Baptism Belongs at the Beginning

"In the fourth century one had to prove one's faith before being baptized.  One had to undergo a long and often rigorous scrutiny.  Few people were baptized at the beginning of their Christian life.  That was very different from the practice of the New Testament Church." (Hughes Oliphant Old, The Shaping of the Reformed Baptismal Rite in the Sixteenth Century, p. 31)