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._ iv.) thus: "It makes no difference whether one is washed in the sea or in a pool, in a river or spring, in a lake or a ditch. Nor can we distinguish between those whom John baptized (_tinxit_) in the Jordan and those whom Peter baptized in the Tiber." The custom of baptizing in the rivers when they are annually blessed at Epiphany, the feast of the Lord's baptism, still survives in Armenia and in the East generally. Those of the Armenians and Syrians who have retained adult baptism use rivers alone at any time of year. The church of Tyre described by Eusebius (_H.E._ x. 4) seems to have had a font, and the church order of Macarius, bishop of Jerusalem (_c._ 311-335), orders the font to be placed in the same building as the altar, behind it and on the right hand; but the same order lays down that a font is not essential in cases of illness for "the Holy Spirit is not hindered by want of a vessel." 2. _Status of Baptizer._--Ignatius (_Smyrn._ viii.) wrote that it is not lawful to baptize or hold an _agap[=e]_ (Lord's Supper) without the bishop. So Tertullian (_de Bapt._ xvii.) reserves the right of admitting to baptism and of conferring it to the _summus sacerdos_ or bishop, Cyprian (_Epist._ lxxiii. 7) to bishops and priests. Later canons continued this restriction; and although in outlying parts of Christendom deacons claimed the right, the official churches accorded it to presbyters alone and none but bishops could perform the confirmation or seal. In the Montanist churches women baptized, and of this there are traces in the earliest church and in the Caucasus. Thus St Thekla baptized herself in her own blood, and St Nino, the female evangelist of Georgia, baptized king Mirian (see "Life of Nino," _Studia Biblica_, 1903). In cases of imminent death a layman or a woman could baptize, and in the case of new-born children it is often necessary. 3. _Immersion or Aspersion._--The _Didach[=e]_ bids us "pour water on the head," and Christian pictures and sculptures ranging from the 1st to the 10th century represent the baptizand as standing in the water, while the baptizer pours water from his hand or from a bowl over his head. Even if we allow for the difficulty of representing complete submersion in art, it is nevertheless clear that it was not insisted on; nor were the earliest fonts, to judge from the ruins of them, large and deep enough for such an usage. The earliest literary notices of baptism are far from conclu
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