Baptism and the Catholic Church.
Baptism into the Church of adults converting from Judaism and Paganism was normal in the Early Church. As Jesus said in Matthew 28 "All authority is given to me in Heaven and on earth go therefore and preach the Gospel to all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit, TEACHING THEM TO OBSERVE ALL I HAVE COMMANDED YOU, and I an with you always, even to the consummation of the world" When we are baptised therefore we do so accepting ALL THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS CHRIST, Who had authority from His Father in Heaven to give his teachings to the Church he founded which had his authority. This Authority was to be with His Church 'even to the end of the world'. And those baptised were expected to recognise that Authority by observing all that Jesus had commanded. At no time did Jesus say that his teachings such as those on adultery or divorce were to be re-interpreted or updated at a later time when people were 'better educated, nor did he ever mention that some would be excused on the grounds of 'conscience'. Indeed the Church had hardly got off the ground when there came along people who had their own personal interpretations which they used against the Church. The early Church called them heretics.
As we have seen in my previous post the Church ensured that those to whom the Apostles passed on the teachings were sound in the Faith and could be trusted to hand on the Faith unblemished to the next generation and through the ages until our time. Like all plans given to mankind however there were always those who knew better and would betray and lead others astray. "The wolves in sheep clothing' as St Paul fittingly described them.
Were children baptised? There is nothing in the Bible that definitely says they were except that it is taken for granted that when scripture says 'the whole household was baptised, that included children. But we have plenty of writings from the time of the apostles which although not included in the Canon of Scripture are nevertheless trustworthy. So we have St Irenaeus of Lyons writing about 189AD. "For he came to save all through Himself - all I say, who through Him are BORN AGAIN to God - infants and children, and boys and youths, and old men {Against Heresies} We can also look at the writings of St Hippolytus about the same time "The children shall be baptised first. All the children who can answer for themselves, let them answer, if there are any children who cannot answer for themselves, let their parents answer for them or someone else from their family. The reasoning was that the child had committed no sin, but carried the effects of the sin of someone else, and what the child needed was the graces that flowed from Baptism to help it overcome the temptations small though they were at an early age.
If the Reformers had had these documents to hand then I am sure there would not have been talk of only adults being baptised.
But what about the other question of Total Immersion being the only from of baptism. The answer is in a document called the Didache. We know from the writings of Eusebius that such a document existed but it was not until 1885 that a scholar found a copy in an Orthodox Church. Of course there was controversy. Yet the document if approached in a common sense way about the methods of baptism is reasonable. It says, yes, that the best form of baptism is in
in living water, a river or sea, but otherwise hot or cold water will do, and it can be sprinkled on the person being baptised. This is reasonable if we consider that not all towns and villages are convenient to a river or a sea, and in some places water is scarce and total immersion is impossible. God looks at the heart he does not look at the method. I am sure God would accept someone's baptism if the only liquid around was beer.
As we have seen in my previous post the Church ensured that those to whom the Apostles passed on the teachings were sound in the Faith and could be trusted to hand on the Faith unblemished to the next generation and through the ages until our time. Like all plans given to mankind however there were always those who knew better and would betray and lead others astray. "The wolves in sheep clothing' as St Paul fittingly described them.
Were children baptised? There is nothing in the Bible that definitely says they were except that it is taken for granted that when scripture says 'the whole household was baptised, that included children. But we have plenty of writings from the time of the apostles which although not included in the Canon of Scripture are nevertheless trustworthy. So we have St Irenaeus of Lyons writing about 189AD. "For he came to save all through Himself - all I say, who through Him are BORN AGAIN to God - infants and children, and boys and youths, and old men {Against Heresies} We can also look at the writings of St Hippolytus about the same time "The children shall be baptised first. All the children who can answer for themselves, let them answer, if there are any children who cannot answer for themselves, let their parents answer for them or someone else from their family. The reasoning was that the child had committed no sin, but carried the effects of the sin of someone else, and what the child needed was the graces that flowed from Baptism to help it overcome the temptations small though they were at an early age.
If the Reformers had had these documents to hand then I am sure there would not have been talk of only adults being baptised.
But what about the other question of Total Immersion being the only from of baptism. The answer is in a document called the Didache. We know from the writings of Eusebius that such a document existed but it was not until 1885 that a scholar found a copy in an Orthodox Church. Of course there was controversy. Yet the document if approached in a common sense way about the methods of baptism is reasonable. It says, yes, that the best form of baptism is in
in living water, a river or sea, but otherwise hot or cold water will do, and it can be sprinkled on the person being baptised. This is reasonable if we consider that not all towns and villages are convenient to a river or a sea, and in some places water is scarce and total immersion is impossible. God looks at the heart he does not look at the method. I am sure God would accept someone's baptism if the only liquid around was beer.
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