I've been reading about the sacrament of baptism a lot lately, and I have some questions about the historical tradition of how baptism has been performed.
As I understand it Biblically, baptisms were performed on believers, and potentially on the children of believers (as indicated by Paul saying that "entire households" were baptised. But I've been under the impression (possibly incorrectly) that the practice of infant baptism developed early in the history of the church, and gradually (at what point?) became the standard practice of the church until the 1600's at some point, when the Reformation more or less introduced "older, believer-only baptism".
Is this correct? Is it safe to say that the standard for roughly the first 1000 years of the church was infant baptism?
I continue to research the issue, so I'm not completely sure about this, but I'd be interested in hearing some answers, with maybe a link or two.
Serious answers only please. Thanks
2007-10-06
08:04:46
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7 answers
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asked by
Rob
5
in
Religion & Spirituality