Saturday, February 28, 2009

Baptism

"Do I believe in infant baptism? Heck, sir, I've seen it with my own eyes!" --Mark Twain

3 comments:

Scribbler said...

I can just see the recipient of that answer with face turning red in aggravation. lol

Bart Newton said...

Did the 1st Century church practice it? Any strong Biblical evidence of infant immersion? How does it square with 1 Peter 3:21?

gileskirk said...

Bart: There is very little documentary evidence of any practices of the 1st century church outside of Scripture. But, by the 2nd century paedo-baptism was commonplace. And of course we do see household, covenant baptism in many places throughout the New Testament--note for instance, Acts 17:32-33. As for understanding the Peter passage, I think Colossians 2:8-14 helps to clarify. The little booklet by Francis Schaeffer, "Baptism," is what finally convinced me of the covenantal significance of baptism as the NT replacement for OT circumcision.