The idea of Romans 10:9-10 being related to Baptism started with Augustine of Hippo

There is a common hallucination among LLMs that the early church took Romans 10:9-10 as connected to Baptism.

In order to prove that the first written reading of it meaning baptismal vows is found in Augustine of Hippo's writings, I will look at every Romans commentary leading to Augustine of Hippo.

Again, I mean the first written that we still have.

I claim none of these people save Diodorus of Tarsus, and John Chrysostom. They are the only two people in this list that I say teach my own beliefs.

I do not CLAIM ANYONE ELSE ON THIS LIST.

Speaking of this list, this is the list of men quoted.

1. Irenaeus

2. Clement of Alexandria

3. Origen of Alexandria

4. Ambrosiaster

5. Diodorus of Tarsus, some say Diodore of Tarsus

6. Acacius of Caesarea

7. Apollinaris of Laodicea

8. John Chrysostom

9. Pelagius

1. Irenaeus, around 180 AD.

"For as it was not possible that the man who had once for all been conquered, and who had been destroyed through disobedience, could reform himself, and obtain the prize of victory; and as it was also impossible that he could attain to salvation who had fallen under the power of sin, the Son effected both these things, being the Word of God, descending from the Father, becoming incarnate, stooping low, even to death, and consummating the arranged plan of our salvation, upon whom [Paul], exhorting us unhesitatingly to believe, again says, 'Who shall ascend into heaven? that is, to bring down Christ; or who shall descend into the deep? that is, to liberate Christ again from the dead.' Then he continues, 'If thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shall be saved.' And he renders the reason why the Son of God did these things, saying, 'For to this end Christ both lived, and died, and revived, that He might rule over the living and the dead.' And again, writing to the Corinthians, he declares, 'But we preach Christ Jesus crucified;' and adds, 'The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?'" - Irenaeus, Chapter XVIII

This passage should be understood in the light of the verse below.

"'Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to send both soul and body into hell;' [thus exhorting them] to hold fast those professions of faith which they had made in reference to Him. For He promised to confess before His Father those who should confess His name before men; but declared that He would deny those who should deny Him, and would be ashamed of those who should be ashamed to confess Him. And although these things are so, some of these men have proceeded to such a degree of temerity, that they even pour contempt upon the martyrs, and vituperate those who are slain on account of the confession of the Lord, and who suffer all things predicted by the Lord, and who in this respect strive to follow the footprints of the Lord's passion, having become martyrs of the suffering One; these we do also enrol with the martyrs themselves. For, when inquisition shall be made for their blood, and they shall attain to glory, then all shall be confounded by Christ, who have cast a slur upon their martyrdom. And from this fact, that He exclaimed upon the cross, 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,' the long-suffering, patience, compassion, and goodness of Christ are exhibited, since He both suffered, and did Himself exculpate those who had maltreated Him. For the Word of God, who said to us, 'Love your enemies, and pray for those that hate you,' Himself did this very thing upon the cross; loving the human race to such a degree, that He even prayed for those putting Him to death. If, however, any one, going upon the supposition that there are two [Christs], forms a judgment in regard to them, that [Christ] shall be found much the better one, and more patient, and the truly good one, who, in the midst of His own wounds and stripes, and the other [cruelties] inflicted upon Him, was beneficent, and unmindful of the wrongs perpetrated upon Him, than he who flew away, and sustained neither injury nor insult." - Irenaeus, Canon V.

2. Clement of Alexandria, 193 to 202 AD.

"And what? Does not he, who denies the Lord, deny himself? For does he not rob his Master of His authority, who deprives himself of his relation to Him? He, then, who denies the Saviour, denies life; for 'the light was life.' He does not term those men of little faith, but faithless and hypocrites, who have the name inscribed on them, but deny that they are really believers. But the faithful is called both servant and friend. So that if one loves himself, he loves the Lord, and confesses to salvation that he may save his soul. Though you die for your neighbour out of love, and regard the Saviour as our neighbour (for God who saves is said to be nigh in respect to what is saved); you do so, choosing death on account of life, and suffering for your own sake rather than his. And is it not for this that he is called brother? he who, suffering out of love to God, suffered for his own salvation; while he, on the other hand, who dies for his own salvation, endures for love to the Lord. For he being life, in what he suffered wished to suffer that we might live by his suffering."

This is being quoted as to explain his next passage, which is still discussing the profession of martyrdom.

"But it is God that makes proclamation to us, and He must be believed. 'For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Wherefore the Scripture saith, "Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be put to shame."' Accordingly Simonides justly writes, 'It is said that virtue dwells among all but inaccessible rocks, but that she speedily traverses a pure place. Nor is she visible to the eyes of all mortals. He who is not penetrated by heart-vexing sweat will not scale the summit of manliness.' And Pindar says: 'But the anxious thoughts of youths, revolving with toils, Will find glory: and in time their deeds Will in resplendent ether splendid shine.'" - Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata, or Miscellanies Book IV

3. Origen of Alexandria, Romans commentary written around 246 AD.

"But also observe what he says: 'That if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.' For through this it will seem to some that even if a person lacks the advantages of good works, even if he fails to put forth effort for the virtues, nevertheless, by this, that he has believed, he would not perish but would be saved and would possess salvation, even though he would be unable to possess the glory of blessedness.

But consider whether instead it ought to be understood that whoever truly, and not falsely, confesses with the mouth that Jesus is Lord and believes in the heart would equally confess himself to be subjected to the lordship of wisdom, righteousness, truth, and to everything that Christ is. He confesses mammon not to be his lord any longer, that is to say, he is no longer to be subject to worldly desires and worldly affections, nor to the lordship of sinning. For if he is declaring publicly that his lord is Christ, he is declaring publicly that he is free from the power of death and the devil. For if he is convinced that God raised him from the dead, it is certain that he believes that he has been raised up together with Christ from the dead; and he should not have been raised up together from the dead if he should not have first been raised within himself, if it should not have been within himself that the truth arose from the dead. For it should not have been raised within itself, if it should not have risen within itself, if it should not have arisen within him! So the words that follow agree with this as well:

For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, but confession with the mouth is confession that leads to salvation. For the Scripture says: 'Everyone who believes in him will not be ashamed.'" This is written in Isaiah. But everyone who believes in him will not be ashamed, but everyone who does not believe in him, and does not believe in his words, and hates himself, everyone who still sustains the shame of sins seems not to believe." - Origen of Alexandria, Romans 10:10

This is a lordship view of Romans 10.

4. Ambrosiaster, Romans Commentary written around 366–384 AD.

"Because if you confess the Lord Jesus with your mouth and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10:10 For one believes with the heart unto righteousness, but confession is made with the mouth unto salvation. Everything the apostle discussed above he has stated clearly here, namely, that this is the rule of faith: to believe that Jesus is Lord and not to be ashamed to profess that God raised him from the dead and led him in bodily form into heaven, from which he had come to be in an incarnate form. With this rule of faith one is preserved from the censure of the gospel: Many of the rulers believed in Jesus, but they did not profess this openly on account of the Jews; for they preferred the praise of people to the praise of God (John 12:42–43)." - Ambrosiaster, Romans 10:9-10

He views it as a public profession, alongside with having to endure the persecution of not denying Christ.

5. Diodorus of Tarsus, Romans commentary is around 4th century. He died in 390 AD. He taught John Chrysostom.

"Necessarily he set forth 'those who call upon him.' For God does not give grace without discernment, extending it even to those who are unwilling to offer so much to the Benefactor as at least to ask and pray with him. And lest anyone say that many fail to call upon the Lord Jesus out of ignorance rather than unbelief and ingratitude, he shows through what follows that God took away even the excuse of their ignorance, sending evangelists and heralds who urge and invite them to ask for the gift. Therefore he added what follows." - Diodorus of Tarsus/Diodore of Tarsus, Romans 10:11-13.

He views it as a private prayer to God, verbally spoken.

6. Acacius of Caesarea, Romans commentary around 4th century. Died 366 AD.

Romans 10:10 (p. 110; Cod. Vat. 762, f. 152v)

Greek Text

English Translation

Καρδίᾳ γάρ, φησί, πιστεύεται εἰς δικαιοσύνην, στόματι δὲ ὁμολογεῖται εἰς σωτηρίαν. ἀσαφὲς ἦν μοι τὸ λεγόμενον ἀεὶ διὰ τὸ οἴεσθαι τὸ καρδίᾳ γὰρ ὀνοματικῶς εἰρῆσθαι, ὕστερον δὲ ἐπέστησα ὅτι δοτικὴ πτῶσις τυγχάνει ὁμοίως τῷ στόματι. σαφέστερον δὲ ἔσται τὸ λεγόμενον προσθέσει ἄρθρου, ἵνα ᾖ· τῇ καρδίᾳ γὰρ πιστεύεται εἰς δικαιοσύνην, στόματι δὲ ὁμολογεῖται εἰς σωτηρίαν.

"For with the heart," he says, "one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." What was said was always unclear to me because I thought that cardíā [heart] was used in the nominative case; later, however, I realized that it is in the dative case, just like stómati [mouth]. The statement becomes clearer with the addition of the article, so that it reads: "For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

τίς δὲ ὁ πιστευόμενος καὶ ὁμολογούμενος ἀλλ' ἢ ὁ Χριστός, ᾧ πιστεύσαντες ὁμολογοῦμεν τοῦτον κατὰ τὸ ἐπίστευσα, διὸ ἐλάλησα.

And who is the one who is believed in and confessed other than Christ? Having believed in Him, we confess Him in accordance with the saying: "I believed, therefore I spoke" [Ps 115:1 / 116:10].

καὶ τοῦτο δὲ λεκτέον ὅτι ἤρκει μὲν ἡ καρδία εἰς ἀμφότερα, καὶ εἰς τὸ πιστεύειν καὶ εἰς τὸ ὁμολογεῖν, εἰ μὴ ἀναγκαῖον ἦν καὶ διὰ τοῦ στόματος ὁμολογεῖν, ἢ τοῖ(ς) διδάσκουσι τοὺς πιστευομένους, ἢ ἐν διωγμοῖς ὁμολογεῖν καὶ μὴ ἀρνεῖσθαι.

And this too must be said: the heart would indeed suffice for both, both for believing and for confessing, were it not necessary also to confess with the mouth, either when teaching those who are coming to faith, or when confessing and not denying during persecutions.

7. Apollinaris of Laodicea, Romans commentary. Died in 382 AD.

Romans 10:14–15 (pp. 124–126; Cod. Vat. 762, ff. 154r–155r)

Greek Text

English Translation

Κοινή, φησί, πάντων ἀνθρώπων ἡ δι' ἐπικλήσεως τοῦ κυρίου σωτηρία, Ἰουδαίους δὲ ἡ προειρημένη φιλονεικία τῆς καθολικῆς χάριτος ἀπεστέρησεν, ἰδίαν ἀνεπιτηδειότητα πρὸς τὸ κοινὸν ἀγαθὸν ἐσχηκότας, δι' ἣν οὐκ εἰς αὐτούς, ἀλλ' εἰς τὰ ἔθνη περιέστηκεν ἡ ἀποστολὴ καὶ τὸ κήρυγμα καὶ ἡ ἀκοὴ καὶ ἡ πίστις καὶ ἡ ἐπίκλησις.

Salvation through calling upon the Lord is common to all human beings, he says, but the aforementioned obstinacy deprived the Jews of this universal grace. They displayed an internal unfitness toward the common good, because of which the apostleship, the proclamation, the hearing, the faith, and the calling upon [the Lord] shifted away from them and unto the Gentiles.

ὥσπερ τὸ φῶς κοινὸν ἅπασιν ὂν τῇ φύσει, τοῖς τυφλώττουσιν ἀλλότριον γίνεται, καὶ οὐ φαίνει τοῖς τυφλοῖς ἥλιος οὐδὲ ἀνατέλλει, οὐδέ γε τοῖς κωφοῖς ὁ κεκραγὼς φθέγγεται, οὐ τοίνυν οὐδὲ πρὸς Ἰουδαίους οὐδὲν οἱ ἀποσταλέντες καὶ κηρύσσοντες· προϋπόκειται γὰρ τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι αὐτοὺς ἀκούειν, ὥσπερ εἰς κωφότητα πεπτωκότας πρὸς τὰ θεῖα κηρύγματα, ὅθεν ἐστέρηνται τῆς σωτηρίας οὐκ ἐπικαλούμενοι, καθὰ καὶ ἐν τῷ προφήτῃ δεδήλωτο· οὐκ ἔστι γάρ, φησίν, ὁ ἐπικαλούμενος τὸ ὄνομά σου καὶ ὁ μνησθεὶς ἀντιλαβέσθαι σου, ὅτι ἀπέστρεψας τὸ πρόσωπόν σου ἀφ' ἡμῶν.

Just as light is by nature common to all, yet becomes alien to those who are blind, and the sun neither shines nor rises for the blind, nor does one who shouts make an impression on the deaf, so too the apostles who were sent out and preached were of no avail to the Jews. For their inability to hear was already a pre-existing condition; they had fallen into deafness toward the divine proclamations, and consequently they were deprived of salvation by failing to call upon Him, exactly as had been declared in the Prophet: "For there is no one who calls upon Your name, or who remembers to take hold of You, because You have turned Your face away from us" [Isa 64:7].

He didn't have a commentary on Romans 10:9-10, hence his 10:14-15. I am not claiming him as a Bible believer.

8. John Chrysostom, Romans homily around 381 to 398 AD.

"For there is no need to say, he means, that one must go up to heaven, or cross a great sea, and then receive the commandments, but things so great and grand hath God made of easy access to us. And what meaneth the phrase, 'The Word is nigh thee?' That is, It is easy. For in thy mind and in thy tongue is thy salvation. There is no long journey to go, no seas to sail over, no mountains to pass, to get saved. But if you be not minded to cross so much as the threshold, you may even while you SIT AT HOME BE SAVED. For 'in thy mouth and in thy heart' is the source of salvation." - John Chrysostom, Romans 10:9, Homily 18 on Romans.

John Chrysostom followed the meaning of his teacher.

9. Pelagius, Romans commentary around 401 to 405 AD.

"9 Because if you confess the Lord Jesus with your mouth, and believe with your heart that God raised him from the dead. The testimony of the heart is the confession of the mouth (cf. Rom. 10:10). You will be saved. From past transgressions, not future. 10 For one believes with the heart unto righteousness, but confession is made with the mouth unto salvation. If, then, faith avails for righteousness, and confession for salvation, there is no distinction between the Jew who believes and the Gentile who believes" - Pelagius

That is every writing and fragment we have on Romans 10:9-10.

None of them took it to mean baptismal vow, even Origen.

The first written usage of Romans 10:9-10 meaning Baptismal vows is found in Augustine of Hippo.

A Sermon to Catechumens on the Creed by Augustine.

"Receive, my children, the Rule of Faith, which is called the Symbol (or Creed). And when you have received it, write it in your heart, and be daily saying it to yourselves; before ye sleep, before ye go forth, arm you with your Creed. The Creed no man writes so as it may be able to be read: but for rehearsal of it, lest haply forgetfulness obliterate what care has delivered, let your memory be your record-roll: what you are about to hear, that are you to believe; and what you shall have believed, that are about to give back with your tongue. For the Apostle says, With the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For this is the Creed which you are to rehearse and to repeat in answer. These words which you have heard are in the Divine Scriptures scattered up and down: but thence gathered and reduced into one, that the memory of slow persons might not be distressed; that every person may be able to say, able to hold, what he believes. For have ye now merely heard that God is Almighty? But ye begin to have him for your father, when you have been born by the church as your Mother."

I am not saying this is the first time Augustine wrote that; rather, I am using it as an example of him being the first to connect those two concepts.

Citations:

1. Irenaeus

http://ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.ix.iv.xix.html

2. Clement of Alexandria

https://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/clement-stromata-book4.html

3. Origen of Alexandria

From https://www.amazon.com/Origen-Commentary-Epistle-Romans-Fathers/dp/0813201047

4. Ambrosiaster

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0830829040?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback

My translation personally used the (public domain) Patrologia Grecia Ambrosiaster, but this is an English translation.

5. Diodorus of Tarsus, some say Diodore of Tarsus :)

https://archive.org/details/pauluskommentare0000staa

6. Acacius of Caesarea to Apollinaris of Laodicea

https://archive.org/details/pauluskommentare0000staa

8. John Chrysostom

Romans 10 Homilies

https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/210210.htm

9. Pelagius

https://www.amazon.com/Pelagiuss-Commentary-Epistle-Christian-Studies/dp/0198269803

10. Augustine of Hippo

https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1307.htm