sm. But baptism and its significance He has set as a common
standard for all men, so that every man is to examine himself
according to his station in life, to find what is the best way
for him to fulfil the work and purpose of his baptism, i. e., to
slay sin and to die. Then Christ's burden grows light and easy,
[Matt. 11:30] and it is not carried with worry and care, as
Solomon says of it, "The labor of the foolish wearieth every one
of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city." [Eccl.
10:15] For even as they are worried who wish to go to the city
and cannot find the way, so it is with these men; all their life
and labor is a burden to them, and yet they accomplish nothing.

[Sidenote: The Vow of Baptism and Other Vows]

XVIII. In this place, then, belongs the question whether baptism
and the vow which we there make to God, is something more or
something greater than the vows of chastity, of the priesthood,
of the clergy, since baptism is common to all Christians, and it
is thought that the clergy have taken a special and a higher vow.
I answer: From what has been said, this is an easy question to
answer. For in baptism we all make one and the same vow, viz., to
slay sin and to become holy through the work and grace of God, to
Whom we yield and offer ourselves, as clay to the potter [13] and
in this no one is better than another. But for a life in
accordance with baptism, i. e., for slaying sin, there can be no
one method and no special estate in life. Therefore I have
said[14] that each man must prove himself, that he may know in
what estate he may best slay sin and put a check upon his nature.
It is true, then, that there is no vow higher, better, or greater
than the vow of baptism. What more can we promise than to drive
out an, to die, to hate this life, and to become holy?

Over and above this vow, a man may, indeed, bind himself to some
special estate, if it seems to him to be suitable and helpful for
the completion of his baptism. It is just as though two men went
to the same city, and the one went by the foot-path, the other by
the high-way, according as each thought best. So he who binds
himself to the estate of matrimony, walks in the toils and
sufferings which belong to that estate and lays upon himself its
burdens, in order that he may grow used to pleasure and sorrow,
avoid sin, and prepare himself for death better than he could do
outside of that estate. But he who seeks more suffering, and b