What is the justification for infant baptism?

Answer 1

There is a long tradition of infant baptism within the church, going back to the book of Acts, where whole households are baptised. These households certainly included infants. Additionally, the early church fathers speak quite often about the baptism of infants. So, while there is no instance in The Bible where an infant is specifically referred to as receiving baptism, it was clearly a practice that was common in the early days of the church.

Another justification is where Jesus commands us to baptize all nations, which in the context of the Greek, would have meant all people. Because there is no qualification to this commandment that excludes infants, or anyone else, "all nations" must mean everyone.

A third rationale for infant baptism has to do with the sign of the covenant. In Judaism, male babies were circumcised after eight days of life as a sign of their belonging to God. Jesus replaced this as the sign of the covenant when He declared that a person must be born of water and the spirit in order to be saved. Baptism became a sign of a person's belonging to God in that way.

Another justification is where Jesus tells those around him to allow the children to come to Him as, "The Kingdom of God belongs to such as these". Clearly, the children wanted to come to this man for some reason. Could it be that they understood who He was?

Finally, there is the sacrament's relationship to the doctrine of original sin. The Bible says that all are born with the stain of sin's iniquities. Consequently, it is believed by many christians, that baptism effectively removes the stain of this original sin, committed by Adam in the garden of Eden.

Clearly, one of the most predominant views of baptism in the United States is that of "believer baptism". A person who is able to make a decision about their faith then seals that decision with baptism. Since infants cannot make such a decision, they are not eligible for baptism. However, at what age does one define such readiness? Scripture is silent with regard to any "age of accountability", where we leave our childhood and then become accountable for our sin. Most of the examples of baptism in the New Testament are of full-grown adults, most likely because adults were writing the text and were the most active participants.

For most of the church's history, infant baptism has been the common practice. Pure believer baptism has only been around for a few hundred years. The testimony of tradition and history surrounding this issue is strong. Good christians can agree to disagree on this issue, as it is not an issue of dogma, but of doctrine. But, it is an issue that requires serious study and reflection.