Can a young person be a priest? (Main Forum)

by Brian Coyne , LINDEN, NSW, Tuesday, March 20, 2012, 01:37 (457 days ago) @ Brian Coyne

Mulling a bit further on what I wrote earlier I've been thinking how the concept of infant baptism is probably going to be increasingly challenged. After all it was a rather late concept introduced into Christianity. I'm not sure of the full history but isn't it a concept only re-popularised by Pius X at the beginning of the 20th Century — or was that regular communion?

Wikipedia says:

History

Scholars disagree on the date when infant baptism was first practiced. Some believe that 1st-century Christians did not practice it, noting the lack of any explicit evidence of paedobaptism.[7] Others, noting the lack of any explicit evidence of exclusion of paedobaptism, believe that they did,[8] understanding biblical references to individuals "and [her] household" being baptized (Acts 16:15, Acts 16:31-33, 1 Corinthians 1:16) as well as "the promise to you and your children" (Acts 2:39)as including small children and infants.

While the earliest extra-biblical directions for baptism,[9] which occurs in the Didache (c. 100),[10] speaks to the baptism of adults, rather than young children, since it requires that the person to be baptised should fast,[11] writings of the 2nd and early 3rd century indicate that some Christians baptized infants too.[12] Irenaeus (c. 130–202) speaks not only of children but even of infants being "born again to God"[13] and three passages of Origen (185–c. 254)[14] mention infant baptism as traditional and customary.[15] Tertullian (c. 155–230) too, while advising postponement of baptism until after marriage, mentions that it was customary to baptise infants, with sponsors speaking on their behalf.[16] The Apostolic Tradition, attributed to Hippolytus of Rome (died 235), describes how to perform the ceremony of baptism; it states that children were baptised first, and if any of them could not answer for themselves, their parents or someone else from their family was to answer for them.[17]

From at least the 3rd century onward Christians baptized infants as standard practice, although some preferred to postpone baptism until late in life, so as to ensure forgiveness for all their preceding sins.[18]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infant_baptism

I'm having a similar thought in relation to priesthood. If a "priest" is primarily conceived of as some sort of "magician" who confects, confers or dispenses the sacraments as some kind of emissary for God it probably doesn't matter what age they are, or what life experience or lack of life experience they have had. The proverbial drover's dog or a monkey might be trained to do it. If, on the other hand, the "priest" is primarily conceived of as a person with insight or wisdom into the spiritual dimension of life then I should imagine age might be a significant factor in where a society draws its "priests" from. The people need individuals who have "experienced life" — possibly even been a bit bruised by life — they would tend to be drawn from the more senior citizens who've been around a while and learned a few lessons from life. Perhaps this fits in a bit with what Daniel Donovan was writing about on Monday in his commentary?

Brian Coyne
[Editor & Publisher]