Catholics? How can a baby be baptized when they nothing about the faith?

Question

I find it pointless since people are born pure (I find orginal sin ridiculous and yes I am a Christian). People develop sinful ways as they grow and mature. I believe a person should have the option to accept the Lord when they're mature and willing enough to accept what goes along with it. Just because a person is baptized when they're an infant does not excuse any evil deeds they'll do later not untill they themselves make the decision to walk the path of a Christian/ Catholic. And can someone plz point out a reference to Purgatory or something like it in the bible. Is it really to pray someone into heaven after they've already destined they're afterlife fate by the way they lived they're lives on earth?

To all people against relgion (Christianity/ Catholicism) plz don't answer. I don't want to hear about how you believe the whole bible is made up or fake...be mature or don't answer.

Answer 1

I agree with you. This should be a mature choice of a person with at least 16 or 18 years old.

However, it is easier to do it to a baby, who often doesn't like the experience, because it requires MUCH less Church paper work....

Indeed, once a child is 5-6 years old, you can't baptize him anymore without a special faith process. This is the Catholic way of doing it. Like saying "Push your kids in our Club before they get to know what's happening" [and might not do it anymore!!]

Answer 2

This is actually 2 questions.

First... the baptism question.

I was raised Catholic and have seen a number of Catholic baptisms.

When a baby is baptized Catholic, a number of things happen in the ceremony.

1.) The baby is cleansed of original sin. (Yes, you may not believe in it, but the Catholic Church officially does.)
2.) The baby is accepted into the church as a member.
3.) The parents and godparents are charged with the task of raising the child as a Catholic/Christian and teaching them good moral values and how to live their life as a good Catholic/Christian.

It's not said in the ceremony that the baby accepts or believes in the Catholic faith.

Baptismal vows, this time applied to one's self, are renewed at a number of times throughout the child's life as a Catholic.

They are renewed right after a child's first Holy Communion, which usually happens around age 8.

During Confirmation, around age 13, the child becomes accepted as an adult in the faith and takes similar vows to the vows that are said during baptism, this time affirming for one's self the choice to "reject Satan and all his promises" and the belief in the Catholic faith.

Also, once yearly, during Sunday Mass, (I believe it's Easter Mass, but don't quote me on that... I did some research and couldn't find exactly when) the entire congregation renews their baptismal vows and gets sprinkled with holy water.


Second... the purgatory question.

I'm not sure of where it is in the Bible, but your understanding of what Catholics believe is a bit off. It's not like "oh, you've lived a bad life, but if you go into purgatory, people can pray you into heaven." Purgatory is for your average everyday person. A person that has done some bad in their lives but has mostly done good. However, Catholics believe that you can't get into Heaven until your soul is totally clean. Therefore, one goes into Purgatory to purge the sins one has committed in one's life before their soul is totally clean of sins and then can finally be admitted into Heaven. Prayers can be said to help that "person"/soul get through Purgatory faster.

However, if someone was an overall bad person and lived a bad life, according to Catholic belief, they're still going to go to Hell.

Answer 3

If you don't believe in Original Sin, then Baptism is pointless until one actually DOES sin.

If you do believe in Original Sin, then the logical necessity of infant baptism is there. And Jesus says in the Gospel that no one unbaptized will enter Heaven.

Infant baptism is usually accompanied by some sort of adult confirmation. At both, the baptismal vows are given and a physical sealing of the person is made - at baptism with water, at confirmation with water and oil.

Purgatory is the antechamber of Heaven. The logic is this: if salvation is a process (Phillipians: "that this good work be continued in you until the day of Christ"), then not everyone will be at the same point in the process when they die. If they have been redeemed by faith in Christ (referred to as "saved" by Protestants), they may or may not be ready for Heaven - they have faith, but their relationship with Christ isn't ready for it. Purgatory is the means of readying oneself for Heaven. It is a temporary place that goes away when the last soul leaves it.

I'll let someone else put up the references. I'm too lazy after answering 200 of these bloody questions.

Answer 4

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, "Born with a fallen human nature and tainted by original sin, children also have need of the new birth in Baptism to be freed from the power of darkness and brought into the realm of the freedom of the children of God, to which all men are called."

Infant baptism is not a new thing. There are non-biblical documented sources starting in the second century telling of infant Baptism.

There are even several passages in the Bible where whole households were baptized. This would include everyone who lived there, men, women, children, and infants.

Acts 16:15, "After she and her household had been baptized"

Acts 16:33, "then he and all his family were baptized at once."

Acts 18:8, "came to believe in the Lord along with his entire household, and many of the Corinthians who heard believed and were baptized."

1 Corinthians 1:16, "I baptized the household of Stephanas"

With love in Christ.

Answer 5

Everything you said is true and I feel exactly the same way. Our church (Christian) waits for the young person to become of age 8 when they become old enough to know good from bad. At age 8 they are exposed to wrong doing and have now the knowledge to make the right decision. It is at that time that we begin to ask them whether they want to be baptized and accept the was of Jesus and walk in his footsteps, and a true belief in one God. It is up to them to take on this action when they are ready. As some young people mature faster than others we leave it up to them when they have a full understanding of what it all means. With the drug and sexual activity now even in grade schools at age 8 they begin to become exposed to the dangers of smoking and lie choices. As far as Purgatory you are right to believe, as most do, that when we make the wrong choices in life we've set in motion the fate that comes with it in the afterlife. And I love the comment about mature answers, I am tired of seeing really ignorant answers from people with the Yeah, No, Yes, or the I don't knows! Sometimes they even use slang and rude remasrks for you get a gold star today! Amen

Answer 6

This is going to be a long one, so bear with me!

First, if you don't believe in original sin then you won't get why Catholics baptize babies. Catholics understand baptism to be regenerative. It removes the stain of original sin and infuses sanctifying grace into the soul. We do not believe that "Just because a person is baptized when they're an infant" that it "excuse any evil deeds they'll do later". However, baptism is just one of the many sacraments of the Catholic Church. The seven sacraments are

1. Baptism
2. Penance/Reconciliation
3. Eucharist
4. Confirmation
5. Matrimony
6. Holy Orders
7. Extremunction or Anointing of the Sick

To fully join the Church, one must have first confession (Penance/Reconciliation), first communion (Eucharist), and Confirmation. Confirmation is done at an age where an individual is old enough to make their own choice if they would like to be Catholic or not.

And biblical references for Purgatory, first lets define Purgatory: "The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines purgatory as a "purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven," which is experienced by those "who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified" (CCC 1030). It notes that "this final purification of the elect . . . is entirely different from the punishment of the damned" (CCC 1031).

The purification is necessary because, as Scripture teaches, nothing unclean will enter the presence of God in heaven (Rev. 21:27) and, while we may die with our mortal sins forgiven, there can still be many impurities in us, specifically venial sins and the temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven."

So Purgatory is a cleansing process for those who will eventually enter Heaven, not for those who will be damned to Hell. See1 Corinthians 3:14–15: "If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire." You see, the Latinate word purgatory means a purgation or burning by fire. Paul in these verses refers to a purgation process whereby a man is saved even though his works are burned away. This is precisely what the Catholic Church teaches. A person at death who still has personal faults is prevented from entering into heaven because he is not completely purified. He must go through a period of purgation in order to be made clean, for nothing unclean will enter heaven (cf. Rev. 21:27). Look at 1 Peter 3:19–20. These verses show Jesus preaching to "to the spirits in prison." The "prison" cannot be heaven, because the people there do not need to have the Gospel preached to them. It cannot be hell, because the souls in hell cannot repent. It must be something else. As you can see, there is nothing unbiblical about the claim that those who have died might not immediately go to heaven or to hell.

Prayers for the dead can be found in 2 Maccabees 12:40–45. When Judas prays and has sacrifices offered for soldiers who died in battle, he is commended for acting "very well and honorably." We do not pray people out of Hell, once damned to Hell always damned to Hell. We pray for the souls in purgatory to be cleansed as soon as possible so they can meet the Lord in Heaven.

I hope that clears things up for you! Feel free to shoot me a message if you have any questions.

Answer 7

You are on a roll this morning, aren't you...what has happened...has your minister come out and said bad things about Catholics???
Catholics believe, and all other Christian faiths the same, that an UNbaptized soul cannot enter heaven...So what are you proposing..that the parents take the chance that the kid won't die before it is baptized at some future date...????? What is your point this morning???? I had both my kids baptized within two weeks of their birth, just in case. Perhaps you should step back and think about it. Just because you are baptized in one faith does NOT prohibit you from changing, or doing whatever. Baptism is baptism, regardless of where or who does it. Give it a rest

Answer 8

Okay, ust to put my to cents in, from a historical standpont babies and dead people have been baptised since Pauline times, since he mentions it in his epistles, This was because of the belief in original sin. During past centuries the belief in Hell was more prevelanrt than that of Heaven or Purgatory and very real to people in those times. Many families couldn't bear (understandably) the thought that their children would be sentenced to Hell and demanded the church do something about it.
It's the same way that in the New testament, the Apostles would baptise a man's entire household whether the women and children converted or not, because, at that time, the women and children's souls were considered the responsibility of their males.
many people still hold these beliefs of original sin and don't wish their children spending their eternities in Purgatory or Hell.

Answer 9

Taken from "My Catholic Faith":

Baptism washes us from original sin, at the same time imparting sanctifying grace into our souls; it makes us Christians, children of God, with a right to the kingdom of heaven.

Children should be baptized as soon as possible after birth, if possible, within a week. This practice dates from the Apostles.

Since infants who die unbaptized have committed no sins, they live in a place of natural happiness called "limbo".

Catholic parents who put off for a long time, or entirely neglect, the Baptism of their children put them in danger of losing heaven and the vision of God eternally. Although in limbo infants enjoy complete natural happiness surpassing any on earth, such happiness cannot compare with the bliss of heaven, where souls see God face to face.

Answer 10

I don't see how a baby can be baptized, they have not reached the age of accountability. the Bible says that "all of our names were written in the book of life before the foundation of the world", at the age of accountability we are given a choice, do we believe in Christ or not, if we say yes, our name remains, if we say no, or nothing at all, our names are blotted out. this is why babies go to heaven if they die before the age of accountability their names were written there before and remained.

as for purgatory, it is not in the Bible, nor anything that resembles purgatory. the Bible says "absent from the body is present with the Lord" that is automatic. at the point of death, we are where we are going to be. we cannot pray anyone into heaven, there is no verses to support this idea. do you remember David? he was praying and mourning for his child that was dying, then when the child died, he washed up and ate and stopped mourning, he said "I cannot bring him back, but I can go to him." notice he didn't continue to pray after his death, because it was finished. we pray for each other while here, once we are gone, there is no more need for prayer.
hope this helps :-)

Answer 11

yes baptism doesnt mean pureness and no human is pure even to those people who already accepted Jesus as their Lord and savior, they were not exempted to sins. i also believe that before baptism a person should be matured enough to understand what he's getting in to, not a baby whos not aware of whats going on around him and doesnt even realized yet what truly baptism means. and i also dont believe in purgatory theres only 2 place where a soul can go its either hell or heaven.