newtestamentchristianity

                                                                          Introduction:  Over the past five posts, I have attempted to defend infant baptism from scripture. As always, it's important to read a series of posts in chronological order. Now, in the first of two posts, I will attempt to defend infant baptism from other documents in early Christianity besides that of the New Testament. This post will focus on Christianity in the first two centuries (A.D.-200s). The second post will focus on infant baptism in the third century, completing my seven posts advocating for infant baptism which has been a common practice in ancient Christianity.  It is often forgotten among evangelicals and fundamentalists that there are other historical documents concerning the early Christians besides the N...

                                                                                                                                               Forward:  As I approach the end of this series of posts defending infant baptism, I hope that I will at least accomplish two things:  1. Inform Paedobaptists of some of the best Biblical arguments for infant baptism. Likewise, I hope that they will use many of the arguments that I have used for it instead of weaker ones like the alleged claim that Noah's baptism in 1 Peter 3: 21 supports infant baptism. For instance, the use of Noah's baptism in 1 Peter 3: 21 is weak because Genesis...

                                                                                                                                                  Introduction:  So far, I have discussed that circumcision was a common practice for young children born into the Hebrew families during the Old Testament era. Likewise, I have shared evidence that Gentile adults who converted to Judaism, had to be circumcised in order to join the covenantal family. While all of this was discussed in my first post of this series, I then discussed the relationship of Jesus to young children in the second, and then I affirmed the likelihood that...

                                                                                                                                            Introduction:  There are many reasons that Christians infant baptize. Roman Catholics, for example, generally infant baptize because they believe that baptism is necessary for salvation. Presbyterians and Methodists, on the other hand, generally baptize infants because they believe that baptism is ''a sign and seal'' as The Westminster Standards puts it. The major focus of these posts, though, will be to argue for the evangelical positions concerning the Biblicity of infant baptism.  Previo...

                                                                       Introduction:  In the previous post, I discussed the rite of circumcision in the Old Testament. I explained that this rite was essential for Hebrew children being members of the covenant community. Additionally, I elaborated on how gentile adults had to receive physical circumcision in order to be accepted into the Israelite family. The continuity between Old Testament Circumcision and New Testament Baptism is something that I shall again return to. For now, though, my focus shall be on infant Baptism in the gospels. Of primary focus in this post, is my attempt to prove historically that infant Baptism was not unknown in the early first century. Likewise, I wish to demonstrate that this practice would not have been unknown to the apost...

                                                                          Introduction: Of all the issues that have separated Christians down through the ages, Baptism has been one of the most controversial. Who has the right to Baptize? Is baptism necessary for salvation? What mode of Baptism should be used? Who should be baptized? Is there a Baptism of fire? All of these questions have provoked rigorous debate, often, along denominational lines. While each of these topics deserves individual focus and study, one of them I hope to address today.  Concerning the question of whether or not infants should be baptized, Christians have disagreed on this question from the earliest of times. It is a common myth that the early church only began to baptize infants be the fourth century (which I shall prove o...

  In the previous post, I discussed arguments used by a minority of Biblical scholars for the view that the New Testament was originally written in Hebrew. Today, I would like to discuss some of the reasons why the majority of scholars believe that it was originally composed in Koine Greek. For my previous thoughts on this debate, check out my recent articles which have discussed it:                                                                    https://newtestamentchristianityat.blogspot.com/2022/04/an-introduction-to-language-of-new.html                                                                     https://newtestamentchristianityat.blo...