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I don't know when, but surely the "why" of baptising infants on an "ad hoc" basis has to do with high levels of infant mortality. (Wasn't there tremendous anxiety with Augustine when, as a child, he became very ill, because he was not yet baptised?) As I remember from my courses on the early church, baptism was delayed because of the problem of sin that could be committed after the sacrament, and so the growth of the penitential system, to answer that problem, paved the way for the universal practice of infant baptism, since thus the child was "protected" in case of sudden death, and a remedy existed for any sin the child would (undoubtedly) commit otherwise throughout life. No doubt the more learned members of the list can contribute more towards a more precise chronology, though. Sharon Arnoult History Dept. Southwest Texas State > Many thanks to all who have offered responses to my original, and as > it is now apparent to me, badly conceived query. But my curiosity > remains. Apparently, catechumens are still baptized at Easter, even > if there are not that many of them around now as there were in the > early Christian centuries. When, then, did it infants begin being > baptized on an ad hoc basis, so to speak, without waiting for Easter? > It seems to have been this practice that pulled the rug out from > under the Easter baptismal ceremonies. > Jim Bugslag %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%