Reasoning steps: Baptism: subjects

Verdicts: S2 · Baptism: subjects. Shared notes and post-750 development: baptism.

S02.1 (was baptism/B2): Infant baptism

Step S02.1.1: Scripture

No explicit NT text either baptizes or forbids infants. There are household baptisms (Acts 16:15, 33; 1 Cor 1:16), Acts 2:39 (“to you and to your children”), the circumcision analogy (Col 2:11–12), and Matt 19:14. This is inference only, on both sides.

Step S02.1.2: Patristic evidence

irenaeus-bap-s1 (born again to God, “infants”: inference), tertullian-bap-s2 (advises delay, which presupposes the practice), cyprian-bap-s1 (66 bishops; dispute only about the 8th day), gregory-nazianzen-bap-s1, augustine-bap-s3; Didache 7 assumes candidates able to fast (didache-bap-s1).

Step S02.1.3: Weighing decision

Reading A: infant baptism is apostolic and universal. Reading B: it is a later innovation. Reading C: it is attested from c. 200 as widespread and unchallenged in principle, with some regional advice to delay. C is chosen. Tertullian’s objection is prudential, and Cyprian’s council takes the practice for granted, so B fails. A goes beyond the evidence: before 200 there is only Irenaeus, by inference, and Didache 7 describes believers. The common practice of delay among the 4th-c. elite (Gregory’s sermon is against it) shows the practice was normal but not mandatory.

• Confidence: High for C (attested from c. 200 and unchallenged in principle). Low–medium for direct apostolic origin.

Step S02.1.4: Source-proximity weighing

See the proximity tiers.

• Scripture (benchmark): Not scored against Scripture: No explicit NT text; household baptisms and Acts 2:39 are inference only. Developmental: about when the practice is attested.
• Key sources by tier: Cyprian (T3, w 0.6); Tertullian (T2, w 0.8); Irenaeus (T2, w 0.8). Proximity factor: 1.0 (developmental: proximity weighting skipped).
• Assessment: Developmental question (date of attestation), so no proximity weighting is applied. The earliest secure witness is T2 (c. 200). There is no explicit Scripture or T1 witness either way. Verdict unchanged.