Some would argue Saint Augustine was the most important theologian in the history of the Church. His writings and teaching have earned him the title Doctor Gratiae in the Roman Church. One of his main contributions is his understanding of Baptism. Baptism had always been seen as something central to the Christian faith. It was seen as a way a person is born into the family of God. It was a sacrament in which a person entered fully into the unity of Christ and was made one with the church. It was the path in which a person was sealed to join in the coming glory of Christ on the last day. However there were some wrinkles that needed to be ironed out.
What happens when a person “defects” and joins another sect? What was the significant of a heretic’s baptism? If a heretic baptizes another person would that person need to be re-baptized upon conversion back to the Universal Church? These were questions to which there was no good answer. Enter Augustine.
In his sermon “To the Newly Baptized on the Octave of Easter” Augustine lays out an analogy to help new converts understand this confusing topic. He compares Baptism to military service. A soldier who defects does not lose his citizenship, only his legal status. In the same way a heretic does not lose their Baptism, but does enter into condemnation. If a deserter in the military begins to win over people to take the military seal with him those people have entered into the same condemnation the soldier will face when the real army catches up with them. The real beauty of Augustine’s analogy comes into play when the deserter and all of his followers return. In this analogy they are all welcomed back and each convert to the deserter is brought into the Army. The commitment they made to the Deserter is converted to the true General.In my own church today this analogy might not resonate as it once did. The church is more divided than ever. The lines between heresy and orthodoxy are blurred and what the Universal Church today actually IS can’t be agreed upon by most Christians. There is one thing that Augustine does say that I think is still relevant for all Christians today. He tells us that even if we are baptized in the “right” church and are naked in “faith and morals” we are in a sense still deserters. Our sin can make us work for the wrong side. Repentance is an avenue we must continually return to. Our hope is found in a General who will let us join the ranks of the true army again and again.
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