Development of Infant Baptism in Church History

The podcast explores the development of infant baptism in church history. It is revealed that infant baptism became predominant in the church due to the belief that baptism brings grace, especially in situations where children were near death. The postponement of baptism to the end of life and the practice of baptizing children who were dying resulted in the development of infant baptism. The podcast highlights various historical texts, including the Didache and writings from Gregory of Nazianzen, which acknowledge the existence of believers' baptism and the need for some level of understanding in recipients of baptism. The episode concludes that the evidence points towards infant baptism as a later development and highlights books such as 'Baptism in the Early Church' by Stander and Lowe, 'Infant Baptism in Historical Perspective' by Wright, and 'Baptism in the Early Church: History, Theology, and Liturgy in the First Five Centuries' by Ferguson as helpful resources to further explore the topic.