Quote:
Originally Posted by Praxeas
there may be little historical evidence of people being baptized either way before that date or after. What we have is people saying how TO baptize people and for that we might find both before that date such as the Didache which has echoes of both "formulas" I think. And I do agree though that there probably were some documents favorable to our view point that did not survive history for whatever reason, including the victors "burning" them...but it's irrelevent
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Often the burning of a "heretic's" writings was symbolic and not intended to destroy all evidence of the person's existence. Having the writings of those so condemned proved valuable in countering their claims.
The Vatican Library is a repository of a wealth of "heretical" material though to uncover more than just the standard fare requires credentialing by an accreditted university.
Still it's easier to comb those archives than it would be to get a look at Charles F. Parham's letters to Howard Goss which are kept in the vaults of an different "vatican" in Hazelwood.