This appendix traces the unbroken chain of teaching about baptism from Jesus through the apostles to their direct disciples and into the broader early church. Chapter 12 explores this testimony in detail; this appendix presents it visually to show how quickly and consistently the teaching spread. When someone claims that baptismal regeneration was a later corruption, this chain exposes the flaw in that theory. Tradition tells us that Ignatius learned from John. Polycarp learned from John, and Irenaeus learned from Polycarp, and all taught that baptism is where God saves.
The timeline is too short and the witness too uniform for this to be anything other than apostolic teaching faithfully preserved. You can see at a glance how the earliest Christians, taught by those who walked with Jesus, understood baptism’s role in salvation.
