In the early 1960's, two prominent New Testament scholars went head to head over the issue of infant baptism. Here is Jeremias' response to Kurt Aland's 'Did the Early Church Baptize Infants?', which had been a refutation of Jeremias' earlier work, 'Infant Baptism in the First Four Centuries'.

"I would have preferred to meet [Aland's] attack by silence. I hate controversy and unfortunately Aland, by the tone of his argument, did not make the decision to reply to him an easy one. But the subject obliges me to express my opinion."