How would you explain 1 John 2:12-14 in regard to the word "children"? This is one of the words used by Lutherans to justify the practice of baptising children. The word teknion may refer to little children. If that is true, have these little children been forgiven of their sins? Also, what does Origen mean by saying he has learned this from the teaching from the apostles? Do you know what is written in the Twelve Apostles' Teachings? -- Trine Aune (Oslo)
Teknia is used seven times in 1 John, always referring to adults. Also once in John 13, again referring to the mature. So the Lutheran position on infant baptism has no solid biblical basis. It is true that by around 200 AD (seven generations after Pentecost -- a long time!) there were occasional infant baptisms. Still, this practice was not widely approved of until around 400 AD.
Origen means that the teaching he has received has been conveyed from apostolic times. But he certainly cannot mean that he personally met any of the apostles, since he died in 254 AD. I have read almost everything written on this subject between the 1st century and 325 AD, and can say with a high degree of confidence that infant baptism does not figure prominently in the Christian theological scene until the time of Augustine (354-430). As for the Didache, or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, this document is post-apostolic, likely dating to the 2nd century. It has no authority for biblical Christians.
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