$5.00 Package: Includes 2 Books & 24 Videos On 1 DVD (Price Includes Shipping)

BUY FOR $5.00
MHFM’s E-mail Newsletter

FREE SIGN-UP
“Coronavirus” (”Covid-19”) Hoax - Video Evidence And Ground Reports - Must-See

READ HERE

Help Save Souls
DONATE

America’s Fall To Communism (2021) – Documentary
WATCH VIDEO

Apocalypse Now In The Vatican
WATCH VIDEO

“Magicians” Prove A Spiritual World Exists - Demonic Activity Caught On Video (Final Edition)
WATCH VIDEO

The Antichrist Identified!
WATCH VIDEO

Why So Many Can’t Believe
WATCH VIDEO

Amazing Evidence For God - Scientific Evidence That Refutes Evolution
WATCH VIDEO

Why Hell Must Be Eternal
WATCH VIDEO

Babylon Has Fallen, Fallen!!
WATCH VIDEO
Archives
Categories
- Addiction (2)
- Antipope Francis’ Recent Heresies (82)
- Baptism of Desire (13)
- Benedict XVI (2)
- Bible (10)
- Catholic Audios (2)
- Christianity and Catholicism (259)
- Counter “Church” Hierarchy (25)
- Early Church Fathers (6)
- Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus (5)
- Faith Alone (3)
- Heretics (72)
- Jesus (5)
- John Paul II (4)
- New Rite of Ordination (4)
- Non-Catholic Religions (9)
- Paul VI (2)
- Protestantism (6)
- Saints (4)
- Scientific Evidence for God (1)
- Sedevacantism (8)
- Society of St. Pius X (4)
- Spiritual Issues (15)
- Traditional Catholic Articles (5)
- Vatican II Antipopes (43)
^
Supporters Of ‘Baptism Of Blood’ Lie About Pope Leo The Great
Bro. Peter Dimond
We’ve often pointed out that deception and dishonesty are hallmarks of those who deny Catholic teaching on salvation. The opponents of the necessity of baptism and the Catholic faith frequently misquote things, omit things, and lie in various ways. Another example of this is found in their outrageous misuse of a sermon given by Pope St. Leo the Great. A number of defenders of ‘baptism of desire’ and ‘baptism of blood’ present the following quote from one of Pope Leo’s sermons as if it teaches that in the New Covenant period a person can be saved by martyrdom without water baptism. The following words are often presented under a subject heading titled ‘baptism of blood’ or ‘baptism of desire’, as if the words prove one or both of those ideas.
Concerning these words, the heretic Paul Leonard Kramer (whose embarrassing blunders on salvation are exposed here) even stated: “[In this passage] Pope St. Leo the Great… explicitly taught the doctrine of Baptism of Blood.” His claim is nonsense, as we will see. Various other heretics present the aforementioned words to their undiscerning and unsuspecting readers as if they prove that salvation is possible without water baptism in the New Testament period. However, their claim is a lie and a sham.
When one actually looks up the quotation from Leo the Great’s Sermon 31 on the Epiphany (a source they usually abbreviate, perhaps because they don’t want people to check it), one discovers that the words of the sermon have nothing to do with baptism or even with New Covenant justification. Pope St. Leo’s words are specifically about Herod and the Holy Innocents. Here’s the quote in context.
Anyone who reads this in context can see that Pope St. Leo the Great is not teaching that there is an exception to water baptism in the New Covenant period. He is not addressing that at all. Rather, he is discussing the Holy Innocents who died before the Crucifixion, before the establishment of the New Covenant, and before the institution and promulgation of the Sacrament of Baptism. He is expressing his view (in a sermon) that the Holy Innocents who died before the Crucifixion (when Jesus was a young child) eventually got to Heaven, and that they received the dignity of martyrdom because they were put to death for Christ. In fact, we know that the Holy Innocents did not go to Heaven immediately upon their deaths because no one went to Heaven until after Christ ascended. Leo’s point is that the Holy Innocents eventually and ultimately had the victory over Herod. The passage has nothing to do with the view that one can be saved without water baptism in the New Covenant period. Besides the fact that Leo’s passage does not address or teach what they claim it does, it’s a sermon, not an official teaching to the universal Church.
In fact, Leo the Great’s official teaching contradicts ‘baptism of desire’ and ‘blood’, as we show here: Pope St. Leo The Great Directly Contradicts ‘Baptism Of Blood’ And ‘Baptism Of Desire’. This important passage is also discussed below. Unlike the misquote of Leo’s sermon that we’ve just refuted, the passage discussed below (and in our article) is relevant to the necessity of baptism. It represents Leo’s official position on the matter.
ANOTHER OUTRAGEOUS MISQUOTE
However, before we consider Leo’s official teaching, we must consider another egregious misquote. Certain defenders of ‘baptism of desire’ actually present the following citation as if it comes from Pope Leo the Great.
Their citation purports to show that Pope St. Leo the Great said that a man “forestalled by death” before he is baptized can be saved “so as by fire.” But it’s a total lie. What they have actually done is combine words of Leo the Great on the necessity to baptize people with words from St. Thomas Aquinas, and then present it all as if it comes from Pope Leo the Great! It’s truly outrageous and appalling. It reality, the words of Leo the Great that are cited in the misquote (which are from Letter 16, Oct. 21, 447) end with the words “baptized at any time.” The words of the misquote that begin “Yet if a man is forestalled by death” he “is saved” are actually from St. Thomas Aquinas, not Pope St. Leo the Great. They are found in St. Thomas’ Summa Theologiae, Pt. III, Q. 68. A. 3. Yes, St. Thomas did say that one could be saved without water baptism in certain cases, but that is not the teaching of Pope St. Leo the Great. St. Thomas was not infallible, and he was wrong. Leo the Great’s teaching on baptism represents the official teaching of the Magisterium. His teaching contradicts ‘baptism of desire’ and ‘baptism of blood’ (as we will see). But the dishonest proponents of ‘baptism of desire’ have presented St. Thomas’ words as if they are from Leo the Great in an attempt to pass them off as magisterial teaching. It’s diabolical.
It’s also ironic and somewhat amazing that the words from Leo that they do quote deal with the necessity to immediately baptize unbaptized catechumens who are in any danger (including during a persecution). According to the Pope, those unbaptized catechumens must be baptized immediately if they are in any danger because water baptism is “the only safeguard of true salvation” for them. That directly contradicts ‘baptism of blood’ and ‘baptism of desire’ (as we will see below). The reason that supporters of ‘baptism of desire’ misquote things and rely on fallible sources is that the Magisterium does not support their false position.
THE TRUE RULE OF FAITH ON BAPTISM
In his official teaching, Pope St. Leo the Great declares that for unbaptized catechumens in the distress of persecution or any other danger, water baptism is the only safeguard of true salvation (verae salutis singulare praesidium). An unbaptized catechumen in the distress of persecution is the very one to whom the supposed ‘baptism of blood’ would apply, if it existed. Yet the Pope contradicts the idea by teaching that for such people (catechumens in persecution or another danger) the only (singulare) safeguard of salvation is water baptism. That would not be the case if there were other forms of baptism or other ways to be saved, such as through martyrdom.
Hence, Leo the Great’s official teaching directly contradicts ‘baptism of blood’ and ‘baptism of desire’. It gives us the rule of faith on this issue that we must believe and profess. Allow me to repeat that rule of faith: water baptism is the only safeguard of true salvation for unbaptized catechumens in persecution or any other danger. True Catholics adhere to and defend that rule. Many others reject it.
The Best Argument Against “Baptism of Desire” (video and article)
The Latin Text of the Oldest Surviving Papal Decree Rejects “Baptism of Desire” (video and article)
St. Gregory Nazianzen Rejected “Baptism of Desire” (article)
Cornelius, The Gift Of Languages & The Necessity Of Baptism (video and article)
Outside the Catholic Church There Is Absolutely No Salvation (book)