the more likely explanation, and brings us in fact to the second reason why Tertullian advocated the postponement of baptism. We will have cause, however, to return to the former possibility. The second, and weightier, consideration that argues for the utmost circumspection in giving Christian baptism are the risks attendant upon its premature reception. In his homily on baptism, Tertullian has far more to say about these than his one brief, tantalizing mention of innocens aetas. For they are not