.
. . Novatian’s own writings show how he, as all other theologians of the third
century, linked baptism to the remission of sins, but never to circumcision:
Because,
when it is written that ‘flesh and blood do not inherit the kingdom of God,’ it
is not the substance of the flesh that is condemned, which was built up by the
divine hands that it should not perish, but only the guilt of the flesh is
rightly rebuked, which by the voluntary daring of man rebelled against the
claims of divine law. Because of baptism and in the dissolution of death the
flesh is raised up and returns to salvation, by being recalled to the condition
of innocence when the mortality of guilt is up away. (The Trinity 10,9)
Since
baptism was linked to the remission of sins and consequently salvation, it was
regarded as a second birth. This concurs with the idea that baptism had
a regenerative power, as stated above. Novatian, for example, continues as
follows:
He
(= the Holy Spirit) it is who effects with water the second birth, as a certain
seed of divine generation, and a consecration of a heavenly nativity, the
pledge of a promised inheritance, and as it were a kind of handwriting of
eternal salvation. (The Trinity 29,16)
The
concept of baptism as a ‘rebirth’ is found in another work of Novatian as well:
You
know that you are the temple of the Lord, the members of Christ, the dwelling
place of the Holy Ghost, elected to hope, consecrated to the faith destined for
salvation, sons of God, brothers of Christ, and associates of the Holy Spirit,
owing nothing any longer to the flesh because you have been reborn of water.
(In Praise of Purity 2,1)
Though
Novatian does not give us explicit information on the rite of baptism, his life
and writings give us important insights into the theology of baptism. Of
special importance are the remarks that baptism entails a rebirth, the washing
away of sins, and the bestowing of the Holy Spirit. (Hendrick F. Stander and
Johannes P. Louw, Baptism in the Early Church [rev ed.; Leeds:
Reformation Today Trust, 2004], 103-4)