Social aspects of sponsorship in adult baptism during the late antiquity

The article analyzes social aspects of sponsorship at baptism of adults on the basis of testimonies of Christian authors of 3-5 centuries. The research is aimed at determining the differences and peculiarities of the role of baptismal sponsors and godparents. In Late Antiquity, sponsorship was a temporary relationship, based on contractual principles, for the purpose of teaching catechumens the basics of Christian doctrine and norms of behavior in the community. A candidate wishing to be baptized had to undergo a probationary period under the supervision of a sponsor as part of the Christian initiation process. However, once the sacrament was administered, the role of the sponsor ceased, providing no further social relationship. Nevertheless, already from the middle of the IV century Christian authors used the terms of spiritual kinship and family in the context of baptismal sponsorship. Based on the analysis of the sources, it is concluded that sponsorship and baptismal kinship have different social aspects due to the peculiarities of adult and infant baptismal practices. The sponsorship was based on a temporary contractual relationship, while baptismal kinship was characterized by a long-term and enduring bond between the godparent and his spiritual child. This article is a starting point for further study of the phenomenon of spiritual kinship in the Christian religion.