What the Early Christians Believed About Baptism
Ask ten Christians what baptism does, and you may get ten answers.
“It’s a public declaration of faith.”
“It’s an act of obedience.”
“It’s a symbol of what already happened inside.”
“It’s a nice excuse for a family party.”
But what did the very first Christians say?
Wait… Did the First Christians Think Baptism Was Just a Symbol?
A lot of Christians believe:
“Baptism is an outward sign of an inward change. It doesn’t actually do anything. And it’s only for people old enough to believe.”
And at first that sounds reasonable.
Faith matters.
Baptism without faith would be empty.
But then you read what the first Christians wrote, and you have to stop for a second.
Because they talked about baptism very differently.
First, What the Apostles Said
On Pentecost, the crowd asked Peter what to do.
“Do penance, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins: and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
— Acts 2:38
“For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all that are far off, whomsoever the Lord our God shall call.”
— Acts 2:39
For the remission of your sins.
And to your children.
Jesus Himself said that unless a man is “born again of water and the Holy Ghost,” he cannot enter the kingdom of God (John 3:5).
And Peter wrote that “baptism... now saveth you” (1 Peter 3:21).
(See Why Catholics Believe Baptism Saves.)
The Didache (late first century)
This early Christian manual gives instructions for baptism:
Baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in running water.
If there is no running water, use other water.
If there is not enough for immersion, pour water on the head three times.
It also says no one should receive the Eucharist unless they have been baptized.
Baptism was the door into the Church.
St. Justin Martyr (c. A.D. 155)
Justin explained Christian baptism to the Roman emperor.
He said those who believe are brought to the water and are born again, the same way Christians themselves were born again.
He called it a washing for the forgiveness of sins, and also “illumination,” because the mind is enlightened.
Born again.
In the water.
St. Irenaeus (c. A.D. 180)
Irenaeus wrote that Jesus came to save all who are born again to God through Him:
infants, little children, boys, youths, and old men.
And he spoke of baptism as the washing of regeneration, the new birth.
Infant Baptism: “From the Apostles”
Around A.D. 215, the Apostolic Tradition, a church order linked to St. Hippolytus of Rome, gave this instruction:
Baptize the little ones first.
If they can speak for themselves, let them speak.
If they cannot, let their parents or someone from their family speak for them.
Around A.D. 248, Origen wrote that the Church had received a tradition from the Apostles to baptize even infants.
And in A.D. 253, St. Cyprian and a council of 66 bishops in North Africa answered a bishop who thought babies should wait until the eighth day, like circumcision.
Their answer: don’t wait. No one should be kept from the grace of God, not even a newborn.
Notice the question.
Not whether to baptize babies.
Only how soon.
(See Why Catholics Baptize Infants.)
Even the Heretics Agreed
Here is an interesting detail.
In the 300s and 400s, the Church had fierce fights with groups like the Donatists and Pelagians.
Pelagius denied that babies inherit original sin.
But even he did not deny that infants should be baptized.
Infant baptism was so universal that both sides took it for granted.
One Baptism
The early Christians were so sure baptism really did something that they asked a new question:
Can it be repeated?
Their answer was no.
In A.D. 381, the Council of Constantinople wrote it into the Creed Catholics still pray at Mass every Sunday:
“I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins.”
So What Is the Catholic Claim?
Here it is in simple terms.
The Apostles taught baptism for the forgiveness of sins, for believers and their children.
The Didache, Justin, and Irenaeus described baptism as a new birth.
Hippolytus, Origen, and Cyprian show the Church baptizing infants and calling it a tradition from the Apostles.
The Creed confesses one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
The Catholic Church teaches that baptism frees us from sin and gives us new birth as children of God (CCC 1213).
So the real question is not:
“Why do Catholics think baptism does something?”
The better question is:
“When did Christians start thinking it didn’t?”
Because the first Christians did not treat baptism as a symbol.
They treated it as a birth.
Keep reading: What the Early Christians Believed About Bishops, or browse more questions in Catholicism Explained.
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Catholic Sources
Scripture (Douay-Rheims): John 3:5; Acts 2:38–39; Acts 16:15, 33; Romans 6:3–4; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 3:21.
Catechism of the Catholic Church: CCC 1213 (baptism); CCC 1250–1252 (infant baptism); CCC 1262–1274 (the effects of baptism).
Early Christian writers: The Didache 7 and 9 (late first century); St. Justin Martyr, First Apology 61 (c. A.D. 155); St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies 2.22.4 (c. A.D. 180); Apostolic Tradition 21 (c. A.D. 215); Origen, Commentary on Romans 5.9 (c. A.D. 248); St. Cyprian, Letter 64 (A.D. 253).
Church documents: Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (A.D. 381).
