medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Do not Tertullian and Origen both refer to it as relatively common?
Dennis Martin
>>> [log in to unmask] 04/14/03 11:15AM >>>
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
In a message dated 9/4/2003 18:13:15, [log in to unmask] writes:
<< My next query concerns the development of infant baptism, and its
justification, in the early centuries of Christianity. I would be
particularly interested in primary sources by eastern theologians to provide
a counter-balance to Augustine >>
I meant to respond to this a few days ago but forgot.
There are very few references to infant baptism in early Christian sources
from the East. Irenaeus of Lyons, who was brought up in the East, has one
fairly clear reference in Adv. Haer. 2.22, using the phrase 'renascuntur in
deum' with reference to baptism and specifically mentioning infants. Apart
from that I don't think there is much until the Apostolic Constitutions (c.
380), book 6, chapter 15. This uses Matthew 19:14 as the justification.
Some years ago I wrote an article including discussion of Gregory of Nyssa's
work 'On the premature deaths of infants'. This is a work meant to offer
comfort to the parents of dead infants. It contains a number of complex
philosophical and theological arguments touching on the nature of moral
responsibility, purgatory, universalism, and other relevant issues. But I
noted that it nowhere so much as alludes to infant baptism. Clearly the
practice was practically unknown in the context of fourth-century Cappadocia,
or Gregory would surely have referred to it given the nature of this work.
Sorry I can't provide more with the resources I have to hand.
Graham Gould
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