Small Beginnings

Nam ante parvum tempus a quibusdam transitorie colloquentibus cursim mihi aures perstrictae sunt, cum illic apud Carthaginem essemus, non ideo parvulos baptizari, ut remissionem accipiant peccatorum, sed ut sanctificentur in Christo. Qua novitate permotus et quia opportunum non fuit, ut contra aliquid dicerem, et non tales homines erant, de quorum essem auctoritate sollicitus, facile hoc in transactis atque abolitis habui. Et ecce iam studio flammante defenditur, ecce scribendo etiam memoriae commendatur, ecce res in hoc discrimen adducitur, ut hinc etiam a fratribus consulamur, ecce contra disputare atque scribere cogimur!   Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensis, De peccatorum meritis et remissione et de baptismo parvulorum

For but a little time ago while we were at Carthage, in a passing conversation with certain persons, my ears were suddenly struck with: ' It is not that little ones are baptized that they receive remission of sin but that they may be sanctified in Christ.' Although I was shaken by the novelty of it, since there was no opportunity for me to speak against it, and the men were were not persons whose authority would cause me anxiety, I freely let the matter pass into neglect and oblivion. And behold, it is now defended with burning zeal, and behold, it is deposited into our memory by writing, and behold, it becomes so divisive that we are even consulted on it by our brethren, and behold, we are driven to oppose it by disputation and writing. Saint Augustine of Hippo,On Merit and the Forgiveness of Sins, and the Baptism of Infants