In his commentary on the book of Revelation, Victorinus affirms the doctrine of baptismal regeneration a few times, again, refuting the soteriology of Rogers et al:
On Rev 1:16
16. "And He had in His right hand seven
stars."] He said that in His right hand He had seven stars, because the
Holy Spirit of sevenfold agency was given into His power by the Father. As
Peter exclaimed to the Jews: "Being at the right hand of God exalted, He
hath shed forth this Spirit received from the Father, which ye both see and
hear." Moreover, John the Baptist had also anticipated this, by saying to
his disciples: "For God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him. The
Father," says he, "loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His
hands.” Those seven stars are the seven churches, which he names in his
addresses by name, and calls them to whom he wrote epistles. Not that they are
themselves the only, or even the principal churches; but what he says to one,
he says to all. For they are in no respect different, that on that ground any
one should prefer them to the larger number of similar small ones. In the whole
world Paul taught that all the churches are arranged by sevens, that they are
called seven, and that the Catholic Church is one. And first of all, indeed,
that he himself also might maintain the type of seven churches, he did not
exceed that number. But he wrote to the Romans, to the Corinthians, to the
Galatians, to the Ephesians, to the Thessalonians, to the Philippians, to the
Colossians; afterwards he wrote to individual persons, so as not to exceed the
number of seven churches. And abridging in a short space his announcement, he
thus says to Timothy: "That thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave
thyself in the Church of the living God." We read also that this typical
number is announced by the Holy Spirit by the month of Isaiah: "Of seven
women which took hold of one man." The one man is Christ, not born of
seed; but the seven women are seven churches, receiving His bread, and clothed
with his apparel, who ask that their reproach should be taken away, only that
His name should be called upon them. The bread is the Holy Spirit, which
nourishes to eternal life, promised to them, that is, by faith. And His
garments wherewith they desire to be clothed are the glory of immortality, of
which Paul the apostle says: "For this corruptible must put on
incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." 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." Therefore in these seven churches, of one
Catholic Church are believers, because it is one in seven by the quality of
faith and election. Whether writing to them who labour in the world, and live2
of the frugality of their labours, and are patient, and when they see certain men
in the Church wasters, and pernicious, they hear them, lest there should become
dissension, he yet admonishes them by love, that in what respects their faith
is deficient they should repent; or to those who dwell in cruel places among
persecutors, that they should continue faithful; or to those who, under the
pretext of mercy, do unlawful sins in the Church, and make them manifest to be
done by others; or to those that are at ease in the Church; or to those who are
negligent, and Christians only in name; or to those who are meekly instructed,
that they may bravely persevere in faith; or to those who study the Scriptures,
and labour to know the mysteries of their announcement, and are unwilling to do
God's work that is mercy and love: to all he urges penitence, to all he
declares judgment. (ANF 7:345-46)
On
Rev 7:9
9. "After this I beheld, and, lo, a great
multitude, which no man was able to number, of every nation, tribe, and people,
and tongue, clothed with white robes."] What the great multitude out of
every tribe implies, is to show the number of the elect out of all believers,
who, being cleansed by baptism in the blood of the Lamb, have made their robes
white, keeping the grace which they have received. (ANF 7:352)
On
Rev 15:2
2. "Standing upon the sea of glass, having
harps."] That is, that they stood stedfastly in the faith upon their
baptism, and having their confession in their mouth, that they shall exult in
the kingdom before God. But let us return to what is set before us. (ANF 7:357)
