Infant Baptism?

Question

Can anyone explain the purpose of infant baptism to me? I have a hard time understanding why this is done.

Answer 1

Some Christians believe everyone is born sinful, because of Adam and Eve. They believe we come into this world as covered in original sin as a seagull is covered in goo after an oil spill.

They also believe Baptism washes away sin. So, they baptize the child to wash away the original sin. That way, if it dies (half of the kids born before 1600 died before their 5th birthday), it will go to heaven instead of Hades.

There are three levels when people discuss things;
1) Hearing the other person
2) Understanding what they said
3) Agreeing with them

When my kids were small I didn't even get to stage 1, half the time. The lights were on but no one was home, so to speak; that, or whoever was home was more interested in TV or a book or a dog than in what dad had to say.

After I repeated myself three or four times I'd get to stage 2. That was usually as far as we got, especially on the need to clean things. They agreed with me roughly four times a year, usually when I asked who wanted to go to Baskin-Robbins.

Anyone who takes a course in comparative religion or politics has to say "I understand but don't agree with" constantly. It is a subtle distinction. I can understand constitutional monarchy and socialism, for instance. I don't agree with them.

Answer 2

I was born into the Catholic religion and baptized as an infant. I am soooo glad that my parents had an open-mind and allowed me to make up my own decision when I turned 15. At 15 I was baptized into the L.D.S. faith, AND it was my own choice, not because my parents desired it.

I too am confused as to why infants are baptized. They should have the right to make their own choices, and to build their own testimonies of the Savior, instead of having baptism forced on them when they know nothing of religion or of sin.

Infants are innocent and without sin. But this is just what I believe, and if these people want to baptize their kids, hopefully they too will be open-minded like my parents if their children decide to go another path.

Answer 3

A lot of people believe tradition works, and their baby will grow up believing in God. I'm sure there are atheists that may have been baptised as infants, too. I don't understand that either. It should be a personal choice, not something to "just be done." An infant knows nothing of any religious sort of thing, so why do it? I have no idea...

Answer 4

Babies under the age of accountability do not need to be baptized since they are unable to understand sin or repent. As far as I am aware Catholics are the only ones who believe babies need to be baptized. Most denominations have dedication ceremonies for babies. Children should be baptized when they reach the age of accountability, meaning they are old enough to understand the Gospel Message, sin and repentance. In every reference to water baptism in the New Testament , that I am aware of, confession always preceded the baptism.

Answer 5

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, contrary to Catholicism and others, have the doctrine that little children under the age of eight are innocent and do not require baptism. Should an infant die before the age of accountability then that child goes directly to the highest level of Heaven where God the Father and His Son reside.

God's mercy could not dictate otherwise for our little children, condemning them to hell solely because they were not afforded the opportunity to be baptized.

Answer 6

People think that doing all these works will help them to get to heaven . Ephesians 2:8,9 , also Romans 3:23 . Baptism is a outwardly sign that you are a believer , how does a infant know that he is a believer or what is being done ?

Answer 7

Matt. 18:2-5 - Jesus says unless we become like children, we cannot enter into heaven
this is funny because i had a psychology class and he was Catholic or Christin i think i forget...anyway he look at it like this and i think it's a beautiful point of view. as children we want nothing more but to grow up. as we get older we wish we were kids again but do you not realize as a kid we just wanted to grow up. kids always want to learn something new and they look at things with no negative influence on stuff that's how we should be. never want to stop growing and learning.

also i know a Christin who just had a baby and wants to wait till the baby is old enough to understand and except god on his own. as a child i had a friend who was baptized and family members who were baptized and i never was and it's just because my mother believed you didn't go to hell if you were baptized and god loves you for you. i always felt left out and it always made me feel like i was a bad person and god didn't love me as much as he loved them and now i think wow in a way my mom was right but in a way after that class and the Christan guy i know with a kid i don't.
life is about learning and growing. the water in my eyes is symbolic for the womb that we leave when we are born (water breaking) anyway even in Jesus time the people being baptized were grown people. people who were enlighten and grew from his teachings they in a way were born again.

Answer 8

I was baptized as an infant to show my parent's intentions to raise me as a Christian. I was later confirmed (my choice) at 13. At my baptism my parents and Godparents promised to support and guide me in my Christian journey. I don't know why people get all bent out of shape about it. If you don't agree with it, don't do it, but at least respect the choice as I respect the choice of older child-adult baptism.

Answer 9

This is mainly a Catholic belief, those who believe in this believes that if an infant or anyone else isn't baptised that they will go to hell because ,which it does say: we have the seed of Adam, which means we are born into sin. In other words if you don't get baptised you won't be saved because you havn't washed away your sins. But in technicality infants are not considered sinners beacause they don't know right from wrong. In order to sin you have to know what sin is or right from wrong basically.

Answer 10

For people who believe everyone is born with sin, it welcomes babies into the world of god and everything like that, cleanses it soul.
It used to be if a baby died before it was baptised it was believed it would go to hell.
For others, its a first introduction for the child into christian religion. Whether catholic, lutheran, etc.
For yet others its a ceremony where the child is welcomed into a "community" of family, friends, church, town, etc. And is a first significant ceremony in a child's life after being born.