jhpb@garage.att.com (11/05/90)
I checked to see when the Catholic Church decided that anyone could validly baptize, given proper matter, form, etc. St. Thomas treats of the subject explicitly in Summa Theologica, and says that even a pagan can baptize. And that two unbaptized people can baptize each other. So that was the state of things in the 13th century. He references St. Augustine (4th C.) and Pope St. Nicholas I (9th C.) on this. In a work against someone called Parmenian, St. Augustine suggests that anyone can baptize, but also says that a decision on a matter of that magnitude should be rendered by a council. The phrasing of some parts of his work on Baptism is also suggestive of the stance that the minister doesn't matter for validity. One of St. Thomas's main points is that the validity of baptisms by pagans or Jews is valid because Nicholas I decided this for the Bulgars. (Authoritative decisions by Church authorities are very important in Catholic theology.) The text of Nicholas I's decision is in Denzinger for those who have access to it. Basically, someone of unknown religion was baptizing people (in Bulgaria, I suppose), and the validity of the baptisms was questioned. Nicholas I decided not to rebaptize these people, for theological reasons he gives in his letter. Joe Buehler