"Here is another passage," said the Doctor, "in 1 Corinthians 1:16: 'And I baptized also the household of Stephanus.' Will you affirm there were no infants there? How many households do you think I could baptize without hitting upon an infant? Why do you exclude infants?"
The brother was busy looking through the concordance to see if he could find out something more about this Stephanus and his household, and in a few moments he exclaimed: "Here is some light on the household of Stephanus in 1 Corinthians 15:15. It reads: 'Ye know the house of Stephanus.' There you have it again—'the house of Stephanus'. That must have been an interesting house: 'Ye know the house of Stephanus, that it is the first fruits of Achaia and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints.'"
"You see, Doctor," said Dorothy, "it seems that that household were intelligent people and acted for themselves, and therefore were not infants. Just notice what it says—that the house of Stephanus were 'the first fruits of Achaia'. What does that mean—'the first fruits'?"
"Why, the first fruits are the first grain that is gathered in a harvest."
"Oh, I see. Then the members of Stephanus' household were the first ones to accept Christianity in Achaia, and if they accepted Christianity of course they were not infants."
"But it may have meant that they were the first ones in Achaia to be baptized—'the first fruits' in that sense—and if so, there could have been infants in the house."
"But notice what comes in the next verse: 'And that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints.' You don't think, Doctor, he would speak of infants addicting themselves to the ministry of the saints, do you?"
"It looks as if you will have to surrender on that point, gentlemen," said Mr. Page. "I am a novice in Bible teaching, and yet it does seem plain that that household were intelligent folks—the first to be converted in Ach——"
"Achaia," spoke up Dr. Vincent.
"Thanks for the word, the first fruits of Achaia, and they also 'addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints'. I don't think you had better look for any young ones in that bunch."