Berengaudus of Ferrières (840-892) on the Common Proof-texts for Prayers to Angels and Saints in the Book of Revelation

On Rev 4:9-10:

 

In this passage, by the four living creatures the four books of the Gospel are indicated; by the twenty-four elders, the Fathers of the New Testament can be understood. Therefore the four living creatures give glory and honor and blessing to the One seated on the throne, who lives for ever and ever, because the teaching of the Gospel is read and preached throughout the whole world, through which glory and honor and blessing are given to the Father and the Son of the Holy Spirit. At the voice of the four living creatures, then, the twenty-four elders fell down before the One seated on the throne and worshiped the One who lives for ever and ever, because the saints of God, established throughout the whole world, when they hear the teaching of the Gospel, humble themselves in the sight of God, so that they may live with Him for ever and ever. And they cast their crowns before the throne, saying. We said above that good works were signified by the crowns; therefore the saints cast their crowns before the throne when they attribute to God, and not to themselves, whatever good they do, according to the command of the Apostle: “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord” (2 Cor. 10:17). (Commentary on Revelation by Berengaudus of Ferrières [trans. John Litteral; 2026], 91)

 

 

Rev 5:8:

 

We must inquire how the book could have been opened before the unsealing of the seals. But this must be understood spiritually. For the prophets foretold the coming of Christ, his passion, and his resurrection, sometimes through certain figures, sometimes with plain words; and the patriarchs also prefigured all these things in their own deeds. But Christ, when he was born of the Virgin, when he suffered, and rose again, and ascended into heaven, opened the book of the Old Testament, because the things that were signified there he fulfilled in deed. Afterwards, what in the Old Testament was obscure, and likewise in the New, he opened to the teachers of the Church through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And this opening is the unsealing of the seals. But what follows, that the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, refers to those same teachers of the Church; for as often as they recall to memory the birth, passion, and resurrection of the Lord, and call to mind in whatever ways these things were prefigured by the holy fathers and foretold by the prophets; as often as they do not cease to investigate those things which in the Gospel are set forth obscurely, so often is the sealed book opened to them. They fall down before the Lamb, when, by meditation on the divine Scriptures, considering the immeasurable mercy of God, they humble themselves in the sight of their Creator, and the more they cast themselves down in humility, the more they burn with love for him, because the humility that is practiced in the sight of God nourishes the love of God. By the harps, moreover, which the living creatures and the elders are said to have had, the mortification of the flesh is signified, as the Apostle says: “Put to death your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, covetousness, and the rest” (Col. 3:5). But the golden bowels are the hearts of the saints, filled with spiritual wisdom, which are said to have been full of perfumes. And what the perfumes are he himself explains when he adds: “Which are the prayers of the saints.” And so that these perfumes may ascend to God, the psalmist prays when he says; “Let my prayer be directed as incense in your sight.” (Ps. 141:2) (Ibid., 97-98)

 

 

Rev 5:14b:

 

In this place the twenty-four elders have the same meaning as the four living creatures; therefore the elders fall down and worship when the holy preachers, the more they see their hearers have advanced in good works, the more they humble themselves in the sight of God, as Scripture says: The greater you are, humble yourself in all things, and you will find favor before God (Sirach 3:20). Next follows the opening of the seals, which must be believed to refer only to the opening of the divine Scriptures. For even the things that are said to have been done under the openings of the seals refer to the opening of the Old and New Testaments. And just as the whole body of the elect consists of seven parts, so there are seven seals, which correspond to each part, to show those things that are obscurely set down in the divine Scriptures, or what the deeds of the holy fathers signify. The opening of the first seal, then, refers to the things that were done before the Flood; the second seal to the patriarchs; the third to those who were under the Law; the fourth to the prophets; and the three openings that remain refer to the New Testament. The fifth opening refers to the martyrs; the sixth to the casting down of the Jews and the calling of the Gentiles; the seventh refers to the coming of Christ. And why the coming of the Lord is placed in the seventh place we shall say in what follows. But we must ask why the opening of the Old Testament is prefigured through the vision of the four horsemen; for the horseman is, on the part of the horse, irrational, but on the part of the rider is recognized as rational. Likewise, certain legal laws, on the side of the letter, are irrational, but on the side of allegory are shown to be very rational. (Ibid., 102-3)

 

 

On Rev 8:3:

 

The angel signifies Christ; he came because through the mystery of the Incarnation he appeared in the world. By the golden altar the Church is indicated. He is said to have stood before the altar; for Christ lay prostrate among unbelievers, who considered him a mere man; but he stood among the faithful, who believed that he was truly God. Therefore he stood before the altar, because to the apostles and the other believers, from whom the Church was then constituted, he revealed that he was God. By the censer which he held in his hand are shown the hearts of the apostles and of the other faithful. It is said to have been golden, because the hearts of the disciples, purified by faith and golden by the wisdom they had learned from Christ, were like gold. The censer is said to have been held in his hand, because the hearts of the apostles were in the hand of God, as Solomon says: “The king’s heart is the hand of the Lord; he will bend it wherever he wishes” (Prov. 21:1). Was the heart of that Solomon in the hand of God when he was worshipping idols? Was the heart of Antiochus or Herod in the hand of God? Were the hearts of the kings who persecuted the saints of God in the hand of God? They were in the hand of the Devil, who bent them toward whatever crimes he wished; but the hearts of spiritual kings, that is, of the saints, are in the hand of God, and therefore he will bend them wherever he wishes.

 

Consequently: “And much incense was given to him.” The many incenses are the teachings of the Gospel; for incense is placed in the censer so that, once it has received the heat of the fire, it may spread the fragrance of its scent all around. In the same way Christ placed the teaching of the Gospel in the hearts of his disciples, who, inflamed with the fire of love, spread the fragrance of their faith among all nations. Therefore it also continues: “That he might offer from the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which is before God.” There are many kinds of prayers; for the faithful pray with words, begging God that all their sins may be forgiven them. They also pray by giving alms, as the Lord says in the Gospel: “Give alms, and behold, all things are clean for you” (Luke 11:42). And in another place it is written: “Just as water extinguishes fire, so almsgiving extinguishes sin” (Sirach 3:33). They also pray by forgiving their neighbors for what they have done against them, as the Lord says in the Gospel: “If you forgive people their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you your sins” (Matt. 6:15). Likewise, they also pray by keeping the commandments of love, as it is written that “love covers all offenses” (James 5:20). Therefore, that person prays to God in a wholesome way who keeps God’s commandments; for it is of no benefit to us to implore God’s mercy with words and to provoke it by our deeds. So God gave “upon the golden altar from the prayers of the saints” when he placed upon the hearts of believers the faith, teaching, and actions of the apostles and of the other preachers; so that they might have been from what they could be instructed and what they could imitate. (Ibid., 163-65)

 

 

On Rev 19:1-8:

 

But in truth, by the twenty-four elders, the fathers who lived under the Law are signified. To them are joined the four living creatures, through which the New Testament is prefigured; because in the Old Testament, if it is understood spiritually, the New is contained. They chanted “Alleluia,” because, observing the legal commandments, they strove by good works to please God. By the throne, however, the prophets are signified, in that they were the seat of God, and through them he arranged his judgments. A voice went out from the throne, because from the prophets holy preaching proceeded. They sang praise to God, because they strove to serve him with all their strength. The great trumpet signifies Christ: the voice of the trumpet is the preaching of the Gospel; and by the voice of many waters is signified the multitude of nations confessing Christ; by the voice of great thunder are understood the elect who are to be born at the end of the world, and rightly by thunder, because they will announce the terror of the day of judgment. Therefore three voices once chanted “Alleluia,” because they have preserved, and will preserve until the end, the faith of the Holy Trinity and the doctrine of the Gospel, which proceeded from the great trumpet, that is, from Christ. Two parts, that is, the first and the second, belong to the law which we have said is natural; the two which follow, that is, the third and the fourth, to the law which was given through Moses; but the three which remain, that is, the fifth and the sixth and the seventh, to the law of the Gospel, so that they show that those men ought to remain in the faith of the Holy Trinity until the end of the world. (Ibid., 305-6)

 

 

Berengaudus of Ferrières’s (840-892) Christological Interpretation of Isaiah 2:2

Commenting on Rev 20:10a:

 

This mountain is Christ. The Prophet speaks of this mountain, saying: “In the last days, the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established above the tops of the mountains” (Isa. 2:2). The mountains above whose tops the mountain of the house of the Lord is said to be established signify the Fathers of the Old Testament. Therefore the mountain of the house of the Lord is said to be established above their tops because they themselves foretold him, and when he came in the flesh, he surpassed them by a wondrous height. Therefore the house of the Lord, that is, the Church, was built upon this mountain, because it was founded upon Christ, as the Apostle Paul says: “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:11). (Commentary on Revelation by Berengaudus of Ferrières [trans. John Litteral; 2026], 345)

 

Berengaudus of Ferrières (840-892) Interpreting Matthew 19:28 as a Promise of The Twelve Playing a Role in Eschatological Judgment

Commenting on Rev 20:13:

 

Now he returns to what he has passed over. For the general resurrection will take place first, and afterwards judgment will be carried out. The Lord makes this clear in the Gospel, saying to his disciples: “At the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you also will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matt. 19:28). He first mentioned the renewal of all things, that is, the resurrection; then he said that they would sit to judge the peoples. And in this Gospel of John, the Lord says: “The hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who have done good will come out to the resurrection of life, while those who have done evil will come out to the resurrection of judgment” (Jn. 5:28-29). At the Lord’s command, therefore, the dead will come out of their tombs, because the bodies of all the dead, brought to life through the reception of their souls, will emerge from their graves. Those who have done evil will come out to the resurrection of judgment, because they will rise for this purpose: to be judged in the very bodies in which their souls sinned, so that those who were partners in their wickedness may share in their torments. The present passage also shows that the resurrection will take place before the judgment, since it says that after the dead have been given up by the sea, death and hell [infernum], the wicked will be judged. The Catholic faith, which we often receive, likewise makes this clear when it says of the Lord: “At whose coming all people must rise with their bodies and give an account of their own deeds” (Athanasian Creed). (Commentary on Revelation by Berengaudus of Ferrières [trans. John Litteral; 2026], 327-28)

 

The epitaph of Domnos, son of Eustochios and the Montanist (or Novatian?) Practice of Baptism for the Dead

The following is the epitaph of Domnos, son of Eustochios:

 

 

 

Source: William Tabbernee, Montanist Inscriptions and Testimonia: Epigraphic Sources Illustrating the History of Montanism (North American Patristic Society Patristic Monograph Series 16; Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 1997), 415

 

Tabbernee offers the following commentary:

 

“Baptism for the dead”?

 

Kütahya, in wall of wash house in Greek quarter                                        IV²⁻³

Ed. pr. — Perrot/Guillaume/Delbet Exploration I [1862]: 118-119 no. 79 with French trans. and facsimile of majuscule copy.

 

Rectangular marble slab. Height: 1.05m.; width: 2.40m.; thickness unobtainable. Original size and exact shape unknown. Leaf carved at conclusion of inscription. Mason’s guide lines visible. Quadratic epsilons, sigmas, and omegas. Rho has short diagonal hasta at end of loop. Upsilon has cross bar in tail (cf. 3). Erasure after second sigma in l.4. Ligatures at ll.2-5 (in ll.3-4, vertical hasta of phi doubles as iota). Letter height: 0.07m. Figure 76. Plate 33.

 

Τὸν κλυτὸν ἐν ζωοῖσι, τὸν ἔξοχον

[ἐ]ν μερόπεσσι, τὸν πρώτιστον βουλῆς

ἠδὲ πόληος ὅλης, τὸν πτωχοὺς φιλέοντα

[ε]ἵνεκεν εὐσεβίης, (vac.) Εὐστοχίου φίλον υἷα

5  τὸν ἀθάνατοι φιλέεσκον (vac.) τοὔνεκα καὶ πηγαῖς

λούσαμεν ἀθανάτοις (vac.) καὶ μακάρων νήσσοις

ἔμβαλον ἀθανάτων Δόμον, ζήσαντα

τρὶς ἐτέων δεκάδας. (leaf)

 

[Here lies]

the one who was

renowned among the living, prominent among humanity,

foremost in the council and the whole city loving the poor on

account of his piety:

5   Eutochios’ beloved son, | he whom the immortals loved and

whom, therefore, we also washed in immortal fountains and

deposited on the isles of the blessed immortals:

Domnos, having lived three times ten years.

 

. . .

 

Christian?

 

Despite the absence of overtly open profession of Christianity, there is little doubt that this epitaph is Christian. The name Domnos was extremely popular in Christian circles (cf. 60 and see ad 34), and the metaphors may have Christian as well as classical allusions; see Calder, “Notebook,” 270-271; Grégoire, 60; W.M. Calder, in Buckler/Calder/Cox, 142; Mitchell (1980: 204). For example, the reference to “washing” (cf. 1 Cor 6:11; Just, 1 apol. 61-66) may be a synonym for baptism. “Immortal” water from springs or fountains would have been deemed better than “still water” for baptizing, although not quite as good as actually baptizing in running water (cf. Did. 7.2). For the use of “fountain,” a metaphor for baptism, see Just., dial. 14; cf. the epitaph of Pectrios (Autun, ancient Augustodunum, Gaul, c.350): CIG 4 [1877]: 9890 (= EG 4 [1978]: 487-494 no. 1 with Italian trans. and photograph), l.2 [but note restoration].

 

“Baptism for the dead?”

 

Calder (Buckler/Calder/Cox, 142-143; cf. “Notebook,” 269-270) claimed that Domnos had been baptized by the leaders of his particular Christian community and that the monument was set up by them. H. Grégoire accepted Calder’s hypothesis but argued (60-61) that in Domnos’ epitaph baptism is presented as a supreme reward for a virtuous life and that it is described as a funeral rite. He concluded that this is probably the first epigraphic attestation of “baptism for the dead.”

 

“Baptism for the dead” had been practiced by various Christian groups since the time of St. Paul (1 Cor 15:29), but the exact nature of this practice was rarely described. Epiphanius, who attributed it to the Cerinthians, knew of two explanations: vicarious baptism (haer. 28.6.4) and clinical baptism (ibid., 28.6.5). The former refers to the baptism of a substitute on behalf of the deceased; the latter to “death-bed” baptism. Of the two, only the latter can possibly apply to Domnos. There is no hint that someone else was baptized on his behalf. If the verb λούσαμεν (l.6) does indeed refer to a baptism combined with a funerary lustral rite, it may be describing clinical baptism. Such a baptism was conducted not only for the sake of the deceased, but also for the sake of the previously deceased, i.e., so that the most recently deceased may be united with them in the “communion of saints.” This understanding of what occurred in clinical baptism may, in fact, be the original meaning of the term “baptism for the (sake of the) dead,” vicarious baptism resulting from a misinterpretation of 1 Cor 15:29; see M. Raeder (1955: 258-260); J. Jeremias (1955: 151-159). That “baptism for the dead” is indicated intentionally by the use of λούσαμεν in l.6 of this inscription is, however, by no means certain; see also Mitchell (1993: 104 n.419).

Montanist?

 

Calder (Buckler/Calder/Cox, 142-143; “Notebook,” 269-270), postulated that the use of λούσαμεν may well have been a Montanist trait. He based this hypothesis on the view that Montanists had a unique baptismal formula, emphasized the priesthood of all believers, and that Kotiaieion was “not a very orthodox city” in close proximity to a district in which Montanism was strong from late III onwards. None of these alleged criteria, however, guarantees Domnos’ epitaph to be Montanist. That Montanists actually baptized “in the name of the Father, Son and Montanus” is questionable (see ad 71) and their “emphasis on the priesthood of all believers” is really an emphasis on including women into the ranks of the clergy; see ad 5 and cf. 87. There is no evidence that Montanism, any more or less than mainstream Christianity, permitted the laity to perform baptisms other than in extremis. That there was a Montanist community in Kotiaieion is theoretically possible, as there is evidence of Montanists in nearby Dorylaeion (63) and, probably, Nakoleia (55), but not in the Plain of Altıntaş unless the Xp.–Xp. inscriptions are indeed Montanist. The only other alleged epigraphic evidence for Montanism in the city of Kotiaieion itself (54, 64-66) is based on the mistaken interpretation of a comb as the letter pi (58) and on the a priori assumption that all inscriptions with the formula τὸν θεὸν σοι μὴ ἀδικήσεις are Montanist; see ad 59. It is likely, however, that a Montanist prophetess lived in the Phrygian highlands within the territory of Kotiaieion (68).

 

Grégoire’s view that Domnos’ epitaph contains a reference to “baptism for the dead” hypothetically provides a more plausible criterion for judging this epitaph to be Montanist, as Montanists were accused of the practice (Filastr., haer. 49). As Filaster charged Montanists with a practice which differed from official Christianity, Filaster could not have been referring to clinical baptism. Domnos’ epitaph, however, if it alludes to baptism for the dead at all, must be referring to clinical, not vicarious, baptism, the latter of which must have been the charge leveled at Montanism. Even if that charge were accurate, which is unlikely (see Tabbernee, 483-385; but contrast Strobel, 245), it cannot be used to point to Montanism here in that it is not the same kind of baptism for the dead.

 

Novatian?

 

Unlike the case for a Montanist presence in Kotiaieion, there is indisputable evidence for Novatianists there and in the Upper Tembris Valley as a whole; see pp. 347-349 above. Calder (“Notebook,” 271) and Grégoire (61) considered the possibility of this inscription being Novatian and did not reject this option altogether. If accurate, there could be an indirect connection with Montanism, should it ever be proved that Montanism merged with Novatianism in N. Phrygia; see pp. 356-357 above. Mitchell cites this inscription as “a possible Montanist text” (1980: 202; cf. 1993: 39 n.234) but also points out that Domnos may have been a Novatianist (104). (William Tabbernee, Montanist Inscriptions and Testimonia: Epigraphic Sources Illustrating the History of Montanism [North American Patristic Society Patristic Monograph Series 16; Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 1997], 414-15, 417-19)

 

Berengaudus of Ferrières (840-892) on Revelation 12:1, 2, 4, 5, and 6

Rev 12:1:

 

This woman signifies the Church; indeed, it was fitting that, after the preaching of Christ, her form should be described, the form that the preaching of Christ brought forth. In this passage we can understand “heaven” as this world; the “great sign” as the great salvation that the coming and preaching of Christ brought to the world; and by the sun, Christ is indicated, as the prophet says: “But for you who fear the name of the Lord, the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings” (Mal. 4:2). (Commentary on Revelation by Berengaudus of Ferrières [trans. John Litteral; 2026], 213)

 

 

On Rev 12:2 and the identity of the “child”:

 

Just as a child in the womb is formed and receives human shape and breath, so likewise the Church bears in her womb all unbelievers; while she nourishes them by preaching for so long a time, until they receive human form, that is, until they believe in Christ, and receive the spiritual soul that is given in baptism, when they become sons of God. Therefore she is said to cry out in pains and to suffer torment in order to give birth; for the Church cries out by preaching, and she also cries out by beginning God for the salvation of her hearers. She is indeed tormented so that she may give birth, when she grieves for those for those whom she sees lying in sins, just as Paul the apostle speaks to his weak disciples, saying: My little children, for whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you (Ga. 4:19). And in the Acts of the Apostles he speaks to the Ephesians, saying: For three years, night and day, I did not cease, with tears, to warn each of you (Acts 20:19). And the Psalmist speaks of preachers, saying: They went forth and wept, casting their seed (Ps. 125:6). (Ibid., 214-15)

 

On Rev 12:4b and Mary being a secondary referent to the “Woman”:

 

In this place we can understand the blessed Mary by the woman, because she is the mother of the Church, since she gave birth to him who is the head of the Church; and she is the daughter of the Church, because she is the greatest members of the Church. Therefore the dragon stood before the woman, so that when she had given birth, he might devour her child; because at the very beginning of Christ’s birth he wished to kill him through Herod, his servant (Matt. 2:13). He also stands before the woman, that is, the Church, so that those whom she brings forth for God through baptism he may destroy by evil persuasion. (Ibid., 216)

 

 

On Rev 12:5a:

 

Insofar as this involves our Lord Jesus Christ, why was it necessary to say that the woman gave birth to a male child, since we all know that our Lord Jesus Christ is male But insofar as it involves the Church, why does it say that she gave birth to a male, since she bears the sons and daughters to God every day from both genders? For the female gender is indeed weak: therefore a woman who, having taken on strength of soul, conquers the Devil and strives to please God through good works is not incorrectly called a man; because, although she is a woman in body, yet in the virtue of her soul she is made equal to good men. Therefore the woman gave birth to a male; because the Church gives birth to. Therefore there is one single male, whom the Virgin Mary gave birth to and whom the Church gives birth to every day; because Christ together with all his members is one Christ. (Ibid., 217)

 

 

On Rev 12:6:

 

He calls Christ “the wilderness”; for it is called “wilderness” because it is alone, isolated by dwellers. Likewise Christ was forsaken by his own, as the Evangelist says: “He came to his own, and his own did not receive him” (Jn. 1:11). And through the prophet the Lord speaks, saying: “I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the nations there was no man with me” (Isa. 63:3). Therefore the woman fled into the wilderness, because the apostles and the other disciples, from whom the Church then contained, having left the Devil and having left all that they possessed, followed Christ. By the one thousand two hundred and sixty days is signifies the time during which Christ preached (Matt. 19:27). Therefore the woman is nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days, because the apostles and the other disciples, from whom, as we said above, the Church then contained, for three and a half years were fed by the Lord with the feast of the Gospel. (Ibid., 218)

 

The Future Return of Enoch and Elijah in the Commentary on Revelation by Berengaudus of Ferrières (840-892)

On Rev 11:3:

 

The Lord calls Elijah and Enoch his two witnesses, who will go before his second coming, just as John went before the first. (Commentary on Revelation by Berengaudus of Ferrières [trans. John Litteral; 2026], 201)

 

 

On Rev 11:13b:

 

It does not seem sensible to me to understand by the city, of which a tenth part fell, the Church because this passage refers more to the city of the Devil than to the city of God. Therefore, in the place he says that a tenth part of that city collapsed, which he previously called the great city, and Sodom and Egypt, and in whose street the bodies of the saints are said to lie unburied for three and a half days. And because the number ten often signifies the Law, since the Law was received through the Decalogue, we can understand by the tenth part that fell as the Jews, observers of the Law, who, by the preaching of Elijah, will accept faith in Christ and will fall away and be cut off from the city of the Devil. (Ibid., 208)

 

Baptismal Regeneration in the Commentary on Revelation by Berengaudus of Ferrières (840-892)

On Rev 6:7:

 

Similarly, Elisha also prefigured Christ, and Naaman represented the people of the nations. There were many lepers in Israel, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian, because when Christ came in the flesh, both the Jews and the Gentiles were surrounded by the leprosy of their sins; but as the Jews remained in their wickedness, the nations were cleansed from the leprosy of their sins. Therefore Elisha ordered Naaman, saying: Go and wash seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will receive health, and you will be made clean (2 Kings 5:10). He went and washed seven times in the Jordan, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was cleansed from the leprosy. The water of the Jordan prefigured baptism, because in it Christ was baptized, Naaman was washed in the waters of the Jordan and cleansed from leprosy; for the people of the nations have been purified from the leprosy of their sins by the water of holy baptism. And his sevenfold washing prefigured the sevenfold Holy Spirit, through whose working the remission of sins is given in baptism; for just as the body is visibly washed by the waters of baptism, so the soul is invisibly cleansed from all sins through the working of the Holy Spirit. (Commentary on Revelation by Berengaudus of Ferrières [trans. John Litteral; 2026], 141-42)

 

 

On Rev 12:1:

 

In this passage we can understand “heaven” as this world; the “great sign” as the great salvation that the coming and preaching of Christ brought to the world; and by the sun, Christ is indicated, as the prophet says: “But for you who fear the name of the Lord, the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings” (Mal. 4:2). The woman, then, was clothed with sin, because the faithful, of whom the Church is composed, put on Christ in baptism, as the Apostle says: “All of you who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27). (Ibid., 213)

 

 

On Rev 12:2:

 

Just as a child in the womb is formed and receives human shape and breath, so likewise the Church bears in her womb all unbelievers; while she nourishes them by preaching for so long a time, until they receive human form, that is, until they believe in Christ, and receive the spiritual soul that is given in baptism, when they become sons of God. (Ibid., 214)

 

 

On Rev 14:4a:

 

Here again a question arises; for if in that blessedness there are different ranks, such as apostles, martyrs, confessors, and virgins, how is it that all the souls of the saints are said to be virgins, and so virgins that they are said not to have been defiled with women? And if what the Lord says is true, indeed it is true, since it cannot happen that God should lie: “Whoever looks at a woman to lust after he has already committed adultery with her in his heart”; (Matt 5:28) how could all the souls of the saints, throughout the whole span of this present life, have been able to be clean from the defilement of women? We must therefore inquire how this is to be understood; for many were adulterers and fornicators before baptism, but when they believed in Christ and did penance for their sins and sought the font of baptism, whatever was filthy in them was wiped away by the grace of the Holy Spirit through the waters of baptism. (Ibid., 243-44)

 

 

On Rev 15:6:

 

By the pure and white stone, in which the seven angels were seen clothed, Christ is signified, of whom the Apostle says: “All you who have been baptized in Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27). (Ibid., 263)

 

 

On Rev 20:13:

 

We must inquire that are meant by death, the sea, and hell. For we know that waters have been consecrated for the cleansing of our sins, as the Lord says in the Gospel: “Unless someone is born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:5). The sea, therefore, refers to the resurrection of the elect, while death and hell pertain to the wicked. Therefore, in this passage, the sea signifies baptism. The sea will, as it were, give up its dead when the elect, who received in baptism the purity in which they will also arise, do so without any stain of sin. The sea will give up its dead because the washing of holy baptism and the grace of the Holy Spirit will present all the elect, at the time of the resurrection, pure and clean before their Creator. By death we can understand the bodies of the wicked, held dead in the depth of the earth; and by hell, their souls, since they are confined in hell’s prison. Hell, then, they will give up its dead, because it will send back the souls it holds, devoured by the first death, to receive their own bodies. Death, too, will give up its dead, because it will present the bodies it had reduced to dust, so that by divine power they may be brought to life through the reception of their souls. (Ibid., 328)