Infant Baptism?

Question

I go to the Church of Christ and we don't do infant baptism because well,the Bible contradicts it.
My question is,to people who believe in infant baptism,why do you do it?People are baptized when they BELIEVE Jesus is the Son of God,REPENT of there sins,and are BAPTIZED into Christ(that means real baptism,being emersed[spelling?]).Now,how can a baby do that?They don't even know who God is yet.And the Bible gives NO examples of babies being baptized.It's RIGHT THERE in the Scripture.And a lot of people will say "It says that,but He doesn't mean it"....What the heck??
So,I want to know why people baptize babies when it's clear in the Bible that it's not right.

Answer 1

The assumption that the households included babies is just that, an assumption or a guess.

In fact, if you look at many of these "household conversions"
you can see that this did not include infants. How do I know this?

Notice one of the verses another answerer used to show infant baptism, Acts 16:33. The household was baptized, but in verse 32 it says he taught the household. If the household is mature enough to be taught the word of the Lord, understand it and believe it, then this group must not have included infants.

Again Acts 11:14, words were spoken to this house. All the house of Cornelius feared God (Acts 10:2). These words show hearing the word and belief BEFORE baptism. All of this household believed, therefore, no infants.

Again to assume a household that was baptized had infants and/or non believers is to ASSUME something the text does not say. Also, for such an assumption to be true, it MUST NOT contradict other verses!

Jesus put belief before baptism (Mark 16:15-6, Matt. 28:19). Peter put both belief (Acts 2:36) and repentance (Acts 2:38) before baptism.

But the clearest verse to me is the conversion of the eunuch. He said ""Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?"

And Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." (Acts 8:36-37)

(Yes, some manuscripts do not contain verse 37, but this is still after he was taught and came to an understanding that he needed to be baptized. Things an infant cannot do!)

There is NO EXAMPLE in the New Testament that shows anyone who was baptized before they were taught, they understood, and they believed. Baptism is not for infants.

Answer 2

There are a number of references in the bible where entire households are baptized.( Acts 11: 14, Acts 16: 15, 33, Cor 1:16) In the Greek culture, households included the children, the servants, and their children. It is highly unlikely that there were no small children or infants in any of those households!

In Col 2:9-12 Paul compares baptism to circumcision, which was done on eight day old babies.

I am not saying that infant baptism is the way to go, to be honest I am not sure myself.

The debate between infant and adult baptism goes much deeper than this, it is usually a debate between Calvinists and Arminianists, between people that believe in free will and people that don't.

Answer 3

The Bible does not prohibit it, does it?

Paul notes that baptism has replaced circumcision (Col. 2:11–12). In that passage, he refers to baptism as "the circumcision of Christ" and "the circumcision made without hands." Of course, usually only infants were circumcised under the Old Law; circumcision of adults was rare, since there were few converts to Judaism. If Paul meant to exclude infants, he would not have chosen circumcision as a parallel for baptism.

If infant baptism were not the rule, then we should have references to the children of Christian parents joining the Church only after they had come to the age of reason, and there are no such records in the Bible.

"She was baptized, with her household" (Acts 16:15).
"the same hour of the night . . . he was baptized, with all his family" (Acts 16:33). And in his greetings to the Corinthians, Paul recalled that, "I did baptize also the household of Stephanas" (1 Cor. 1:16).

Answer 4

Many Christians who practice infant baptism do so because they understand infant baptism as the new covenant equivalent of circumcision. In this view, just as circumcision joined a Hebrew to the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants, so baptism joined a person to the New Covenant of salvation through Jesus Christ. This view is unbiblical. The New Testament nowhere describes baptism as the New Covenant replacement for Old Covenant circumcision. The New Testament nowhere describes baptism as a sign of the New Covenant. It is faith in Jesus Christ that enables a person to enjoy to blessings of the New Covenant (1 Corinthians 11:25; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Hebrews 9:15).

Answer 5

No, the Bible doesn't contradict infant baptism. If anything, it contradicts the "believers baptism" that is so prevalent today among Baptist and fundamentalist faiths. If you are really serious about an answer, you may find the white papers and apologetics at www.reformed.org useful. I've read through them, and whether you maintain your current position or not, they will at least get you thinking about whether you really have the truth and whether your claim that the Bible is "clearly" in your favor is true or not. Good luck, it'll be a bumpy ride...

Answer 6

A child is brought into Christ's church by Baptism before their understanding so they are a part of His church should they pass away before they are at an appropriate age....later they confirm their faith through a confirmation rite and/or Baptism again. There is nothing in the Bible to "prohibit" infant baptism either. Computers aren't in the Bible, should we then not use them?

Peace, Love, and Blessings
Greenwood

Answer 7

I was raised in a Church of Christ as well. Today I attend an Assemblies of God church and while we 'dedicate' babies, we don't water baptize them.

Answer 8

I don't know, I go to a Baptist church and we don't do it either. I think it gives the parents a false sense of security for their child, so that is why they do it.

Answer 9

Because they don't do their homework, they just follow their religious practice even though it has no value. They listen to men rather than God.

Answer 10

i agree 100%

Preach it Sister!!

but i do believe in "dedicating" the baby. this is when you have your baby blessed and prayed over by the church, so that they have a solid Christian foundation :)