chapter and supports the idea of believers coming to a new life in Christ and that baptism is just the start of it. The second being: "the nature of the life that knows redemption by the lamb and expects the judgement and resurrection (White 1960)." Peter supports here the symbolism of death with Christ on the cross, and rebirth i.e., resurrection which is the promise to all who believe in him. Peter also supports the confession of sins as a requirement for baptism in chapter 3 verses 20-21 of his first epistle. In his first epistle Peter insist that salvation is only achieved through the grace of God. He stress the need for obedience to God (I Peter 1:22, 2:8, 4:17). Here with Peter's writings we find that he adds nothing to the requirements for baptism, while at the same time takes nothing away from them. His soul reason for writing on the topic is to address new candidates who have had some instruction in basic Christianity and clarify some things that may have been confusing to them. We see through-out the Bible that the five rules of Baptism are not changed or added to during the history of the early Church. It is not until much later from the writings of Origen, in 1047 that we have the first reliable source confirming the practice of infant baptism. Over one hundred years after the death of Christ, the Church (and there was only one church at this point in time.) decides to add something to the baptism process. It is held by some scholars that the reason for infant baptism stems from a misunderstanding of Mark's writing in his Gospel were he states that " He who believes and is baptized will be saved (Mark 16:16 RSV); but he who does not believe will be condemned." In early translation the distinction that is was the disbelief in Christ that condemned them was not as clear. Due to this misunderstanding the Church started to baptize infants thereby setting a dangerous precedent. Amongst the strongest denominations in the world is...
