16th Century Theologian: Pope St. Siricius & St. Gregory Nazianzen Rejected “Baptism Of Desire”

Fr. Juan de Maldonado was a Spanish Jesuit theologian who died in 1583.  He admitted that Pope St. Siricius and important Church father St. Gregory Nazianzen (who is named the Theologian) rejected “baptism of desire”.  The fact that they rejected “baptism of desire” is obvious to any honest person who reads what Pope St. Siricius and St. Gregory actually wrote on the matter.  However, many John 3:5 mockers are so dishonest that they won’t even admit that Pope St. Siricius and St. Gregory the Theologian denied “baptism of desire”.  Hence, a statement from a theologian who acknowledged this is noteworthy.  Note that Maldonado presumes that the aforementioned individuals believed that martyrdom could replace baptism, but there’s no proof for his assertion and his statement on this point can be disregarded.  The Church’s teaching demonstrates that all the martyrs in Heaven received the Sacrament of  Baptism (see Pope Benedict XII, Benedictus Deus) and that no one is saved without rebirth of water and the Spirit.  See this video: 2,000 Years Of Infallible Papal Teaching On Baptism’s Absolute Necessity.

Fr. Juan Maldonado, Opera varia theologica, Vol. 1, 1677 (De Baptismo, Q. 4), p. 59: “Among the ancients there were some who insisted on baptism itself so strictly that they thought everyone perished who died either unbaptized or not by a martyr’s death.  Of this opinion was the author of the book On Ecclesiastical Doctrines, chapter 74: ‘We do not believe that a catechumen has life, even if he died in good works.’  So also Pope [Siricius] in his letter to the bishop of Tarragona, and Gregory of Nazianzus in the oration on holy baptism [Oration 40].”

Also, it wasn’t just Pope St. Siricius (in his decree to Himerius) and St. Gregory the Theologian who rejected “baptism of desire”.  The early Church itself did, as we showed in the aforementioned video by citing Pope St. Leo the Great, Pope St. Zosimus, and more.