BAPTISM OF GIOVANNI. — This is the baptism which the precursor (hence the epithet “baptist” = “baptizer”) administered on the banks of the Jordan, inviting the people to change their way of life and to prepare for the advent of the Kingdom of God (Mt. 3:5). Apparently it brought nothing new to the Jews, who already found several ablutions prescribed in the law (Lev. 14:1 ff., 15:5 ff.) as rites of purification from legal impurities, and who knew of the baptism of the Essenes, and perhaps also that of proselytes, administered, after circumcision, to Gentiles who were incorporated into Judaism. In reality, however, the baptism of Giovanni, both with regard to the rite and above all to its moral significance, possessed certain absolutely novel features that distinguished it from every other.
1. Giovanni invokes a divine mandate for his work. To the Jews, in fact, who asked him: “Why do you baptize, if you are neither the Christ nor a prophet?” he replied: “He who sent me to baptize in water,” etc. (Jo. 1:33), and Jesus publicly confirmed this divine origin (Mc. 11:30). 2. The baptism of the precursor had the very particular purpose of messianic preparation: “After me will come one who is greater than I, and I did not know him; but precisely for this reason I came baptizing in water, so that he might be manifested in Israel” (Jo., 1:31; cf. also Act. 19:4). It was therefore a transitional rite, announcing a new order, entirely directed toward the fulfillment of the Jewish messianic expectation, which was so vivid in those times that false Messiahs were not lacking. 3. From what has been said, the difference between the baptism of the precursor and the others is readily apparent. It differs: a) from the ablutions imposed by the law, because each person performed these and they conferred only a legal, external purity; b) from the baptism of proselytes, because this was administered only to Gentiles and signified nothing more than a ritual purification, whereas the baptism of Giovanni was also given to Israelites themselves and referred to the remission of sins; c) from the baptism of the Essenes, because this was repeated many times, had no connection whatever with the restoration of the Kingdom of God, and neither entailed nor signified a complete interior renewal.
The baptism of Giovanni, moreover, differs specifically from Christian Baptism: a) in its origin, because it was not instituted by Jesus Christ; b) in the outward act that constitutes it, because it consists only in the application of the matter, without the addition of any form; in its signifying power, because it signifies not present grace, but future grace, which Jesus would merit for us by his passion and death; and in its causal power. The baptism of Giovanni did not act ex opere operato, as the Sacrament does, that is, by producing what it signifies, namely, the remission of guilt and the conferral of grace; rather, it acted only ex opere operantis, disposing the recipient through works of penance. Finally, the Christian rite regenerates the person who receives it, imprints an indelible character upon the soul, introduces the person into the society founded by Christ, and makes him capable of receiving the other Sacraments—all effects which the baptism of the precursor was incapable of producing (cf. H. Houbant, Jean B. [baptême de], in DThC, VIII, col. 655).
Giovanni, moreover, is explicit on this point: “I have baptized you in water; but he will baptize you in the Holy Spirit” (Mc. 1:8), “in the Holy Spirit and fire” (Mt. 3:11; Lc. 3:16), where the addition “fire” indicates that the grace given by Baptism will consume sins like fire, purify, and enlighten. The divine agent, who is the Holy Spirit, is at the service of the Messiah alone. For their part, the Apostles, from the very first mo-
ment of their preaching, regarded the baptism of Giovanni as nonexistent and baptized “in the name of Jesus” all who presented themselves, including those who had previously been baptized by the precursor (Act. 2:38; 19:1-7); for Jesus’ peremptory command was directed to everyone without exception (Mt. 18:19). Therefore, after the errors of the so-called Reformation had arisen, the Church defined at the Council of Trent: “If anyone asserts that the baptism of Giovanni had the same efficacy as that of Jesus, let him be anathema” (Sess. VII, de Bapt., can. 1: Denz-U, no. 857).