Where does the Bible forbid infant baptism?

Question

In fact, where does the Bible address the *specifics* of raising children in the Christian faith at all? Doesn't it pretty much deal with generalities?

Doesn't the time frame in which the New Testament was written preclude any specific, detailed instructions on the raising of children in the faith? The people of that time were concerned primarily with spreading the Good News of Jesus to a whole generation who had not yet heard. Wouldn't the tough questions of raising children in the faith develop over a couple of generations rather than being an immediate New Testament concern?

Thanks, folks, for the thorough list of scriptures in support of infant baptism; but I am prepared to acknowledge that those, being inferred rather than explicit, may be open to interpretation.

However, I'm still looking for scriptures that forbid infant baptism. Maybe another way of looking at the question is, where does the Bible forbid baptism prior to confession of faith?

frodo, are you really sure that was entirely toungue in cheek? I've never read that personally, but I know one Church tradition holds that John the Baptist actually received salvation at that moment; and so from that we would be forced to conclude that salvation may happen at *any* stage of life. It is, after all, God's work that saves us, not the work of the recipient. In this case the testimony of Mary would have been the means of grace.

Pastor Art, I don't agree that this actually forbids baptism prior to belief. As a former Lutheran you know that preaching the Word of God is a sacramental act, and so grace was already given to eunuch. Had he denied the truth that had just been given to him, any baptism would have been a fraud. This is a quite different situation from a child who is raised in the Christian faith and knows nothing else.

Answer 1

In Acts chapter 8 the Bible says that we must believe before Baptism:

Read the whole account, but the key verses are 36 and 37.

Remember the Greek word translated Baptism mean "to immerse". So if there is no immersion, there hasn't been baptism.

Acts chapter 8 tells you that you have to believe before you are baptized. Infants are not capable of this.

36And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

37And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

38And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.

Remember the word "baptism" is from the Greek word, "bapto" or "baptizo" and that means to immerse into a fluid.

So sprinkling or pouring water on anyone's head is not baptism.

Even if you don't know Greek, Romans chapter six tells you that Baptism symbolizes that we are buried with Christ or that we are symbolically drowned with Christ.

Pastor Art

Answer 2

The Bible does not forbid infant baptism. In fact, I believe that it strongly supports infant baptism.

What the credo Baptists typically do is give you the "believe [first] and [then] be baptized" verses that need those brackets in there in order to make their case. And, since those verses would have applied to adults, the "entire households" implication is ignored, stacking the deck in favor of what they want the Scriptures to say. From there, they will go on to the "household" verses and simply assert the lack of any mention of infants in those verses, playing a "burden of proof" card in order to close out their case.

I believe that issue of children did not need to be discussed since the covenant applied to children in the New Testament just as the covenant of circumcision did to children in the Old Testament. But some among us have removed any covenant at all, replacing it with a commandment that results in arguments about its necessity or lack thereof, when this would not have even been a question in the early church. Baptism is not something that we do for God, it does not guarantee a spot in heaven for the child, and being a profession of faith is a secondary effect of baptism, not the primary result. The primary purpose is to point to Christ, the fulfillment of the law, and that sacrifice has been made for all age groups, including infants. Babies need a Savior, too.

Answer 3

The issue of raising children in the Christian faith was not addressed because the belief was that Jesus was going to return soon, within the present generation. This is why baptism of infants is not mentioned. The expectation was that Jesus would return before there would be a need for a next generation to be initiated into the faith.

Answer 4

The short answer: There are no Scriptures forbidding infant baptism, or inferring such by stating baptism is strictly for adults. But you knew that. Scripture is deliberately general on this because, naturally, most conversions in those days were of adults -- but the Bible was intended to be relevant not just to the first believers but their children and their children's children for all time.

The Bible does say "believe, and be baptized". When this is interpreted to mean that these two things must occur in order, of course one cannot form a belief in Christ in infancy. However, for this to hold water (so to speak), there is a glaring absence of two words that have been assumed by interpretation: *First* believe, and *then* be baptized.

That baptismal regeneration (or being born from above) and confirmation with a profession of faith are normally separated by several years is not in conflict with Scripture, and actually more Scriptural than a one-time "saved" experience with dunking in water as an after-the-fact ordinance.

Here's why: If it is by grace that we are saved through faith, then naturally I want my children to begin receiving that grace so that at an age of reason they can respond to it in faith. In other words, I want them to be born again so that they can be saved. The two terms, despite evangelical Christendom's insistence, are not synonymous.

Answer 5

You are correct in your assessment (which I imply from your question) that the bible does not forbid such a thing. Although one answer states
"it expressly states that a person must BELIEVE the Gospel and REPENT of their sins in order to be saved"
this, clearly, omits children from salvation. Anyone who has been around small children knows well that they are quite capable of sin - doing things that they are fully convinced are wrong. However, very young children are likely not capable of either faith or repentance when they first achieve the capacity to consciously sin. And, of course, baptism does nothing to assure salvation, anyway.

Of course, children were present in the New Testament times as well, and raising them in a Christian manner would have been an issue even in the early days except for one thing: that culture considered children the property and responsibility of adults. Most likely, a child would have been considered wholly subject to his father and incapable of making decisions for himself as to his own salvation. Indeed, we see evidence in the Old Testament that even wives had no authority without their husbands, and that a commitment made by a woman could be disregarded by her husband or father (whichever was her "patron"). The same was undoubtedly held true of male children - whether or not they chose to believe, only the parents' faith would be held of any account by those in the community, and children would have been required to believe (at least by lipservice) what their parents required of them.

Jim, http://www.jimpettis.com/wheel/

Answer 6

I think the closest you'll get at a direct approval of infant baptism is found in Col 2:11-12 which states:

"In union with Christ you were circumcised, not with the circumcision that is made by human beings, but with the circumcision made by Christ, which consists of being freed from the power of this sinful self. For when you were baptized, you were buried with Christ, and in baptism you were also raised with Christ through your faith in the active power of God, who raised him from death. "

Baptism is the new circumcision, done without hands. And since circumcision was done on 8 day-old infants to bring them into the Old Covenant system, so to is baptism the gateway to the New Covenant system which is even more open, than the Old therefore including infants as well as adults and gentiles.

God Bless
Robin

Answer 7

The Bible tells us the purpose and indicates who should be baptized. Infants do not meet these descriptions.

The doctrine of infant baptism comes from the (mistaken) idea that babies have the guilt of sin, therefore they need to be baptized to wash away that sin.

The Bible does teach that baptism has a role in having our sins washed away (Acts 22:16) by bringing us “into Christ” and figuratively into contact with His death, where the saving blood was shed (Romans 6:3-4, Galatians 3:27, Colossians 2:12). It is that blood that washes away sins (Romans 5:8-10, Revelation 1:5), yet it is through baptism that we contact the blood, therefore, “baptism now saves… through the resurrection of Christ” and baptism is “for the remission of sins”. (1 Peter 3:21, Acts 2:38, Mark 16:16)

Finally, it is at baptism that we “rise to walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3-13, Colossians 2:12). We cannot be saved if we are not “born again” into this new life in Christ.

Infants, however, do not need to be baptized, and they are not candidates for scriptural baptism, for the following three reasons:

First infants are not born with the guilt of inherited sin, so they do not have any inherited sin (guilt) that needs to be forgiven. Ezekiel 18:20 says, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.” Infants are born in a safe condition.

We will each be judged based on what we have done, not based on how anyone else has lived. 2 Corinthians 5:10 says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”

Secondly, infants do not have any sin of their own. 1 John 3:4 says, “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.”

Since “sin is the transgression of the law”, if a baby is guilty of sin, what law have they transgressed, or which law are they even capable of transgressing or even understanding? Clearly, a baby has transgressed no law!

Finally, baptism in the New Testament is preceded by belief and repentance. (Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38)

In Acts 8, the eunuch asked, “…What hinders me from being baptized?” (verse 36) The answer was, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” (verse 37)

An infant is not able to believe, therefore, they are not candidates for baptism.

An infant has no personal or inherited sin (guilt), so they do not need baptism. Also, since they do hot have the capacity to believe and repent (and they have nothing to repent of), they do not meet the requirements in order that they may be baptized.

Answer 8

When people came to faith, they would be baptised together with their household. This would normally include children. Paul in his second letter to Timothy speaks of how young Timothy's mother Eunice and grandmother Lois raised him in the faith (II Tim 1:5). Moreover, it must be remembered that the scriptures in which Christians were instructed were the Jewish scriptures, in which there is a wealth of rules for bringing up children in the faith.
"fix these words of Mine in your hearts and minds: ... Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road ..." Deuteronomy 11:18, 19
"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." Proverbs 9:10

What the early teachers in the church taught, therefore, was based on the well founded principles which they had inherited from Judaism. It was taken for granted that one brought up one's children in the fear of the Lord.

Answer 9

Raising children would have taken a form similar to that of Judaism, thus infant baptism is the new "circumcision." Like circumcision, it shows God's promise of faithfulness to that child (not an act of the child's promise to God, as in "believer's baptism").

Answer 10

According to the biblical tradition, Baptism is essentially the poor mans version of anointment (christening). We give names to children when they are too young to determine that for themselves. Baptism was originally a public rite anointing a newborn in the name of the Christian God, and giving the child a name that reflects the religious values of the culture. The liberalizing of Christianity during the Renaissance inspired the changing of traditions from a less tribal sense of identity to a more self-determining one. It was partly inspired by the legend that Jesus of Nazereth was in fact anointed at age 30. Thus, the reformation ideologies chose to assert that one must become anointed when one determines their willingness to commit to the faith.