Ok, here is a good one for all of you. I need some information on infant baptism.
Why is it practiced in the Church?
Where is the earliest reference to it in the Writings of the Fathers? What Scriptural passages do we have to support this?
When did the idea of "credobaptism" (the belief that you can not be baptized without knowing what you are doing or having faith first), come from?
Any and ALL information is greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
Christ is Risen!
Here's a start:
Infants passed through the Red Sea on dry land with the rest of the Israelites. Infants were circumcised on the eighth day. Both of these are 'types' of baptism in the Old Testament.
In the Acts of the Holy Apostles we see entire households being baptized:
Acts - Chapter 16 wrote:Verse 15 And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought [us], saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide [there].
Verse 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed [their] stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
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Priest Mark Smith
British Columbia
