Question Two. Whether the Sacrament of Confirmation is of more Dignity than Baptism

52. Second the question is asked whether it is of more dignity than baptism.

53. That it is so is seen in the text [Lombard, Sent. IV d.7 ch.4 n.1].

54. Again in Gratian, Decretum p.3 d.5 ch.5, it is plain that this sacrament is preferred to baptism.

55. To the contrary:

Baptism destroys guilt and punishment without penance; this one does not;     therefore etc   .

I. To the Question

56. I reply: when something includes or presupposes something else, the things can be compared either according to what precisely belongs to each or according to what the second posits on the presupposition of the first.

57. And indeed the second comparison is not per se, because thus does a second universally exceed a first (just as two goods exceed one of them). But the first comparison is per se, because it accords with the precise ideas of the compared things.

58. And in this way I say that baptism is a nobler sacrament, speaking of the nobility of a sacrament relative to the principal end of the sacrament, which is the conferring of grace; for baptism is conferred for a greater grace and for more effects simply noble than confirmation is. However, when speaking according to the other comparison, confirmation adds much to baptism.

59. Confirmation can also be said to be nobler in a certain respect, namely by reason of the minister, because it is conferred by a nobler minister - but this is not simply because of its nobility but because of the greater necessity of baptism. Baptism is allowed to more ministers, confirmation only to special ones.

II. To the Initial Argument for the Other Side

60. From this last point, about nobility in a certain respect, the answer to the argument for the opposite [n.55] is plain.