Unbeliever: Christ
declared, “Whoever has not been begotten of water and Spirit will not enter the
kingdom of heaven.” What of the righteous who lived before his coming and were
not baptized? How can they enter it?
Christian: Christ was
baptized for them, even as he died for all. It is as he said, “I sanctify
myself for them.” At the same time, they too were baptized in a bodily manner.
Unbeliever: How can this
be?
Christian: Don’t you know
that those who die are not completely destroyed? Rather, they are dissolved
into their composite elements.
Unbeliever: That’s true.
Christian: It is written
that when he was pierced in the side by the lance, water and blood flowed from
his side.
Unbeliever: Indeed.
Christian: Accordingly,
when that water was dissolved into the elements, he sanctified all things and
baptized those who had been dispersed and dissolved into the elements.
Unbeliever: On this
account, unbelievers and absolutely all who died before his coming were
baptized.
Christian: Not at all.
Rather, only the bodies of believers, whose souls had faith in Christ when he
(that is, his holy soul) descended into hell. Here’s an analogy. Imagine an
aqueduct or river of fresh water, one with many trees planted along its banks.
Some of these trees are dead and totally desiccated; others are still alive.
What do you think? When the water touches them, will all the trees benefit by
drawing up water and life, or only those with the ability to receive or attract
it? Those that are completely dry will benefit not in the least from the water.
In the same way, unbelievers will benefit not in the least from the dissolution
of that water into the elements. (“Greek Fragments: Abū Qurrah Was Questioned
by an Unbeliever,” in Theodore Abū Qurrah [trans. John C. Lamoreaux; Brigham
Young University Middle Eastern Texts Initiative; Library of the Christian East
1; Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 2005], 254)
