Scotth1960
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- Jan 4, 2011
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James Early writes: "Like all Southern Baptists, I was not at all open to the idea of baptizing infants. I thought such a practice to be an unbiblical innovation that had crept into the Church gradually over several hundred years along with all the other "corruptions". Surely the Apostles never baptized anyone who was too young [sic] to make a conscious decision to follow Jesus!" [page 79.].
".. evidence for the apostolic practice of infant baptism can be found throughout the book of Acts, In Chapter 11, St. Peter relates Cornelius' meeting an angel, who told him to "Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon whose surname is Peter, who will tell you words by which you and all your household will be saved" (Acts 11:13-14). After Peter arrived "he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord" (10:48). The clear implication is that the whole household was baptized.
"Later, when St. Paul was evangelizing in Philippi, his first convert was a woman named Lydia. Soon after her conversion, "she and her household were baptized" (Acts 16:15). Then, a few days later, after Paul's dramatic deliverance from prison, his jailer also believed in the Lord Jesus. Shortly afterward, we read that "he and all his family were baptized" (Acts 16:33). Finally, in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, St. Paul himself mentions another time that he baptized an entire household, stating simply: "Now I did baptize the household of Stephanus" (1 Cor. 1:16).
"The Greek word translated into English as "household" is "oikos", and as Fr. Jordan points out, "There is no evidence of "household" being used in either secular Greek, biblical Greek, or in the writings of Hellenistic Judaism which would in any way limit its meaning to adults alone". [pages 80-81.].
Father James Early. From Baptist to Byzantium: How a Baptist Missionary Traveled Halfway Around the World To Find the Ancient Orthodox Faith. Copyright 2009. Regina Orthodox Press, PO Box 5288, Salisbury, MA 01952 reginaorthodoxpress.com
God bless all of His children, infants and adults equally. In Erie PA Scott R. Harrington
".. evidence for the apostolic practice of infant baptism can be found throughout the book of Acts, In Chapter 11, St. Peter relates Cornelius' meeting an angel, who told him to "Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon whose surname is Peter, who will tell you words by which you and all your household will be saved" (Acts 11:13-14). After Peter arrived "he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord" (10:48). The clear implication is that the whole household was baptized.
"Later, when St. Paul was evangelizing in Philippi, his first convert was a woman named Lydia. Soon after her conversion, "she and her household were baptized" (Acts 16:15). Then, a few days later, after Paul's dramatic deliverance from prison, his jailer also believed in the Lord Jesus. Shortly afterward, we read that "he and all his family were baptized" (Acts 16:33). Finally, in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, St. Paul himself mentions another time that he baptized an entire household, stating simply: "Now I did baptize the household of Stephanus" (1 Cor. 1:16).
"The Greek word translated into English as "household" is "oikos", and as Fr. Jordan points out, "There is no evidence of "household" being used in either secular Greek, biblical Greek, or in the writings of Hellenistic Judaism which would in any way limit its meaning to adults alone". [pages 80-81.].
Father James Early. From Baptist to Byzantium: How a Baptist Missionary Traveled Halfway Around the World To Find the Ancient Orthodox Faith. Copyright 2009. Regina Orthodox Press, PO Box 5288, Salisbury, MA 01952 reginaorthodoxpress.com
God bless all of His children, infants and adults equally. In Erie PA Scott R. Harrington