Reference address : https://elpenor.org/nyssa/baptism-of-christ.asp?pg=8

ELPENOR - Home of the Greek Word

Three Millennia of Greek Literature
ST GREGORY OF NYSSA HOME PAGE  

St Gregory of Nyssa On the Baptism of Christ, Complete

Translated by W. Moore and H. A. Wilson

St Gregory of Nyssa Resources Online and in Print

ELPENOR EDITIONS IN PRINT

Icon of the Christ and New Testament Reader

11 Pages


Page 8

For when all the people of the Hebrews had trodden underfoot the religion of their fathers, and fallen into the error of polytheism, and their king Ahab was deluded by idolatry, with Jezebel, of ill-omened name, as the wicked partner of his life, and the vile prompter of his impiety, the prophet, filled with the grace of the Spirit, coming to a meeting with Ahab, withstood the priests of Baal in a marvellous and wondrous contest in the sight of the king and all the people; and by proposing to them the task of sacrificing the bullock without fire, he displayed them in a ridiculous and wretched plight, vainly praying and crying aloud to gods that were not. At last, himself invoking his own and the true God, he accomplished the test proposed with further exaggerations and additions. For he did not simply by prayer bring down the fire from heaven upon the wood when it was dry, but exhorted and enjoined the attendants to bring abundance of water. And when he had thrice poured out the barrels upon the cleft wood, he kindled at his prayer the fire from out of the water, that by the contrariety of the elements, so concurring in friendly cooperation, he might show with superabundant force the power of his own God. Now herein, by that wondrous sacrifice, Elijah clearly proclaimed to us the sacramental rite of Baptism that should afterwards be instituted. For the fire was kindled by water thrice poured upon it, so that it is clearly shown that where the mystic water is, there is the kindling, warm, and fiery Spirit, that burns up the ungodly, and illuminates the faithful. Yes, and yet again his disciple Elisha, when Naaman the Syrian, who was diseased with leprosy, had come to him as a suppliant, cleanses the sick man by washing him in Jordan [2141] , clearly indicating what should come, both by the use of water generally, and by the dipping in the river in particular. For Jordan alone of rivers, receiving in itself the first-fruits of sanctification and benediction, conveyed in its channel to the whole world, as it were from some fount in the type afforded by itself, the grace of Baptism. These then are indications in deed and act of regeneration by Baptism. Let us for the rest consider the prophecies of it in words and language. Isaiah cried saying, "Wash you, make you clean, put away evil from your souls [2142] ;" and David, "Draw nigh to Him and be enlightened, and your faces shall not be ashamed [2143] ." And Ezekiel, writing more clearly and plainly than them both, says, "And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be cleansed: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I give you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh, and my Spirit will I put within you [2144] ." Most manifestly also does Zechariah prophesy of Joshua [2145] , who was clothed with the filthy garment (to wit, the flesh of a servant, even ours), and stripping him of his ill-favoured raiment adorns him with the clean and fair apparel; teaching us by the figurative illustration that verily in the Baptism of Jesus [2146] all we, putting off our sins like some poor and patched garment, are clothed in the holy and most fair garment of regeneration.

[2141] See 2 Kings v

[2142] Is. i. 16 (LXX.).

[2143] Ps. xxxiv. 5 (LXX.).

[2144] Ez. xxxvi. 25-27 (not exactly as LXX.).

[2145] Cf. Zech. iii. 3. It is to be remembered, of course, that the form of the name in the Septuagint is not Joshua but Jesus.

[2146] If "the Baptism of Jesus" here means (as seems most likely) the Baptism of our Lord by S. John, not the Baptism instituted by our Lord, then we are apparently intended to understand that our Lord, summing up humanity in Himself, represented by His Baptism that of all who should thereafter be baptized.

Previous Page / First / Next Page of St Gregory - On the Baptism of Christ
The Authentic Greek New Testament Bilingual New Testament I
St Gregory of Nyssa Home Page / Works ||| More Church Fathers

Elpenor's Free Greek Lessons
Three Millennia of Greek Literature

 

Greek Literature - Ancient, Medieval, Modern

St Gregory of Nyssa Home Page   St Gregory of Nyssa in Print

Learned Freeware

Reference address : https://elpenor.org/nyssa/baptism-of-christ.asp?pg=8