Did The Early Church Baptize Infants

Though Joachim Jeremias' 'Infant Baptism in the First Four Centuries' was originally published in 1938, an English translation did not appear until 1960 (based on the revised German edition of 1958). In 1961, Kurt Aland published his response to Jeremias' assertions. This English translation of 'Die Sauglingstaufe im Neuen Testament und in der alten Kirche' originally appeared in 1963. In this point by point refutation of Jeremias' main contentions, Aland insists that there is no direct evidence of infant baptism prior to the third century.

This treatise was written about 400 A.D. Concerning it Aug. in Retract. Book II. c. xviii., says: I have written seven books on Baptism against the Donatists, who strive to defend themselves by the authority of the most blessed bishop and martyr Cyprian; in which I show that nothing is so effectual for the refutation of the Donatists, and for shutting their mouths directly from upholding their schism against the Catholic Church, as the letters and act of Cyprian. Aeterna Press

Joachim Jeremias here makes his greatest contribution in a study of the early tradition of infant baptism. He offers exegesis of pertinent New Testament passages, and readers will be impressed with the extra-Biblical evidence he produces to support that there was virtually universal observance of the rite in the post-Apostolic generations. He states his purpose thus: to lay before the reader the historical material relating to the history of infant baptism in the first four centuries in as concrete and sober a manner as possible.

This magisterial volume is a comprehensive survey of the doctrine and practice of baptism in the first five centuries of Christian history, arranged geographically within chronological periods. Baptism in the Early Church covers the antecedents to Christian baptism and traces the history of Christian doctrine and practice from the New Testament through the writings of the church fathers of the fourth and fifth centuries. The book deals primarily with the literary sources, though it also gives attention to depictions of baptism (primarily of Jesus) in various art forms and to the surviving baptismal fonts. Ferguson s thorough study points to the central importance of baptism in the early church. Many blessings were attributed to baptism, but the two earliest and most consistently mentioned are forgiveness of sins and the reception of the Holy Spirit; faith and repentance were necessary in order to receive these benefits. Jewish immersion rites, the practice of John the Baptist, the meaning of the words used for baptism, the literary descriptions, and the material remains argue that full immersion was the normal practice, and the evidence from art is consistent with this interpretation. Containing nearly everything currently known about the early Christian ritual of baptism, with extensive citations to the primary and secondary literature, Ferguson s Baptism in the Early Church is destined to be a standard reference work.

This book demonstrates that believer's baptism did not simply disappear after the apostolic era, but continued to be the accepted practice for centuries. Infant baptism became part of ecclesiastical practice gradually, apart from apostolic injunction. For this reason it must be called into question and rejected as a suitable practice for Christian churches.

In Against Julian Augustine stresses in the first two books the traditional teachings of the Church found in the Fathers and contrasts their teaching with the rationalism of the Pelagians