Wednesday, January 3, 2024

Baptismal Regeneration in Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 4.32

  

The Lord has given a redemption of repentance, so that our chief sins, or rather, all our sins, may be cast off; and so that we may receive the seal of the Holy Spirit, and may thereby be made heirs of eternal life. (Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 4.32, c. A.D. 350, in The Faith of the Early Fathers, 3 vols. [trans. William A. Jurgens; Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press, 1970], 1:351)

 

Reading λυρτον μετανοιας. Others would read λουτρον μετανοιαν = repentance at Baptism; or λουτρον μετανοιας = a Baptism of repentance. But whatever be the correct reading—and since the lectures were taken down in short-hand from Cyril’s preaching, not even the guarantee of a correct reading could in this case be taken as a guarantee of what Cyril said—it is clear in the context that Baptism is what Cyril meant. (Ibid., 368 n. 37)

 

The following is from PG 33:493:

 



Blog Archive