As is too often the case with ancient church history, is we can't be as certain as we'd
like to be.
And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water, and the eunuch said, See,
here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized?
And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.
We certainly know that by 300, the universal practice of the ancient church was to baptize
children, to baptize the children of believers.
The problem is, what happened before 300, and how certain can we be about it?
A number of years ago now, two German Lutheran scholars marshaled all of their vast learning.
One to say the early church did baptize infants, that is very early, and another to say the
evidence just isn't clear.
Biblical baptism.
Now you say, what does biblical baptism mean?
Acts chapter 8.
Are you there?
Look at verse 36.
I want to show you just real quickly what biblical baptism is.
Acts 8, 36.
And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water, and the eunuch said, See,
here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized?
Now the eunuch just got the gospel preached to him, and now he's asking, what's hindering
me, what's stalked me from getting baptized?
And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.
So according to the Bible, how do you get scripturally baptized?
Well it happens after you believe.
Because he said, what doth hinder me baptized?
And the answer to the question is, if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.
And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Right there we do away with infant baptism.
Because unless your six-week-old is able to stand up and say, I believe that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God, and understand it, news flash, six-week-olds aren't even condemned.
All right?
If they die, they go to heaven.
Salvation, baptism happens after salvation.
Notice verse 38.
Not only is baptism after salvation, it's also by immersion.
Look at verse 38.
And he commanded the chariot to stand still.
And they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized them.
Notice he didn't say, grabbed a cup of water and poured it over his head.
He didn't say he filled up his spray bottle with water and sprayed them with it.
He said they went down both into the water.
Why did they have to go down into the water?
Because he needed enough water to get his whole body under water.
Because baptism is by immersion scripturally.
And so when we look at the evidence in the early church in the second and third century,
the evidence is simply inconclusive.
I don't think either side of this debate can entirely win, which is okay because in the
end of the day, history doesn't answer this question.
The Bible answers the question.
Theological reflection on the Bible answers that question.
See here is water.
What doth hinder me to be baptized?
And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.
And that's really the way it ought to be.