Editing Infant baptism (section)

=== Third century ===
Clearer evidence of infant baptism emerges in the third century.{{sfn|Aland|2004|p=10}} Yet from the third to the early fifth century, many Christian parents postponed baptizing their children.<ref name="Messmer Infant Dedication in the Early Church" /> This delay was due to several factors: (1) the belief that waiting maximized baptism's spiritual benefits, (2) the custom of performing baptism only when death was near, (3) and the reluctance of unbaptized parents to have their children baptized.<ref name="Jensen Material and documentary evidence" />

Despite this, inscriptions such as from [[Rome]]’s [[Catacomb of Priscilla]] mentions an infant who had received baptism before passing away. Such inscriptions suggest that infant baptism was practiced regularly, especially in cases of illness or impending death ([[Emergency baptism]]).<ref name="Jensen Material and documentary evidence" /> Scholars like Jeremias and Ferguson examined inscriptional evidence related to infant baptism, Aland argued that third-century inscriptions offered no significant new information. By that period, infant baptism was already well attested in existing literary sources.<ref name=":22">{{cite journal |last1=Ferguson |first1=Everett |date=1979 |title=Inscriptions and the Origin of Infant Baptism |journal=The Journal of Theological Studies |volume=XXX |issue=1 |pages=37–46 |doi=10.1093/jts/XXX.1.37}}</ref>

These existing literary sources included: [[Hippolytus of Rome]] (''[[Apostolic Tradition]]'' 21.3-5) directed: ''“The little children shall be baptized first. If they can speak for themselves, let them do so; otherwise, their parents or a relative should answer on their behalf.”''<ref name=":32" /> [[Origen]] claimed that infant baptism was an apostolic tradition passed down to the Church, though it remains uncertain whether his view stemmed from theological reasoning or scriptural exegesis.<ref name=":32" /> Regardless, his writings attests that the custom was already firmly rooted.<ref name="Jensen Material and documentary evidence" /> [[Cyprian|Cyprian of Carthage]] further insisted that baptism should not be postponed, even for infants, asserting that God’s grace is ''"not given in greater or lesser measure based on the recipient’s age."''<ref name="Jensen Material and documentary evidence" />