Nowhere in scriptures is there any indication that all baptisms were performed by immersion. In fact, given the desert environment of the Holy Land there would have been many situations in which immersion would have been impossible.
We are also given several examples of baptisms taking place in homes which would make baptism by immersion highly unlikely. People rarely had bathtubs, as they would bathe in public bath houses in those days. St. Paul was baptized in his house, standing up (Acts 22:16). In Acts 16:33 we read that St. Paul baptized the jailer and his household at night while in jail. Again, another situation in which baptism by immersion would have been next to impossible.
The records of early Christians give no indication that baptism took place by immersion only:
Outside of the Scriptural texts, our earliest evidence for Christian methods of baptism comes from the “Didache” (ca. 70-110 A.D.), which clearly authorizes baptism by infusion, or pouring. The “Didache” instructs: “Regarding baptism, baptize thus. After giving the foregoing instructions, baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit in running water. But, if you have no running water, baptize in any other; and if you cannot in cold water, then in warm. But, if the one is lacking, pour the other three times on the head in the name of the Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit.”
Hippolytus of Rome said, “If water is scarce, whether as a constant condition or on occasion, then use whatever water is available” (
The Apostolic Tradition, 21 [A.D. 215]).
Pope Cornelius I wrote that as Novatian was about to die, “he received baptism in the bed where he lay, by pouring” (
Letter to Fabius of Antioch [A.D. 251]; cited in Eusebius,
Ecclesiastical History, 6:4311).
Cyprian advised that no one should be “disturbed because the sick are poured upon or sprinkled when they receive the Lord’s grace” (
Letter to a Certain Magnus 69:12 [A.D. 255]).
Tertullian described baptism by saying that it is done “with so great simplicity, without pomp, without any considerable novelty of preparation, and finally, without cost, a man is baptized in water, and amid the utterance of some few words, is sprinkled, and then rises again, not much (or not at all) the cleaner” (
On Baptism, 2 [A.D. 203]).
Then there is the artistic evidence. Much of the earliest Christian artwork depicts baptism—but not baptism by immersion! If the recipient of the sacrament is in a river, he is shown standing in the river while water is poured over his head from a cup or shell.
Tile mosaics in ancient churches and paintings in the catacombs depict baptism by pouring. Baptisteries in early cemeteries are clear witnesses to baptisms by infusion. The entire record of the early Church—as shown in the New Testament, in other writings, and in monumental evidence—indicates the mode of baptism was not restricted to immersion.
Other archaeological evidence confirms the same thing. An early Christian baptistery was found in a church in Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth, yet** this baptistery, which dates from the second century, was too small and narrow in which to immerse a person**.
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