Baptismal Theology and Practices and the Spiritual Nurture of Children Part I: Early and Medieval Church

Abstract

Baptismal theology and practices have always had a major influence on the educational efforts of the church, either setting expectations for those who are to be baptized or establishing requirements of instruction for children following their baptism. This article addresses the changes in baptismal theology and practice during the early and medieval church eras and their influence on the educational ministries of the church, particularly with children. A second article reviews changes from the Reformation to the present and provides a case study of how Horace Bushnell's views of the spiritual nurture of children are grounded in his theology of baptism.¹

These two articles are based on a paper presented at the 2009 Children's Spirituality Conference: Christian Perspectives, held at Concordia University, River Forest, IL. The audience was faculty, researchers, graduate students, and ministry practitioners from a variety of Christian traditions, including Catholic, Mainline Protestant, and Evangelical Protestant. A version of this paper is forthcoming in a book on children's spirituality. It should be available in 2011.

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