Do Anabaptists still object to infant baptism?

Christian ethics and theology with an Anabaptist perspective

What do you believe about infant baptism?

Infant baptism is preferable to waiting to be an adult, and so is infant communion.
2
10%
Infant baptism is preferable but communion should be delayed until someone is of age.
0
No votes
Baptism of someone of age is preferable but infant baptism is acceptable.
0
No votes
Infant baptism is to be avoided but there is no need to be rebaptized as an adult.
2
10%
Infant baptism is invalid but not a big deal. Rebaptism as an adult is a good idea. I will commune with infant baptizers.
6
30%
Infant baptism is unacceptable and I won’t commune with infant baptizers but it’s not an “abomination”.
4
20%
Infant baptism is an abomination, like the Schleitheim confession says.
6
30%
I think adult baptism needs to be age 18+ and anything below that is unacceptable.
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 20

ohio jones
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Re: Do Anabaptists still object to infant baptism?

Post by ohio jones »

Valerie wrote: ↑Wed Dec 03, 2025 11:19 pm Maybe read all Origens writings.
Right. :lol: From Wikipedia:
He was a prolific writer who wrote roughly 2,000 treatises in multiple branches of theology, including textual criticism, biblical exegesis and hermeneutics, homiletics, and spirituality....

As a direct result of the numerous condemnations of his work, only a tiny fraction of Origen's voluminous writings have survived. Nonetheless, these writings still amount to a massive number of Greek and Latin texts, very few of which have yet been translated into English.
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ken_sylvania
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Re: Do Anabaptists still object to infant baptism?

Post by ken_sylvania »

Valerie wrote: ↑Wed Dec 03, 2025 11:19 pm I will find it, I cannot remember now but I’ve seen it more than once. Maybe read all Origens writings. He is questioned on some of his theology, but his statement that the Apistles taught to baptize your infants wasn’t his “theology”, it was a statement that obvious was handed down to him as he wasn’t born yet at time the Apostles started Churches.
I completely understand why Anabaptists would want to reject this with all their hearts, there are however former Anabaptists who do believe the historical understanding.
Who is this Origen you speak of? Are you referring to the heretic Origen, condemned as a heretic by Pope Theophilus I as well as by the 543 Synod of Constantinople? The Origen described by the 553 Second Council of Constantinople as "insane"?
Valerie wrote: ↑Wed Dec 03, 2025 11:19 pm his statement that the Apistles taught to baptize your infants wasn’t his “theology”, it was a statement that obvious was handed down to him as he wasn’t born yet at time the Apostles started Churches.
So... hearsay. Like the story about George Washington chopping down the cherry tree... and a bunch of other fables.
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Valerie
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Re: Do Anabaptists still object to infant baptism?

Post by Valerie »

ken_sylvania wrote: ↑Wed Dec 03, 2025 11:38 pm
Valerie wrote: ↑Wed Dec 03, 2025 11:19 pm I will find it, I cannot remember now but I’ve seen it more than once. Maybe read all Origens writings. He is questioned on some of his theology, but his statement that the Apistles taught to baptize your infants wasn’t his “theology”, it was a statement that obvious was handed down to him as he wasn’t born yet at time the Apostles started Churches.
I completely understand why Anabaptists would want to reject this with all their hearts, there are however former Anabaptists who do believe the historical understanding.
Who is this Origen you speak of? Are you referring to the heretic Origen, condemned as a heretic by Pope Theophilus I as well as by the 543 Synod of Constantinople? The Origen described by the 553 Second Council of Constantinople as "insane"?
Valerie wrote: ↑Wed Dec 03, 2025 11:19 pm his statement that the Apistles taught to baptize your infants wasn’t his “theology”, it was a statement that obvious was handed down to him as he wasn’t born yet at time the Apostles started Churches.
So... hearsay. Like the story about George Washington chopping down the cherry tree... and a bunch of other fables.
Origin was a teacher in the early church. I loaned my book out that goes into more information about origin. Kind of like Menno Simmons- better nights don’t go along with all he taught. That doesn’t make all he taught incorrect. Origin apparently was told that the apostles‘s taught to baptize her infants. It’s not something he just made up as his own theory. It was information that was passed down to him if he introduced other heresy, that was not one of them.
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ken_sylvania
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Re: Do Anabaptists still object to infant baptism?

Post by ken_sylvania »

Valerie wrote: ↑Thu Dec 04, 2025 7:26 am
ken_sylvania wrote: ↑Wed Dec 03, 2025 11:38 pm
Valerie wrote: ↑Wed Dec 03, 2025 11:19 pm I will find it, I cannot remember now but I’ve seen it more than once. Maybe read all Origens writings. He is questioned on some of his theology, but his statement that the Apistles taught to baptize your infants wasn’t his “theology”, it was a statement that obvious was handed down to him as he wasn’t born yet at time the Apostles started Churches.
I completely understand why Anabaptists would want to reject this with all their hearts, there are however former Anabaptists who do believe the historical understanding.
Who is this Origen you speak of? Are you referring to the heretic Origen, condemned as a heretic by Pope Theophilus I as well as by the 543 Synod of Constantinople? The Origen described by the 553 Second Council of Constantinople as "insane"?
Valerie wrote: ↑Wed Dec 03, 2025 11:19 pm his statement that the Apistles taught to baptize your infants wasn’t his “theology”, it was a statement that obvious was handed down to him as he wasn’t born yet at time the Apostles started Churches.
So... hearsay. Like the story about George Washington chopping down the cherry tree... and a bunch of other fables.
Origin was a teacher in the early church. I loaned my book out that goes into more information about origin. Kind of like Menno Simmons- better nights don’t go along with all he taught. That doesn’t make all he taught incorrect. Origin apparently was told that the apostles‘s taught to baptize her infants. It’s not something he just made up as his own theory. It was information that was passed down to him if he introduced other heresy, that was not one of them.
Nor do better nights rely Menno Simmons as an authority on what the church practiced 100 years before he was born. Rather they accept what he taught only to the extent that it lines up with Scripture.

In contrast, some nights seem entirely ready to accept Origen as an authority when he says something they like, and ignore what he said that they don't like. I'm not saying everything Origen taught is incorrect - I'm saying there's no good reason to accept him as an authority on things that he thinks happened years before he was born.
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JohnH
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Re: Do Anabaptists still object to infant baptism?

Post by JohnH »

An open question is when nights started being able to understand the church fathers.
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Southerner
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Re: Do Anabaptists still object to infant baptism?

Post by Southerner »

JohnH wrote: ↑Thu Dec 04, 2025 11:20 am An open question is when nights started being able to understand the church fathers.
"Nights"????? Knights?????
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Neto
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Re: Do Anabaptists still object to infant baptism?

Post by Neto »

ken_sylvania wrote: ↑Thu Dec 04, 2025 10:06 am
Valerie wrote: ↑Thu Dec 04, 2025 7:26 am
ken_sylvania wrote: ↑Wed Dec 03, 2025 11:38 pm
Who is this Origen you speak of? Are you referring to the heretic Origen, condemned as a heretic by Pope Theophilus I as well as by the 543 Synod of Constantinople? The Origen described by the 553 Second Council of Constantinople as "insane"?


So... hearsay. Like the story about George Washington chopping down the cherry tree... and a bunch of other fables.
Origin was a teacher in the early church. I loaned my book out that goes into more information about origin. Kind of like Menno Simmons- better nights don’t go along with all he taught. That doesn’t make all he taught incorrect. Origin apparently was told that the apostles‘s taught to baptize her infants. It’s not something he just made up as his own theory. It was information that was passed down to him if he introduced other heresy, that was not one of them.
Nor do better nights rely Menno Simmons as an authority on what the church practiced 100 years before he was born. Rather they accept what he taught only to the extent that it lines up with Scripture.

In contrast, some nights seem entirely ready to accept Origen as an authority when he says something they like, and ignore what he said that they don't like. I'm not saying everything Origen taught is incorrect - I'm saying there's no good reason to accept him as an authority on things that he thinks happened years before he was born.
Marking myself safe from being a "better night". :hi5
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R7ehr
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Re: Do Anabaptists still object to infant baptism?

Post by R7ehr »

Isn’t that just another name for the Kingdom Christian, Charity groups what have you? The better-nights? :lol:
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ohio jones
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Re: Do Anabaptists still object to infant baptism?

Post by ohio jones »

It's the opposite of the German-speaking groups; they have the wurst nights. Here is a link.
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Soloist
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Re: Do Anabaptists still object to infant baptism?

Post by Soloist »

ohio jones wrote: ↑Thu Dec 04, 2025 10:39 pm It's the opposite of the German-speaking groups; they have the wurst nights. Here is a link.
Wife: do you have an extra link for me? :wave:
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