let them acknowledge ...; and so let them understand."
The structure of this first sentence sentence signals both a parallel (let them ... let them) and a consequence (and so). That is, Augustine is saying that if his opponents will accept the first point (and he assumes they will), they should also accept his second point.
"Let them acknowledge that a person can be baptized with the true baptism of Christ, and yet that person's heart, if it perseveres in malice or in sacrilege, can block allowing the abolition of sins to take place..."
In this first half of the sentence, there is a contrast. A true baptism does not necessarily abolish sins. The "if" tells under what circumstances the effect is blocked: "if the heart perseveres in malice or in sacrilege." Putting it all together, this first part tells us that Augustine expects his readers to agree that if a person's heart is bad when he or she is baptized, then the effect of baptism (forgiveness) does not take place, but the baptism itself is still valid (true).
"...let them understand that people are able to be baptized in communions separated from the Church, communions where the baptism of Christ is given and embraced in the very celebration of the sacrament, but that baptism will be of no avail for the remission of sins unless the person, now reconciled to unity, has stripped off the sacrilege of dissension, by which his sins are held onto and their dismissal not allowed."
So, someone can be baptized into a schism (such as the Donatists), but the baptism does not accomplish the forgiveness of sins. The "by which" says how the power of baptism is blocked — the sacrilege of dissension. "Unless" implies that if certain conditions are met, the baptismal power will no longer be impeded. If that person joins the Catholic church ("now reconciled to unity"), he or she is no longer committing the sacrilege that blocks the power of baptism. The inference is that a baptism administered in the past can become effective later when obstacles are removed.
Returning to the "and so" connecting the two halves of the sentence, we can grasp the argument. It is already agreed that even though the power of baptism can be blocked by sacrilege, the baptism itself remains valid and does not need to be repeated; it will take effect when the blockage is removed. Augustine extends this idea ("and so") by regarding schism as a type of sacrilege. As such, it blocks the remitting power of baptism, but does not invalidate the baptism itself. This first sentence contains both the conclusion of the argument and one line of argumentation (by analogy). At this point, we might reasonably anticipate that the rest of the paragraph will clarify or extend the argument.
(12.18) Let them acknowledge that a person can be baptized with the true baptism of Christ, and yet that person's heart, if it perseveres in malice or in sacrilege, can block allowing the abolition of sins to take place; and so let them understand that people are able to be baptized in communions separated from the Church, communions where the baptism of Christ is given and embraced in the very celebration of the sacrament, but that baptism will be of no avail for the remission of sins unless the person, now reconciled to unity, has stripped off the sacrilege of dissension, by which his sins are held onto and their dismissal not allowed. Take the case of one who, through deception, gets access to the sacrament; he is not baptized all over again, but purges himself by pious correction and a truthful confession, so that what was given before then begins to work powerfully for his salvation, once he withdraws that deception by a truthful confession. So too in the case of a person who received the baptism of Christ in some heresy or schism (from those who had separated themselves but not lost Christ's baptism) and so received it as an enemy of the love and peace of Christ; but when he corrects himself and comes to the community and unity of the Church, he should not be baptized over again because, by his reconciliation to peace, he receives this benefit: that now, in unity, the sacrament begins to produce the remission of his sins, what it could not produce when received in schism.
1. Place the Text in Context
First, I looked up the book On Baptism in Augustine Through the Ages. I found the entry listed by the main word in its Latin title: Baptismo, De. I read the first few lines and learned that Augustine wrote On Baptism because he had promised a detailed treatment of the theology of baptism. However, he focused particularly on the issues that separated Catholics from Donatists. Donatists had broken communion with the Catholic Church, but were still baptizing in the Triune formula. Everyone agreed that outside the true church (whether Donatist or Catholic) baptism does not forgive sins. So, this raises a question: do people baptized by schismatic sects need to be rebaptized if they later join the true church?
2. Read once quickly, locating key terms, technical terms, and unfamiliar terms
As I read, I marked two terms that I needed to look up: "sacrilege" and "sacrament." The dictionary told told me that sacrilege meant "the violation or profanation of anything sacred or held sacred." So, a heart persevering in sacrilege probably means someone who is being baptized insincerely or without truly repenting. Next, since "sacrament" appeared to be a theological technical term, I looked up "sacrament" in Augustine Through the Ages. The entry was pages long, and the first paragraph didn't have a definition, so I went back to the dictionary, which told me that baptism was a kind of sacrament, a visible sign that confers inward grace. Key terms seem to be "baptism," "sacrament," "schism," and "sins." All of them are now pretty straightforward. "Unity" appears to be something a technical term, signifying membership in the true church.
3. Read again, Analyzing the structure
"Let them acknowledge ...; and so let them understand."
The structure of this first sentence sentence signals both a parallel (let them ... let them) and a consequence (and so). That is, Augustine is saying that if his opponents will accept the first point (and he assumes they will), they should also accept his second point.
"Let them acknowledge that a person can be baptized with the true baptism of Christ, and yet that person's heart, if it perseveres in malice or in sacrilege, can block allowing the abolition of sins to take place..."
In this first half of the sentence, there is a contrast. A true baptism does not necessarily abolish sins. The "if" tells under what circumstances the effect is blocked: "if the heart perseveres in malice or in sacrilege." Putting it all together, this first part tells us that Augustine expects his readers to agree that if a person's heart is bad when he or she is baptized, then the effect of baptism (forgiveness) does not take place, but the baptism itself is still valid (true).
"...let them understand that people are able to be baptized in communions separated from the Church, communions where the baptism of Christ is given and embraced in the very celebration of the sacrament, but that baptism will be of no avail for the remission of sins unless the person, now reconciled to unity, has stripped off the sacrilege of dissension, by which his sins are held onto and their dismissal not allowed."
So, someone can be baptized into a schism (such as the Donatists), but the baptism does not accomplish the forgiveness of sins. The "by which" says how the power of baptism is blocked — the sacrilege of dissension. "Unless" implies that if certain conditions are met, the baptismal power will no longer be impeded. If that person joins the Catholic church ("now reconciled to unity"), he or she is no longer committing the sacrilege that blocks the power of baptism. The inference is that a baptism administered in the past can become effective later when obstacles are removed.
Returning to the "and so" connecting the two halves of the sentence, we can grasp the argument. It is already agreed that even though the power of baptism can be blocked by sacrilege, the baptism itself remains valid and does not need to be repeated; it will take effect when the blockage is removed. Augustine extends this idea ("and so") by regarding schism as a type of sacrilege. As such, it blocks the remitting power of baptism, but does not invalidate the baptism itself. This first sentence contains both the conclusion of the argument and one line of argumentation (by analogy). At this point, we might reasonably anticipate that the rest of the paragraph will clarify or extend the argument.