Infant Dedication in the Early Church: Texts, Commentary, and Present-Day Application

Abstract

This article argues that, in addition to infant baptism, the early Church practised infant dedication and subsequent enrolment into the catechumenate as a way of incorporating children who were born to Christian parents into the church. The first section presents cases of children who were born to Christian parents and yet who were not baptised as infants. The second section provides texts and commentary regarding infant dedication and/or enrolment into the catechumenate. The third section discusses how this evidence might be applied to our current church setting.