of hands for the imparting of the Spirit - performed after the water-bath and as a complement to this bath - existed already in the earliest apostolic times. These texts are Acts 8:4-20 and 19:1-7, and Hebrews 6:1-6.

In the Acts of the Apostles 8:14-17, different ministers are named for the two actions. It is not deacon Philip, the baptiser, but only the apostles