P. 14, 1.139—“Now, concerning baptism ... in running water”] ?? ?dat? ???t?, literally “in living water,” water in motion, either as in a fountain, or as a stream. A picture in the Catacomb of St. Callixtus, dating from about the year 200 a.d., represents a youth standing ankle-deep in water, and receiving baptism by the pouring of water upon his head. [See Northcote and Brownlow’s “Roma Sotteranea,” Part II., Plate XV.] The passage before us apparently recommends just this mode of performing the rite. If this should be impracticable, then fresh cold water might be similarly used [in a font]. If cold water could not be had, warm water would answer. If neither cold nor warm water is sufficient quantity (ankle-deep) could be had, then pouring only (the feet resting on the floor or ground) would suffice. This last is now the Syrian mode of baptism, and probably always has been. This fact, ascertained by the Crusaders (in the third Crusade, 1189-92), and made known through them in Europe, would help to account for Aquinas’s definition of baptism, so different from that of Peter Lombard about a century before. Lombard’s definition requires immersion; Aquinas’s definition permits either immersion, pouring, or sprinkling. The Seventh Book of the Apostolic Constitutions, at this point (Section xxii.), says nothing about the mode, but prescribes anointing with oil, both before and after baptism. Fasting is enjoined in both documents.

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