22 Comments
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Garrett Thomas's avatar

This was helpful and thorough. Thanks for writing it. We're moving to have our son baptized this spring at the age of 3. He can recite the Apostles' Creed, but I think the authenticity of the baptism would still be in doubt by our credo-baptist fellows.

Wyatt Graham's avatar

Thanks, Garrett! I hope the Lord blesses your family. It is great that your son can already recite the Creed.

Blayne's avatar

This was a very well written article and well sourced. Do you have plans to continue to write another on further centuries? I know there was still differences at least until Augustine and I’ve never understood the deathbed baptism practice and specifically where that came from.

Wyatt Graham's avatar

Yes, but my next article will be on preparation for baptism.

Blayne's avatar

Excellent I look forward to that one as well.

Peter Schott's avatar

Great read. Been having conversations w/ a Church of Christ friend and the idea of "not saved if not baptized by immersion" came up. We disagreed quite a bit on this point, though not that baptism was a core part of Christianity. The detail here was a good read and I appreciated the many differences and commonalities over the years.

I did appreciate the clarification on "if this type of water isn't available" amongst all of that - because sometimes you just don't have a running body of water to use for a variety of reasons.

Wyatt Graham's avatar

It seems like the mode of baptism was quite flexible, even if there was an ideal.

Emmanuel Oset's avatar

Very helpful article. Thanks, Wyatt.

Wyatt Graham's avatar

Thanks, Emmanuel! Glad to be of service!

Graham Varnell's avatar

I'm preaching on Baptism this next weekend, and this was an incredible, random (not random) article to pop up on my feed.

Thanks for your diligent work!

Wyatt Graham's avatar

You are welcome!

Chase's avatar

This was such a great article! So many of the ancient practices were intriguing, particularly the exorcisms and the drinking of milk and honey (that sounds delicious). Thank you for all of the hard work you put into this!

Wyatt Graham's avatar

You are welcome! Glad you enjoyed the article.

Ross Twele's avatar

Your posts are always clear, thorough, and measured. But this one is particularly impressive. Thank you for pulling all this together. I’m bookmarking it for future reference.

Wyatt Graham's avatar

Thanks, Ross. I appreciate that. I am glad it was helpful.

Drake Osborn's avatar

This is a fantasticly thorough overview and helpful for me as a local pastor. Thanks for your work!

Wyatt Graham's avatar

Thanks, Drake! So glad to hear it benefited you as a pastor!

Finn Foster's avatar

Thorough. Helpful. Reinvigorating. I believe that May will benefit from your endeavors and your desire to see ecumenical unity remain prevalent.

My only question: at what point is an article no longer an article? Have you this created something altogether different?

Tome + Article = tomarticle (?)

Wyatt Graham's avatar

Ha, I am not sure. I went as long as it took to finish the project that I decided upon. So maybe Substack lets us write tomarticles!

Mercedes Dawn's avatar

Thank you for writing this! I am trying to figure this all out, as I come from a "Jesus name" only baptism background. I believe baptism is closely linked with salvation, is for the remission of sins and that it shouldn't be delayed. What I am struggling with is that, in every actual account of baptism in the Bible, those baptisms were in Jesus name. I know this may not have been what they actually said, and just a summary, but is there any strong historical or linguistic evidence to support that understanding? This is my biggest holdup.

DAVID CAMPBELL's avatar

A very helpful and comprehensive overview - thanks for your work on this.

Wyatt Graham's avatar

You are welcome. Glad you were helped by it!