Early Church Fathers on Receiving Communion in the Hand

The Early Church Fathers on various topics: This was a 3700 hour project which included going through 22896 pages of the 38 volume set called Ante Nicene, Nicene, Post Nicene Fathers. I compiled 255 pages of quotes showing that the Early Church was always and completely Catholic. All of these quotes can be verified and found from the source which is free online.

Cyprian of Carthage Treatise 3 par 26 (200-270 ad)
And another woman, when she tried with unworthy hands to open her box, in which was the holy (body) of the Lord, was deterred by fire rising from it from daring to touch it. And when one, who himself was defiled, dared with the rest to receive secretly a part of the sacrifice celebrated by the priest; he could not eat nor handle the holy of the Lord, but found in his hands when opened that he had a cinder. Thus by the experience of one it was shown that the Lord withdraws when He is denied
Acts of Thomas (240 ad)
And there was a certain young man who had done a nefarious deed; and having come to the apostle, he took the bread of the Eucharist into his mouth, and his two hands immediately withered, so that he could no longer bring them to his mouth.
Eusebius Church History Book 7 (265-340 ad)
But I did not dare to do this; and said that his long communion was sufficient for this. For I should not dare to renew from the beginning one who had heard the giving of thanks and joined in repeating the Amen; who had stood by the table and had stretched forth his hands to receive the blessed food; and who had received it, and partaken for a long while of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Cyril of Jerusalem Catechetical Lectures 23.21-22 (315-386 ad)
21. In approaching therefore, come not with your wrists extended, or your fingers spread; but make your left hand a throne for the right, as for that which is to receive a King. And having hollowed your palm, receive the Body of Christ, saying over it, Amen. So then after having carefully hallowed your eyes by the touch of the Holy Body, partake of it; giving heed lest you lose any portion thereof ; for whatever you lose, is evidently a loss to you as it were from one of your own members. For tell me, if any one gave you grains of gold, would you not hold them with all carefulness, being on your guard against losing any of them, and suffering loss? Will you not then much more carefully keep watch, that not a crumb fall from you of what is more precious than gold and precious stones?
22. Then after you have partaken of the Body of Christ, draw near also to the Cup of His Blood; not stretching forth your hands, but bending , and saying with an air of worship and reverence, Amen , hallow yourself by partaking also of the Blood of Christ.
Basil Letter 93 (329-379 ad)
It is good and beneficial to communicate every day, and to partake of the holy Body and Blood of Christ. For He distinctly says, "He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life." And who doubts that to share frequently in life, is the same thing as to have manifold life. I, indeed, communicate four times a week, on the Lord's day, on Wednesday, on Friday, and on the Sabbath, and on the other days if there is a commemoration of any Saint. It is needless to point out that for anyone in times of persecution to be compelled to take the communion in his own hand without the presence of a priest or minister is not a serious offence, as long custom sanctions this practice from the facts themselves. All the solitaries in the desert, where there is no priest, take the communion themselves, keeping communion at home. And at Alexandria and in Egypt, each one of the laity, for the most part, keeps the communion, at his own house, and participates in it when he likes. For when once the priest has completed the offering, and given it, the recipient, participating in it each time as entire, is bound to believe that he properly takes and receives it from the giver. And even in the church, when the priest gives the portion, the recipient takes it with complete power over it, and so lifts it to his lips with his own hand. It has the same validity whether one portion or several portions are received from the priest at the same time.
John Chrysostom Homily 3 on Ephesians (347-407 ad)
Tell me, would you choose to come to the Sacrifice with unwashen hands? No, I suppose, not. But you would rather choose not to come at all, than come with soiled hands. And then, thus scrupulous as you are in this little matter, do you come with soiled soul, and thus dare to touch it? And yet the hands hold it but for a time, whereas into the soul it is dissolved entirely.
Augustine Against Petilian the Donatist book 2 ch 23 par 53 (354-430 ad)
To this we may add, that I refer to a man who lived with you, whose birthday you were wont to celebrate with such large assemblies, with whom you joined in the kiss of peace in the sacraments, in whose hands you placed the Eucharist, to whom in turn you extended your hands to receive it from his ministerin

Augustine Against Petilian the Donatist book 2 par 88(354-430 ad)

And although the men are not one who take in hand the sacrament of God worthily or unworthily, yet that which is taken in hand, whether worthily or unworthily, is the same; so that it does not become better or worse in itself, but only turns to the life or death of those who handle it in either case

Council of Constantinople Trullo Canon 101 (692 ad)

Wherefore, if any one wishes to be a participator of the immaculate Body in the time of the Synaxis, and to offer himself for the communion, let him draw near, arranging his hands in the form of a cross, and so let him receive the communion of grace. But such as, instead of their hands, make vessels of gold or other materials for the reception of the divine gift, and by these receive the immaculate communion, we by no means allow to come, as preferring inanimate and inferior matter to the image of God. But if any one shall be found imparting the immaculate Communion to those who bring vessels of this kind, let him be cut off as well as the one who brings them. 

Venerable Bede Ecclesiastical History of England Book 4 ch 24 (672-735 ad)
"What need of the Eucharist? for you are not yet appointed to die, since you talk so merrily with us, as if you were in good health." "Nevertheless," said he, "bring me the Eucharist." Having received It into his hand, he asked, whether they were all in charity with him, and had no complaint against him, nor any quarrel or grudge.
John Damascene An Exposition of the Faith Book 4 Ch 13 (676-749 ad)
Let us draw near to it with an ardent desire, and with our hands held in the form of the cross s let us receive the body of the Crucified One: and let us apply our eyes and lips and brows and partake of the divine coal

Diary of St Faustina par 160

I heard these words from the Host: I desired to rest in your hands, not only in your heart.
How Christ Said the First Mass by Fr James Meagher ch HOW CHRIST OFFERED THE BREAD AND WINE. Pg 413
Taking in his hands this half of the Aphikoman, he breaks off a particle, and eats it in memory of the paschal lamb they had just eaten. Then he breaks off a particle for each guest and lays it in the left palm of each. This was the way the celebrant of the Mass in the early Church gave Communion.
(Catholic Encyclopedia: "Genuflexion")
That, in the early Church, the faithful stood when receiving into their hands the consecrated particle can hardly be questioned….The custom of placing the Sacred Particle in the mouth, rather than in the hand of the communicant, dates in Rome from the sixth, and in Gaul from the ninth century
"Augustine Through the Ages: An Encyclopedia," general editor: Allan D. Fitzgerald, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1999; "Eucharistic Liturgy," p. 338; this article written by Robin M. Jensen and J. Patout Burns)
 "Distribution of the bread and wine took place at the chancel rail, where the people came forward to stand and receive from the hands of the bishop and/or deacons. Bread was placed into the joined hands with the words, 'The Body of Christ,' to which the recipient responded: 'Amen' . . . The cup was offered to each by another minister, with a similar exchange."

Fr. John Higgins

"For the first thousand years of the Church, Communion was given in the hand only. John Calvin's influence on the Church, along with the Gnostics preached that the human body was evil and that humans were basically evil and that Communion was only for the holy Clergy. This heresy was condemned, so the Jansenists, who followed a lot of Calvin's heresies, said "You aren't good enough to touch the Body of Christ with your hand, only with your tongue!" as if the tongue is holier than the hand. When someone is Baptized or Confirmed their entire being is Baptized or Confirmed, not just their tongue. They are anointed and consecrated to Christ, their entire body, mind and spirit." 

Early Church Fathers on Baptism

The Early Church Fathers on various topics: This was a 3700 hour project which included going through 22896 pages of the 38 volume set called Ante Nicene, Nicene, Post Nicene Fathers. I compiled 255 pages of quotes showing that the Early Church was always and completely Catholic. All of these quotes can be verified and found from the source which is free online.

Infant baptism
Necessity of Baptism
Saving Nature of Baptism
Born Again
Jesus Sanctified baptism with his
Other


Infant Baptism
Irenaeus of Lyons Against Heresies book 2 ch 22.4 [120-180 AD]
"He [Jesus] came to save all through himself; all, I say, who through him are reborn in God: infants, and children, and youths, and old men. Therefore he passed through every age, becoming an infant for infants, sanctifying infants; a child for children, sanctifying those who are of that age . . . [so that] he might be the perfect teacher in all things, perfect not only in respect to the setting forth of truth, perfect also in respect to relative age"
Cyprian of Carthage Epistle 58 par 2 [200-270 AD]
"As to what pertains to the case of infants: You [Fidus] said that they ought not to be baptized within the second or third day after their birth, that the old law of circumcision must be taken into consideration, and that you did not think that one should be baptized and sanctified within the eighth day after his birth. In our council it seemed to us far otherwise. No one agreed to the course which you thought should be taken. Rather, we all judge that the mercy and grace of God ought to be denied to no man born"
Cyprian of Carthage Epistle 58 par 3 [200-270 AD]
"If, in the case of the worst sinners and those who formerly sinned much against God, when afterwards they believe, the remission of their sins is granted and no one is held back from baptism and grace, how much more, then, should an infant not be held back, who, having but recently been born, has done no sin, except that, born of the flesh according to Adam, he has contracted the contagion of that old death from his first being born. For this very reason does he [an infant] approach more easily to receive the remission of sins: because the sins forgiven him are not his own but those of another"
Cyprian of Carthage epistle 58.4 (200-270 ad)
For in respect of the observance of the eighth day in the Jewish circumcision of the flesh, a sacrament was given beforehand in shadow and in usage; but when Christ came, it was fulfilled in truth.
Cyprian of Carthage epistle 58.6 (200-270 ad)
And therefore, dearest brother, this was our opinion in council, that by us no one ought to he hindered from baptism and from the grace of God, who is merciful and kind and loving to all. Which, since it is to he observed and maintained in respect of all, we think is to be even more observed in respect of infants and newly-born persons, who on this very account deserve more from our help and from the divine mercy, that immediately, on the very beginning of their birth, lamenting and weeping, they do nothing else but entreat. We bid you, dearest brother, ever heartily farewell.
Jerome against the Pelagians book 3 par 19 (347-420 ad)
One thing I will say and so end my discourse, that you ought either to give us a new creed, so that, after baptizing children into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you may baptize them into the kingdom of heaven; or, if you have one baptism both for infants and for persons of mature age, it follows that infants also should be baptized for the remission of sins after the likeness of the transgression of Adam
Gregory Nazianzen Oration 40 ch 28 [325-389 AD]
"'Well enough,' some will say, 'for those who ask for baptism, but what do you have to say about those who are still children, and aware neither of loss nor of grace? Shall we baptize them too?' Certainly [I respond], if there is any pressing danger. Better that they be sanctified unaware, than
that they depart unsealed and uninitiated"
Gregory Nazianzen Oration 40 On Baptism par 17 (325-389 ad)
Have you an infant child? Do not let sin get any opportunity, but let him be sanctified from his childhood; from his very tenderest age let him be consecrated by the Spirit.
John Chrysostom Homily 23 on Acts ch 10 (347-407 ad)
Thus those who are yet Catechumens, because they make this their object, (how they may defer baptism to the last,) give themselves no concern about leading an upright life: and those who have been baptized (fwtisqentes), whether it be because they received it as children, or whether it be that having received it in sickness, and afterwards recovered glory of God), so it is, that neither do these make an earnest business of it
Augustine Two Letters of the Pelagians Book 3 ch 26 (354-430 ad)
But this I say, that according to the Holy Scriptures original sin is so manifest, and that this is put away in infants by the layer of regeneration is confirmed by such antiquity and authority of the catholic faith, notorious by such a clear concurrent testimony of the Church, that what is argued by the inquiry or affirmation of anybody concerning the origin of the soul, if it is contrary to this, cannot be true.
Augustine Homily 4 on the First Epistle of John par 11 (354-430 ad)
For if we are born without any sin, wherefore this running with infants to baptism that they may be released?
Augustine On Merits and Remission of Sin and Infant Baptism book 1 ch 25 (354-430 ad)
How then are mere infants called to repentance? How can such as they repent of anything? The answer to this is: If they must not be called penitents because they have not the sense of repenting, neither must they be called believers, because they likewise have not the sense of believing. But if they are rightly called believers, because they in a certain sense profess faith by the words of their parents, why are they not also held to be before that penitents when they are shown to renounce the devil and this world by the profession again of the same parents? The whole of this is done in hope, in the strength of the sacrament and of the divine grace which the Lord has bestowed upon the Church. But yet who knows not that the baptized infant fails to be benefited from what he received as a little child, if on coming to years of reason he fails to believe and to abstain from unlawful desires? If, however, the infant departs from the present life after he has received baptism, the guilt in which he was involved by original sin being done away, he shall be made perfect in that light of truth, which, remaining unchangeable for evermore, illumines the justified in the presence of their Creator
Augustine Letter from Augustine to Jerome on Original Sin ch 3 par 6 (354-430 ad)
I ask where can the soul, even of an infant snatched away by death, have contracted the guilt which, unless the grace of Christ has come to the rescue by that sacrament of baptism which is administered even to infants, involves it in condemnation?
Augustine of Hippo City of God Book 8 ch 4 (354-430 ad)
Who would not, then, in company with the infants presented for baptism, run to the grace of Christ, that so he might not be dismissed from the body?
Apostolic Constitutions book 6 par 15 (400ad)
Do you also baptize your infants, and bring them up in the nurture and admonition of God. For says He: "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not."
Gregory the Great Letters Book 4 letter 9 (540-604 ad)
Let not bishops presume to sign baptized infants a second time on the forehead with chrism; but let the presbyters anoint those who are to be baptized on the breast, that the bishops may afterwards anoint them on the forehead.
Gregory the Great Letters Book 1 letter 43 (540-604 ad)
it cannot be in any way reprehensible to immerse the infant in baptism either thrice or once, seeing that by three immersions the Trinity of persons, and in one the singleness of the Divinity may be denoted.
Constantinople/Trullo/Quinisext canon 84 (692 ad)
Following the canonical laws of the Fathers, we decree concerning infants, as often as they are found without trusty witnesses who say that they are undoubtedly baptized; and as often as they are themselves unable on account of their age to answer satisfactorily in respect to the initiatory mystery given to them; that they ought without any offence to be baptized, lest such a doubt might deprive them of the sanctification of such a purification.
Necessity of Baptism
Hermas The Shepherd of Hermas Book II, Commandment 4 ch 3.1-2 [60-120 AD]
"'I have heard, sir,' said I [to the Shepherd], 'from some teacher, that there is no other repentance except that which took place when we went down into the water and obtained the remission of our former sins.' He said to me, 'You have heard rightly, for so it is'" (The Shepherd 4:3:1–2 [A.D. 80]).
Tertullian On Baptism ch 1 [160-240 AD]
"Happy is our sacrament of water, in that, by washing away the sins of our early blindness, we are set free and admitted into eternal life. . . . [But] a viper of the [Gnostic] Cainite heresy, lately conversant in this quarter, has carried away a great number with her most venomous doctrine, making it her first aim to destroy baptism-which is quite in accordance with nature, for vipers and asps . . . themselves generally do live in arid and waterless places. But we, little fishes after the example of our [Great] Fish, Jesus Christ, are born in water, nor have we safety in any other way than by permanently abiding in water. So that most monstrous creature, who had no right to teach even sound doctrine, knew full well how to kill the little fishes-by taking them away from the water!"
Tertullian On Baptism ch 12 [160-240 AD]
"Without baptism, salvation is attainable by none"
Tertullian On Baptism ch 16 [160-240 AD]
"We have, indeed, a second [baptismal] font which is one with the former [water baptism]: namely, that of blood, of which the Lord says: 'I am to be baptized with a baptism' [Luke 12:50], when he had already been baptized. He had come through water and blood, as John wrote [1 John 5:6], so that he might be baptized with water and glorified with blood. . . . This is the baptism which replaces that of the fountain, when it has not been received, and restores it when it has been lost"
Tertullian On Baptism ch 13 (160-240 ad)
Here, then, those miscreants provoke questions. And so they say, "Baptism is not necessary for them to whom faith is sufficient; for withal, Abraham pleased God by a sacrament of no water, but of faith." But in all cases it is the later things which have a conclusive force, and the subsequent which prevail over the antecedent. Grant that, in days gone by, there was salvation by means of bare faith, before the passion and resurrection of the Lord. But now that faith has been enlarged, and is become a faith which believes in His nativity, passion, and resurrection, there has been an amplification added w the sacrament, viz., the sealing act of baptism; the clothing, in some sense, of the faith which before was bare, and which cannot exist now without its proper law. For the law of baptizing has been imposed, and the formula prescribed: "Go," He saith, "teach the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." The comparison with this law of that definition, "Unless a man have been reborn of water and Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of the heavens," has tied faith to the necessity of baptism.
Cyprian of Carthage Epistle 72 ch 21 [200-270 AD]
"[T]he baptism of public witness and of blood cannot profit a heretic unto salvation, because there is no salvation outside the Church."
Cyprian of Carthage Epistle 72 ch 22 [200-270 AD]
"[Catechumens who suffer martyrdom] are not deprived of the sacrament of baptism. Rather, they are baptized with the most glorious and greatest baptism of blood, concerning which the Lord said that he had another baptism with which he himself was to be baptized [Luke 12:50]"
Cyprian of Carthage epistle 75.12 (200-270 ad)
You have asked also, dearest son, what I thought of those who obtain God's grace in sickness and weakness, whether they are to be accounted legitimate Christians, for that they are not to be washed, but sprinkled, with the saving water.
Cyprian of Carthage epistle 75.2 (200-270 ad)
Peter also, showing this, set forth that the Church is one, and that only they who are in the Church can be baptized; and said, the like figure where-unto even baptism shall save you;" proving and attesting that the one ark of Noah was a type of the one Church. If, then, in that baptism of the world thus expiated and purified, he who was not in the ark of Noah could be saved by water, he who is not in the Church to which alone baptism is granted, can also now be quickened by baptism.
Cyprian of Carthage epistle 69.2 (200-270 ad)
It is also necessary that he should be anointed who is baptized; so that, having received the chrism, that is, the anointing, he may be anointed of God, and have in him the grace of Christ. Further, it is the Eucharist whence the baptized are anointed with the oil sanctified on the altar. But he cannot sanctify the creature of oil, who has neither an altar nor a church; whence also there can be no spiritual anointing among heretics, since it is manifest that the oil cannot be sanctified nor the Eucharist celebrated at all among them.
Hilary of Poitiers On the Trinity book 8 par 8 (300-367 ad)
These are not our own conjectures which we offer, nor do we falsely put together any of these things in order to deceive the ears of our bearers by perverting the meaning of words; but holding fast the form of sound teaching we know and preach the things which are true. For the Apostle shews that this unity of the faithful arises from the nature of the sacraments when be writes to the Galatians. Fear as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ. There is neither few nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. That these are one amid so great diversities of race, condition, sex,--is it from an agreement of will or from the unity of the sacrament, since these have one baptism and have all put on one Christ? What, therefore, will a concord of minds avail here when they are one in that they have put on one Christ through the nature of one baptism?
Cyril of Jerusalem Catechetical Lecture 3 par 10 (315-386 ad)
If any man receive not Baptism, he hath not salvation; except only Martyrs, who even without the water receive the kingdom. For when the Saviour, in redeeming the world by His Cross, was pierced in the side, He shed forth blood and water; that men, living in times of peace, might be baptized in water, and, in times of persecution, in their own blood. For martyrdom also the Saviour is wont to call a baptism, saying, Can ye drink rite cup which I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? And the Martyrs confess, by being made a spectacle unto the world, and to Angels, and to men; and thou wilt soon confess:--but it is not yet the time for thee to hear of this. 11. Jesus sanctified Baptism by being Himself baptized. If the Son of God was baptized, what godly man is he that despiseth Baptism? But He was baptized not that He might receive remission of sins, for He was sinless; but being sinless, He was baptized, that He might give to them that are baptized a divine and excellent grace.
Cyril of Jerusalem Catechetical Lecture 4 par 4 (315-386 ad)
It is not I that say this, but the Lord Jesus Christ, who has the power in this matter: for He saith, Except a man be born anew (and He adds the words) of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Neither doth he that is baptized with water, but not found worthy of the Spirit, receive the grace in perfection; nor if a man be virtuous in his deeds, but receive not the seal by water, shall he enter into the kingdom of heaven. A bold saying, but not mine, for it is Jesus who hath declared it: and here is the proof of the statement from Holy Scripture.
Gregory Nazianzen Oration 39 par 17 [325-389 AD]
"[Besides the baptisms associated with Moses, John, and Jesus] I know also a fourth baptism, that by martyrdom and blood, by which also Christ himself was baptized. This one is far more august than the others, since it cannot be defiled by later sins"
Gregory Nazianzen Oration 18 par 31 (325-389 ad)
After making some way on the voyage, a terrible storm came upon us, and such an one as my shipmates said they had but seldom seen before. While we were all in fear of a common death, spiritual death was what I was most afraid of; for I was in danger of departing in misery, being unbaptised, and I longed for the spiritual water among the waters of death.
Gregory of Nyssa Against Eunomius book 2 ch 4 (325-386 ad)
They cannot manage to show where in the Gospels the Lord said that we should believe on "the one and only true God:" unless they have some new Gospel. For the Gospels which are read in the churches continuously from ancient times to the present day, do not contain this saying which tells us that we should believe in or baptize into "the one and only true God," as these people say, but "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost." But as we were taught by the voice of the Lord, this we say, that the word "one" does not indicate the Father alone, but comprehends in its significance the Son with the Father, inasmuch as the Lord said, "I and My Father are one
John Chrysostom to Catechumens first instruction par 2 (347-407 ad)
For this purification is called the layer of regeneration. renewing of the Holy Ghost." It is called also illumination, and this St. Paul again has called it, "For call to remembrance the former days in which after ye were illuminated ye endured a great conflict of sufferings;" and again, "For it is impossible for those who were once illuminated, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and then fell away, to renew them again unto repentance." It is called also, baptism: "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ." It is called also burial: "For we were buried" saith he, hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh." It is called a cross: "Our old man was crucified with him that the body of sin might be done away."
John Chrysostom Homily 3 on 1 Corinthians 1:14 (347-407 ad)
Yea, again I say, great indeed is Baptism, and without baptism it is impossible to obtain the kingdom.
Augustine of Hippo On Baptism, Against the Donatist book IV ch 22.30 [354-430 AD]
"That the place of baptism is sometimes supplied by suffering is supported by a substantial argument which the same blessed Cyprian draws from the circumstance of the thief, to whom, although not baptized, it was said, 'Today you shall be with me in paradise' [Luke 23:43]. Considering this over and over again, I find that not only suffering for the name of Christ can supply for that which is lacking by way of baptism, but even faith and conversion of heart [i.e., baptism of desire] if, perhaps, because of the circumstances of the time, recourse cannot be had to the celebration of the mystery of baptism"
Augustine of Hippo On Baptism, Against the Donatist book 5 ch 28.39 [354-430 AD]
"When we speak of within and without in relation to the Church, it is the position of the heart that we must consider, not that of the body. . . . All who are within [the Church] in heart are saved in the unity of the ark [by baptism of desire]"
Augustine of Hippo City of God book 13 ch 7 [354-430 AD]
"Those who, though they have not received the washing of regeneration, die for the confession of Christ-it avails them just as much for the forgiveness of their sins as if they had been washed in the sacred font of baptism. For he that said, 'If anyone is not reborn of water and the Spirit, he will not enter the kingdom of heaven' [John 3:5], made an exception for them in that other statement in which he says no less generally, 'Whoever confesses me before men, I too will confess him before my Father, who is in heaven' [Matt. 10:32]"
Augustine of Hippo Merits and Remission of Sins and the Baptism of Infants book 1 ch 34 [354-430 AD]
[According to] apostolic tradition . . . the churches of Christ hold inherently that without baptism and participation at the table of the Lord it is impossible for any man to attain either to the kingdom of God or to salvation and life eternal. This is the witness of Scripture too"
Augustine of Hippo Sermons to Catechumens on the Creed par 16 [354-430 AD]
"There are three ways in which sins are forgiven: in baptism, in prayer, and in the greater humility of penance; yet God does not forgive sins except to the baptized"
Leo the Great, Pope [395-461 AD] Letter 15 par 10
"And because of the transgression of the first man, the whole stock of the human race was tainted; no one can be set free from the state of the old Adam save through Christ's sacrament of baptism, in which there are no distinctions between the reborn, as the apostle [Paul] says, 'For as many of you as were baptized in Christ did put on Christ; there is neither Jew nor Greek . . . ' [Gal. 3:27–28]"
Gennadius of Marseilles Illustrious Men ch 18 (430-500 ad)
justified by faith, they are raised from the dead bodies of their sins through baptism to the service of eternal life.
The Saving Nature Of Baptism
Barnabas Epistle of Barnabas ch 11:1–10 [10-70 AD]
"Regarding [baptism], we have the evidence of Scripture that Israel would refuse to accept the washing which confers the remission of sins and would set up a substitution of their own instead [Ps. 1:3–6]. Observe there how he describes both the water and the cross in the same figure. His meaning is,
'Blessed are those who go down into the water with their hopes set on the cross.' Here he is saying that after we have stepped down into the water, burdened with sin and defilement, we come up out of it bearing fruit, with reverence in our hearts and the hope of Jesus in our souls" (Letter of Barnabas [A.D. 74]).
Clement Second Epistle ch 6:7–9 [A.D. 150]
"For, if we do the will of Christ, we shall find rest; but if otherwise, then nothing shall deliver us from eternal punishment, if we should disobey his commandments. . . . [W]ith what confidence shall we, if we keep not our baptism pure and undefiled, enter into the kingdom of God? Or who shall be our advocate, unless we be found having holy and righteous works?'
Clement of Rome Recognitions book 9 ch 7 (150 ad)
For they represent these CLIMACTERICS as times of danger, in which one sometimes is destroyed, sometimes is not destroyed, not knowing that it is not the course of the stars, but the operation of demons, that regulates these things; and those demons, being anxious to confirm the error of astrology, deceive men to sin by mathematical calculations, so that when they suffer the punishment of sin, either by the permission of God or by legal sentence, the astrologer may seem to have spoken truth. And yet they are deceived even in this; for if men be quickly turned to repentance, and remember and fear the future judgment, the punishment of death is remitted to those who are converted to God by the grace of baptism.
Clement Recognitions book 6 ch 15 (150 ad)
and after the fast he conferred on me the baptism of ever-flowing water, in the fountains which adjoin the sea. And when, for the grace of regeneration divinely conferred upon me, we had joyfully kept holiday with our brethren,
Ignatius of Antioch Epistle to Polycarp ch 6 [50-117 AD]
"Let none of you turn deserter. Let your baptism be your armor; your faith, your helmet; your love, your spear; your patient endurance, your panoply" (Letter to Polycarp 6 [A.D. 110]).
Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians ch 18 (354-430 ad)
He was born and baptized, that by His passion He might purify the water.
Hermas The Shepherd of Hermas (Book II, Commandment 4 ch 3) [60-120 AD]
And I said to him, "I should like to continue my questions." maintain that there is no other repentance than that which takes place, when we descended into the water and received remission of our former sins." He said to me, "That was sound doctrine which you heard; for that is really the case.
Justin Martyr Fragments par 10 (100-165 ad)
By that which took place in the running water, in which the wood and the hyssop and the scarlet were dipped, is set forth the bloody passion of Christ on the cross for the salvation of those who are sprinkled with the Spirit, and the water, and the blood.
Irenaeus of Lyon Against Heresies Book 1 ch 21.2 (120-180 ad)
since this baptism instituted by the visible Jesus was for the remission of sins,
Ireneaus of Lyons Against Heresies Book 5 ch 15.5 (120-180 ad)
For the Lord who formed the visual powers is He who made the whole man, carrying out the will of the Father. And inasmuch as man, with respect to that formation which, was after Adam, having fallen into transgression, needed the layer of regeneration, [the Lord] said to him clay, "Go to Siloam, and wash;" thus restoring to him both [his perfect] confirmation, and that regeneration which takes place by means of the layer. And for this reason when he was washed he came seeing, that he might both know Him who had fashioned him, and that man might learn [to know] Him who has conferred upon him life.
Clement of Alexandria The instructor book 1 ch 6 (150-200 ad)
Being baptized, we are illuminated; illuminated, we become sons; being made sons, we are made perfect; being made perfect, we are made immortal. "I," says He, "have said that ye are gods, and all sons of the Highest." This work is variously called grace, and illumination, and perfection, and washing: washing, by which we cleanse away our sins; grace, by which the penalties accruing to transgressions are remitted; and illumination, by which that holy light of salvation is beheld, that is, by which we see God clearly. Now we call that perfect which wants nothing.
Clement of Alexandria The instructor book 1 ch 6 (150-200 ad)
for the purpose of cleansing, as baptism for the remission of sins.
Hippolytus Discourse on the Holy Theophany par 8 [170-236 AD]
"The Father of immortality sent the immortal Son and Word into the world, who came to man in order to wash him with water and the Spirit; and he, begetting us again to incorruption of soul and body, breathed into us the Spirit of life, and endued us with an incorruptible panoply. If,therefore, man has become immortal, he will also be God. And if he is made God by water and the Holy Spirit after the regeneration of the laver he is found to be also joint-heir with Christ after the resurrection from the dead. Wherefore I preach to this effect: Come, all ye kindreds of the nations, to the immortality of the baptism"
Hyppolytus Discourse on the Holy Theophany par 10 (170-236 ad)
The Father of immortality sent the immortal Son and Word into the world, who came to man in order to wash him with water and the Spirit; and He, begetting us again to incorruption of soul and body, breathed into us the breath (spirit) of life, and endued us with an incorruptible panoply. If, therefore, man has become immortal, he will also be God. And if he is made God by water and the Holy Spirit after the regeneration of the layer he is found to be also joint-heir with Christ after the resurrection from the dead. Wherefore I preach to this effect: Come, all ye kindreds of the nations, to the immortality of the baptism.
Hyppolytus Discourse on the Holy Theophany par 10 (170-236 ad)
and His manifestation by baptism, and the new birth that was to be to all men, and the regeneration by the layer
Tertullian On Baptism ch1 [160-240 AD]
"Happy is our sacrament of water, in that, by washing away the sins of our early blindness, we are set free and admitted into eternal life. . . . [But] a viper of the [Gnostic] Cainite
heresy, lately conversant in this quarter, has carried away a great number with her most venomous doctrine, making it her first aim to destroy baptism-which is quite in accordance with nature, for vipers and asps . . . themselves generally do live in arid and waterless places. But we, little fishes after the example of our [Great] Fish, Jesus Christ, are born in water, nor have we safety in any other way than by permanently abiding in water. So that most monstrous creature, who had no right to teach even sound doctrine, knew full well how to kill the little fishes-by taking them away from the water!"
Tertullian On Baptism ch12.1 [160-240 AD]
"[N]o one can attain salvation without baptism, especially in view of the declaration of the Lord, who says, 'Unless a man shall be born of water, he shall not have life'"
Tertullian On Baptism ch 7 (160-240 ad)
Thus, too, in our case, the unction runs cornally, (i.e. on the body,) but profits spiritually; in the same way as the act of baptism itself too is carnal, in that we are plunged in water, but the effect spiritual, in that we are freed from sins.
Tertullian Prescription Against Heretics ch 36 (160- 240 ad)
This she seals with the water (of baptism), arrays with the Holy Ghost, feeds with the Eucharist, cheers with martyrdom, and against such a discipline thus (maintained) she admits no gainsayer
Tertullian Against Marcion Book 4 ch 34 (160-240 ad)
If, however, you deny that divorce is in any way permitted by Christ, how is it that you on your side destroy marriage, not uniting man and woman, nor admitting to the sacrament of baptism and of the eucharist those who have been united in marriage anywhere else, unless they should agree together to repudiate the fruit of their marriage, and so the very Creator Himself?
Cyprian of Carthage Treatise 2 par 23 (200-270 ad)
All indeed who attain to the divine gift and inheritance by the sanctification of baptism, therein put off the old man by the grace of the saving layer, and, renewed by the Holy Spirit from the filth of the old contagion, are purged by a second nativity.
Cyprian of Carthage Treatise 9 par 6 (200-270 ad)
The Lord is baptized by the servant; and He who is about to bestow remission of sins, does not Himself disdain to wash His body in the layer of regeneration.
Cyprian of Carthage Treatise 12 par 116 (200-270 ad)
That God is more loved by him who has had many sins forgiven in baptism. 
Cyprian of Carthage epistle 74 par 14 [200-270 AD]
For the second birth, which occurs in baptism, begets sons of God
Cyprian of Carthage Treatise 12 par 65 (200-270 ad)
That all sins are put away in baptism.
Cyprian of Carthage epistle 72 par 22 (200-270 ad)
they certainly are not deprived of the sacrament of baptism who are baptized with the most glorious and greatest baptism of blood, concerning which the Lord also said, that He had in the Gospel, that those who are baptized in their own blood, and sanctified by suffering, are perfected, and obtain the grace of the divine promise, when He speaks to the thief believing and confessing in His very passion, and promises that he should be with Himself in paradise
Cyprian of Carthage epistle 73 par 6 (200-270 ad)
But what a thing it is, to assert and contend that they who are not born in the Church can be the sons of God! For the blessed apostle sets forth and proves that baptism is that wherein the old man dies and the new man is born, saying, "He saved us by the washing of regeneration." But if regeneration is in the washing, that is, in baptism,…. (titus 3:5)
Cyprian of Carthage epistle 74 par 17 (200-270 ad)
by the sacrament of baptism, the filth of the old man is washed away by them, that they pardon the former mortal sins, that they make sons of God by heavenly regeneration, and renew to eternal life by the sanctification of the divine layer
Cyprian of Carthage Treatise 4 par 24 (200-270 ad)
How great is the sin which cannot even be washed away by a baptism of blood--how heinous the crime which cannot be expiated by martyrdom!
Cyprian of Carthage Treatise 4 par 12 (200-270 ad)
Well, because He says, "Be ye holy, even as I am holy," we ask and entreat, that we who were sanctified in baptism may continue in that which we have begun to be.
Seventh Council of Carthage (257 ad)
Novatus of Thamugada said: Although we know that all the Scriptures give witness concerning the saving baptism, still we ought to declare our faith, that heretics and schismatics who come to the Church, and appear to have been falsely baptized, ought to be baptized in the everlasting fountain; and therefore, according to the testimony of the Scriptures, and according to the decree of our colleagues, men of most holy memory
Seventh Council of Carthage (257 ad)
Victor of Gor said: Since sins are not remitted save in the baptism of the Church, he who admits a heretic to communion without baptism does two things against reason:
Gregory Thaumaturgus Four Homilies 4th homily (213-275ad)
There is a mystery, which gives in these waters the representation of the heavenly streams of the regeneration of men.
Gregory Thaumaturgus Four Homilies 3rd homily (213-275ad)
Baptize me, who am destined to baptize those who believe on me with water, and with the Spirit, and with fire: with water, capable of washing away the defilement of sins; with the Spirit, capable of making the earthly spiritual; with fire, naturally fitted to consume the thorns of transgressions
Novatian Treatise Concerning the Trinity ch 10 (220- 270ad)
Because in baptism and in the dissolution of death the flesh is raised up and returns to salvation, by being recalled to the condition of innocency when the mortality of guilt is put away.
Aphrahat/Aphraates Demonstration VI (Of Monks) par 14.1 [280-367 AD]
"From baptism we receive the Spirit of Christ. At that same moment in which the priests invoke the Spirit, heaven opens, and he descends and rests upon the waters, and those who are baptized are clothed in him. The Spirit is absent from all those who are born of the flesh, until they come to the water of rebirth, and then they receive the Holy Spirit. . . . [I]n the second birth, that through baptism, they receive the Holy Spirit"
Victorinus Commentary on the Apocalypse of John (240-303ad)
Moreover, they ask that their reproach may be taken away - that is, that they may be cleansed from their sins: for the reproach is the original sin which is taken away in baptism, and they begin to be called Christian men, which is, "Let thy name be called upon us."
Eusebius of Caesarea Church History book 10 ch 1 (295-340 ad)
'For,' it is said, 'water hath broken out in the wilderness,' the fountain of the saving bath of divine regeneration.
Eusebius of Caesarea Church History book 10 ch 1 (295-340 ad)
These were erected by our most peaceful Solomon, the maker of the temple of God, for those who still needed purification and sprinkling by water and the Holy Spirit, so that the prophecy quoted above is no longer a word merely, but a fact; for now it has also come to pass that in truth 'the biter glory of this house is greater than the former.
Athanasius Discourse III Against the Arians par 33 [296-373 AD]
 "[A]s we are all from earth and die in Adam, so being regenerated from above of water and Spirit, in the Christ we are all quickened"
Archelaus Acts of the Disputation with the Heresia par 50
If He was not baptized, neither is any of us baptized. But if there is no baptism, neither will there be any remission of sins, but every man will die in his own sins. [R] [+] Manes said: Is baptism, then, given on account of the remission of sins? [+] Archelaus said: Certainly.
Ephraim the Syrian For the Feast of the Epiphany par 5 (306-373 ad)
The cloud overshadowed and kept off the burning heat from the camp;--it showed a symbol of the Holy Spirit, which overshadows you in baptism--tempering the flaming fire that it harm not your bodies.
Theodotus Excerpts par 8 (300 ad)
Since baptism is performed by water and the Spirit as a protection against the twofold fire,--that which lays hold of what is visible, and that which lays hold of what is invisible; and of necessity, there being an immaterial element of water and a material, is it a protection against the twofold fire. And the earthly water cleanses the body; but the heavenly water, by reason of its being immaterial and invisible, is an emblem of the Holy Spirit, who is the purifier of what is invisible, as the water of the Spirit, as the other of the body.
Cyril of Jerusalem Catechetical Lecture 1 paragraph 2 (315-386 ad)
For they to whom the rough garment s of their sins still clings are found on the left hand, because they came not to the grace of God which is given through Christ at the new birth of Baptism: new birth I mean not of bodies, but the spiritual new birth of the soul.
Cyril of Jerusalem Catechetical Lecture ch3.10 [315-386 AD]
"If any man does not receive baptism, he does not have salvation. The only exception is the martyrs, who, even without water, will receive baptism, for the Savior calls martyrdom a baptism [Mark 10:38]. . . . Bearing your sins, you go down into the water; but the calling down of grace seals your soul and does not permit that you afterwards be swallowed up by the fearsome dragon. You go down dead in your sins, and you come up made alive in righteousness"
Cyril of Jerusalem Catechetical Lecture 18 par 20 (315-386 ad)
And the stains of sin also remain in the body; for as when a wound has gone deep into the body, even if there has been a healing, the scar remains, so sin wounds soul and body, and the marks of its scars remain in all; and they are removed only from those who receive the washing of Baptism. The past wounds therefore of soul and body God heals by Baptism;
Cyril of Jerusalem Catechetical Lecture 16 par 26 (315-386 ad)
For it is written, And Jesus the son of Nun was filled with a spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him. Thou seest the figure everywhere the same in the Old and New Testament;--in the days of Moses, the Spirit was given by laying on of hands; and by laying on of hands Peter also gives the Spirit. And on thee also, who art about to be baptized, shall His grace come;
Cyril of Jerusalem Catechetical Lecture 16 par30 (315-386 ad)
And other texts thou heardest before, in what was said about Baptism; Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and the rest; a new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and then immediately, And I will put My Spirit within you. And again. The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord.
Gregory of Nyssa Letter 2 (325-386 ad)
Since, then, in the case of those who are regenerate from death to eternal life, it is through the Holy Trinity that the life-giving power is bestowed on those who with faith are deemed worthy of the grace, and in like manner the grace is imperfect, if any one, whichever it be, of the names of the Holy Trinity be omitted in the saving baptism--for the sacrament of regeneration is not completed in the Son and the Father alone without the Spirit: nor is the perfect boon of life imparted to Baptism in the Father and the Spirit, if the name of the Son be suppressed: nor is the grace of that Resurrection accomplished in the Father and the Son, if the Spirit be left out :--for this reason we rest all our hope, and the persuasion of the salvation of our souls, upon the three Persons, recognized by these names;
Gregory Nazianzen Oration 18 par 13 (325-389 ad)
He was approaching that regeneration by water and the Spirit, by which we confess to God the formation and completion of the Christlike man, and the transformation and reformation from the earthy to the Spirit
Gregory Nazianzen Oration 40 par 7 [325-389 AD]
"Such is the grace and power of baptism; not an overwhelming of the world as of old, but a purification of
Gregory Nazianzen Oration 40 par 33 (325-389 ad)
Two sins are on your conscience, the one that you made a dishonest gain, the other that you retained the gains; you received forgiveness for the one, but in respect of the other you are still in sin, for you have still possession of what belongs to another; and your sin has not been put to an end, but only divided by the time which has elapsed. Part of it was perpetrated before your Baptism, but part remains after your Baptism; for Baptism carries forgiveness of Past, not of Present sins; and its purification must not be played with, but be genuinely impressed upon you;
Gregory Nazianzen Oration 40 par 7 (325-389 ad)
Such is the grace and power of baptism; not an overwhelming of the world as of old, but a purification of the sins of each individual, and a complete cleansing from all the bruises and stains of sin.
Gregory Nazianzen Oration 40 par 8 (325-389 ad)
And since we are double-made, I mean of body and soul, and the one part is visible, the other invisible, so the cleansing also is twofold, by water and the spirit; the one received visibly in the body, the other concurring with it invisibly and apart from the body; the one typical, the other real and cleansing the depths
Gregory Nazianzen Oration 40 par 6 (325-389 ad)
Light beside these in a special sense is the illumination of Baptism of which we are now speaking; for it contains a great and marvellous sacrament of our salvation
Basil Letter de Spiritu Sancto ch 10.26 (329-379 ad)
And in what way are we saved? Plainly because we were regenerate through the grace given in our baptism. How else could we be? And after recognising that this salvation is established through the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, shall we fling away "that form of doctrine" which we received?
Basil Letter de Spiritu Sancto ch 10.24 (329-379 ad)
For if our Lord, when enjoining the baptism of salvation, charged His disciples to baptize all nations in the name "of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost," not disdaining fellowship with Him, and these men allege that we must not rank Him with the Father and the Son, is it not clear that they openly withstand the commandment of God?
Ambrose of Milan On the Holy Spirit book 1 ch 6 (340-397 ad)
Although we are baptized with water and the Spirit, the latter is much superior to the former, and is not therefore to be separated from the Father and the Son.
Ambrose of Milan On the Holy Spirit book 1 ch 3 (340-397 ad)
So those baptized in the Name of Christ are held to be baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Holy Spirit, if, that is, there is belief in the Three Persons, otherwise the baptism will be null.
Ambrose of Milan On the Mysteries par 32 (340-397 ad)
Peter was clean, but he must wash his feet, for he had sin by succession from the first man, when the serpent overthrew him and persuaded him to sin. His feet were therefore washed, that hereditary sins might be done away, for our own sins are remitted through baptism.
Ambrose of Milan On the Duties of the Clergy Book 1 Ch 50 par 257 (340-397 ad)
But we must learn, that in baptism sin can be forgiven, but law cannot be abolished.
Ambrose of Milan Concerning Virgins book 3 par 34 (340-397 ad)
And this is the baptism whereby sins are forgiven, and kingdoms are sought. This is a baptism after which no one sins. Let the water receive us, which is wont to regenerate.    
Jerome Letter 17 par 3 (347-420 ad)
Every day I am asked for my confession of faith; as though when I was regenerated in baptism I had made none.
Jerome Apology for himself against Rufinius book 1 par 32 (347-420 ad)
I am told, to take another point, that one of his followers, Chrysogonus, finds fault with me for having said that in baptism all sins are put away
John Chrysostom Homily 7 on Acts (347-407 ad) on acts 2:38
"Repent," says he, "and be bap tized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ." (v. 38.) He does not yet say, Believe, but, "Be baptized every one of you." For this they received in baptism. Then he speaks of the gain; "For the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." If you are to receive a gift, if baptism conveys remission, why delay?
John Chrysostom to Catechumens first instruction par 2 (347-407 ad)
For this purification is called the layer of regeneration. renewing of the Holy Ghost." It is called also illumination, and this St. Paul again has called it, "For call to remembrance the former days in which after ye were illuminated ye endured a great conflict of sufferings;" and again, "For it is impossible for those who were once illuminated, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and then fell away, to renew them again unto repentance." It is called also, baptism: "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ." It is called also burial: "For we were buried" saith he, hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh." It is called a cross: "Our old man was crucified with him that the body of sin might be done away."
John Chrysostom On Priesthood book 3 pa 5 (347-407 ad)
For transparent madness it is to despise so great a dignity, without which it is not possible to obtain either our own salvation, or the good things which have been promised to us. For if no one can enter into the kingdom of Heaven except he be regenerate through water and the Spirit, and he who does not eat the flesh of the Lord and drink His blood is excluded from eternal life, and if all these things are accomplished only by means of those holy hands, I mean the hands of the priest, how will any one, without these, be able to escape the fire of hell, or to win those crowns which are reserved for the victorious?
John Chrysostom Homily 6 on Second Corinthians (347-407 ad)
He says at last what is indeed enough to give them wings; the one "killeth," the other is punished; here, he that hath sins cometh and is baptized and is made righteous, and being made righteous, he liveth, being delivered from the death of sin.
John Chrysostom Homily 30 on Second Corinthians (347-407 ad)
For, writing to the Corinthians, he says, "But ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God." (1 Cor. vi. 11.) What then, tell me? were these not baptized into the Father? Then assuredly they were neither washed nor sanctified. But did they baptize them? doubtless then just as also they did baptize. How then did he not say, 'Ye are washed in the name of the Father?'
John Chrysostom Homily 29 on First Corinthians (347-407 ad)
For since on their coming over from idols, without any clear knowledge or training in the ancient Scriptures, they at once on their baptism received the Spirit, yet the Spirit they saw not, for It is invisible; therefore God's grace bestowed some sensible proof of that energy.
John Chrysostom Homily 24 on Acts ch 10 (347-407 ad)
and they have believed that assuredly baptism is the remission of sins, then forthwith comes the Spirit upon them. Now this is done by God's so disposing it as to provide for Peter a mighty ground of justification
John Chrysostom Homily 10 on Romans (347-407 ad)
Ver. 3, 4. "Know ye not," he says, "my brethren, that so many of us as were baptized into Christ were baptized into His death? therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death."
What does being "baptized into His Death" mean? That it is with a view to our dying as He did. For Baptism is the Cross. What the Cross then, and Burial, is to Christ, that Baptism hath been to us, even if not in the same respects. For He died Himself and was buried in the Flesh, but we have done both to sin. Wherefore he does not say, planted together in His Death, but in the likeness of His Death
John Chrysostom Homily 11 on Philippians (347-407 ad)
He hath freely given to us power, strength for works of virtue; He hath freely given to us readiness, patience; He hath freely given to us the Holy Ghost in our baptism; if we waste these things we shall henceforth be in want
Augustine of Hippo Enchiridion Chapter 64 [354-430 AD]
For, setting aside the grace of baptism, which is given as an antidote to original sin, so that what our birth imposes upon us, our new birth relieves us from (this grace, however, takes away all the actual sins also that have been committed in thought, word, and deed):
Augustine Against Petilian the Donatist book 2 ch 2 par 5 (354-430 ad)
But when the water of baptism is given to any one in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, it is neither ours nor yours, but His of whom it was said to John, "Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost."
Augustine of Hippo City of God Book 1 ch 27 (354-430 ad)
If this reason were a good one, then we should be impelled to exhort men at once to destroy themselves, as soon as they have been washed in the laver of regeneration, and have received the forgiveness of all sin
Augustine Two Letters of the Pelagians Book 4 ch 17 (354-430 ad)
Wherefore in baptism all sins are forgiven, and, by that very washing of water in the word, the Church is set forth in Christ without spot or wrinkle; and unless it were baptized, it would fruitlessly say, in it absolutely no spot or wrinkle.
Augustine Tractate 15 on the gospel of John (354-430 ad)
"Even as Christ," saith he, "loved the Church, and gave Himself for it, purifying it with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." Purifying it. How? "With the washing of water by the Word." What is the baptism of Christ? The washing of water by the Word. Take away the water, it is no baptism; take away the Word, it is no baptism.
Leo the Great Sermon 9 (395-461 ad)
For against them, dearly beloved, it becomes indeed the whole world and the whole Church everywhere to put on the armour of Faith: but your devotion ought to be foremost in this work, who in your progenitors learnt the Gospel of the Cross of Christ from the very mouth of the most blessed Apostles Peter and Paul. Men must not be allowed to lie hid who do not believe that the law given through Moses, in which GOD is shown to be the Creator of the Universe, ought to be received: who speak against the Prophets and the Holy Ghost, dare in their damnable profanity to reject the Psalms of David which are sung through the universal Church with all reverence, deny the birth of the LORD Christ, according to the flesh, say that His Passion and Resurrection was fictitious, not true, and deprive the baptism of regeneration of all its power as a means of grace. Nothing with them is holy, nothing entire, nothing true.
Apostolic Constitutions book 2 par 33 (400ad)
who have regenerated you by water, and endued you with the fulness of the Holy Spirit, who have fed you with the word as with milk, who have nourished yon with doctrine, who have confirmed you by their admonitions, who have imparted to you the saving body and precious blood of Christ, who have loosed you from your sins, who have made you partakers of the holy and sacred eucharist,
Pope Gregory the Great Pastoral Care Book 3 ch 30 (540-604 ad)
Hence Peter, when he saw some affrighted by consideration of their evil deeds, admonished them, saying, Repent, and be baptized every one of you (Acts ii. 38). For, being about to speak of baptism, he spoke first of the lamentations of penitence; that they should first bathe themselves in the water of their own affliction, and afterwards wash themselves in the sacrament of baptism. With what conscience, then, can those who neglect to weep for their past misdeeds live secure of pardon, when the chief pastor of the Church himself believed that penitence must be added even to this Sacrament which chiefly extinguishes sins?
Born Again
Justin Martyr First Apology ch 61 [100-165 AD]
"As many as are persuaded and believe that what we [Christians] teach and say is true, and undertake to be ableto live accordingly . . . are brought by us where there is water, and are regenerated in the same manner in which we were ourselves regenerated. For, in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with water. For Christ also said, 'Except you be born again, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven' [John 3:3]"
Clement Recognitions (Book VI) ch 9 [A.D. 221]
"But you will perhaps say, 'What does the baptism of water contribute toward the worship of God?' In the first place, because that which has pleased God is fulfilled. In the second place, because when you are regenerated and born again of water and of God, the frailty of your former birth, which you have through men, is cut off, and so . . . you shall be able to attain salvation; but otherwise it is impossible. For thus has the true prophet [Jesus] testified to us with an oath: 'Verily, I say to you, that unless a man is born again of water . . . he shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven'"
Clement of Rome Recognitions book 6 ch 9 (150 ad)
In the second place, because, when yon are regenerated and born again of water and of God, the frailty of your former birth, which you have through men, is cut off, and so at length you shall be able to attain salvation; hut otherwise it is impossible
Irenaeus of Lyons Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenaeus 34 [120-180 AD]
"'And [Naaman] dipped himself . . . seven times in the Jordan' [2 Kgs. 5:14]. It was not for nothing that Naaman of old, when suffering from leprosy, was purified upon his being baptized, but [this served] as an indication to us. For as we are lepers in sin, we are made clean, by means of the sacred water and the invocation of the Lord, from our old transgressions, being spiritually regenerated as newborn babes, even as the Lord has declared: 'Except a man be born again through water and the Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven' [John 3:5]"
Theophilus To Autolycus (Book II) ch 16 [150-200 AD]
"Moreover, those things which were created from the waters were blessed by God, so that this might also be a sign that men would at a future time receive repentance and remission of sins through water and the bath of regeneration-all who proceed to the truth and are born again and receive a blessing from God"
Cyprian of Carthage Epistle 71 par 1 [200-270 AD]
"[When] they receive also the baptism of the Church . . . then finally can they be fully sanctified and be the sons of God . . . since it is written, 'Except a man be born again of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God'"
Cyprian of Carthage Treatise 12 par 25 (200-270 ad)
That unless a man have been baptized and born again, he cannot attain to the kingdom of God.
Cyprian of Carthage epistle 72 par 22 (200-270 ad)
because he had not previously been born again of water
Hilary of Poitiers On the Trinity book 8 par 9 (300-367 ad)
Or, again, since he who plants and he who waters are one, are they not one because, being themselves born again in one baptism they form a ministry of one regenerating baptism?
Cyril of Jerusalem Catechetical Lecture 3 par 4 [315-386 AD]
"Since man is of a twofold nature, composed of body and soul, the purification also is twofold: the corporeal for the corporeal and the incorporeal for the incorporeal. The water cleanses the body, and the Spirit seals the soul. . . . When you go down into the water, then, regard not simply the water, but look for salvation through the power of the Spirit. For without both you cannot attain to perfection. It is not who says this, but the Lord Jesus Christ, who has the power in this matter. And he says, 'Unless a man be born again,' and he adds the words 'of water and of the Spirit,' 'he cannot enter the kingdom of God.' He that is baptized with water, but is not found worthy of the Spirit, does not receive the grace in perfection. Nor, if a man be virtuous in his deeds, but does not receive the seal by means of the water, shall he enter the kingdom of heaven. A bold saying, but not mine; for it is Jesus who has declared it"
Gregory of Nyssa Against Eunomius book 2 ch 8 (325-386 ad)
purposing to change us from corruption to incorruption by the birth from above, the birth by water and the Spirit, Himself led the way in this birth, drawing down upon the water, by His own baptism, the Holy Spirit; so that in all things He became the first-born of those who are spiritually born again, and gave the name of brethren to those who partook in a birth like to His own by water and the Spirit. But since it was also meet that He should implant in our nature the power of rising again from the dead, He becomes the in that He first by His own act loosed the pains of death(9), so that His new birth from the dead was made a way for us also, since the pains of death, wherein we were held, were loosed by the resurrection of the Lord. Thus, just as by having shared in the washing of regeneration(1)
Basil Letter de Spiritu Sancto ch 15.35 (329-379 ad)
This then is what it is to be born again of water and of the Spirit, the being made dead being effected in the water, while our life is wrought in us through the Spirit. In three immersions, then, and with three invocations, the great mystery of baptism is performed, to the end that the type of death may be fully figured, and that by the tradition of the divine knowledge the baptized may have their souls enlightened.
Ambrose of Milan On the Mysteries par 20 (340-397 ad)
Therefore read that the three witnesses in baptism, the water, the blood, and the Spirit, are one, for if you take away one of these, the Sacrament of Baptism does not exist. For what is water without the cross of Christ? A common element, without any sacramental effect. Nor, again, is there the Sacrament of Regeneration without water: "For except a man be born again of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Now, even the catechumen believes in the cross of the Lord Jesus, wherewith he too is signed; but unless he be baptized in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, he cannot receive remission of sins nor gain the gift of spiritual grace.
Jerome Against Jovinianus book 1 par 3 (347-420 ad)
He endeavours to show that "they who with full assurance of faith have been born again in baptism, cannot be overthrown by the devil."
John Chrysostom to Catechumens first instruction par 3 (347-407 ad)
And for what reason, says one, if the layer take away all our sins, is it called, not a layer of remission of sins, nor a laver of cleansing, but a laver of regeneration? Because it does not simply take away our sins, nor simply cleanse us from our faults, but so as if we were born again.
John Chrysostom Homily 2 on Second Corinthians (347-407 ad)
"That He would count them worthy in due season of the regeneration of the laver, of the remission of sins." For we ask some things to come now, some to come hereafter; and we expound the doctrine n of the layer, and in asking instruct them to know its power. For what is said thenceforth familiarizes them to know already that what is there done is a regeneration, and that we are born again of the waters, just as of the womb; that they say not after Nicodemus, "How can one be born when he is old! Can he enter into his mother's womb, and be born again?" Then, because he had spoken of "remission of sins," he confirmeth this by the words next following, "of the clothing of incorruption;" for he that putteth on sonship plainly becometh incorruptible.
Augustine On Baptism Against the Donatists book 1 ch 10 par 13 (354-430 ad)
But if we say that it does not make them sons, "Why then," say they, "do you not cause those who pass from us to you to be born again in baptism, after they have been baptized with us, if they are not thereby born as yet?"
Augustine On Merits and Remission of Sin and Infant Baptism book 1 ch 21 (354-430 ad)
Hence men are on the one hand born in the flesh liable to sin and death from the first Adam, and on the other hand are born again in baptism associated with the righteousness and eternal life of the second Adam
Augustine Against Petilian the Donatist book 1 ch 16 (354-430 ad)
That man is dead who has not been worthy to be born again in true baptism
Jesus sanctified Baptism with his
Archelaus Acts of the Disputation with the Heresia par 50 (300 ad)
If He was not baptized, neither is any of us baptized. But if there is no baptism, neither will there be any remission of sins, but every man will die in his own sins. [R] [+] Manes said: Is baptism, then, given on account of the remission of sins? [+] Archelaus said: Certainly.
Theodotus Excerpts par 7 (300 ad)
Now, regeneration is by water and spirit, as was all creation: "For the Spirit of God moved on the abyss." And for this reason the Saviour was baptized, though not Himself needing to be so, in order that He might consecrate the whole water for those who were being regenerated.
Ephriam of Syria on Epiphany (resp Let the bodies rejoice which the Evil One had made naked, that in the water they have put on their glory!) par 2 (306-373 ad)
Our Lord opened up Baptism--in the midst of Jordan the blessed river.--The height and the depth rejoiced in Him;--He brings forth the first fruits of His peace from the water,--for they are first fruits, the fruits of Baptism.—
Jerome dialogue against the Luciferians par 6 (347-420 ad)
Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, of whom it is less correct to say that He was cleansed by washing than that by the washing of Himself He cleansed all waters, no sooner raised His head from the stream than He received the Holy Ghost.
Other
Acts of Xanthippe and Polyxena par 14 (270 ad)
Therefore the great Paul straightway taking her hand, went into the house of Philotheus, and baptised her in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Ghost.
Augustine Against Petilian the Donatist book 2 ch 23 par 55 (354-430 ad)
And yet, if you are made to suffer for this great impiety by the judgment of God, you say that you are even baptized in your blood; so that you are not content with feeling no remorse for your division, but you must even glory. in your punishment.
Augustine Tractate 5 on the gospel of John (354-430 ad)
For those whom John baptized, John baptized; those whom Judas baptized, Christ baptized. In like manner, then, they whom a drunkard baptized, those whom a murderer baptized, those whom an adulterer baptized, if it was the baptism of Christ, were baptized by Christ. I do not fear the adulterer, the drunkard, or the murderer, because I give heed unto the dove, through whom it is said to me, "This is He which baptizeth."
Augustine Letter 5 (354-430 ad)
He has bound His people under the new dispensation together in fellowship by sacraments, which are in number very few, in observance most easy, and in significance most excellent, as baptism solemnized in the name of the Trinity, the Communion of His Body and Blood, and such other things as are prescribed in the canonical Scriptures, with the exception of those enactments which were a yoke of bondage to God's ancient people, suited to their state of heart and to the times of the prophets, and which are found in the five books of Moses. As to those other things which we hold on the authority, not of Scripture, but of tradition, and which are observed throughout the whole world, it may be understood that they are held as approved and instituted either by the apostles themselves, or by plenary Councils, whose authority in the Church is most useful, e.g. the annual commemoration, by special solemnities, of the Lord's passion, resurrection, and ascension, and of the descent of the Holy Spirit from heaven, and whatever else is in like manner observed by the whole Church wherever it has been established.
Sozomen Ecclesial History Book 6 Ch 26 (375-477 ad)
They asserted that baptism ought not to be administered in the name of the Trinity, but in the name of the death of Christ. It appears that Eunomius broached no new opinion on the subject, but was from the beginning firmly attached to the sentiments of Arius, and remained so. After his elevation to the bishopric of Cyzicus, he was accused by his own clergy of introducing innovations in doctrine