When did infant baptism begin in Christianity?

Answer 1

Never.

True Christians follow the teaching of Christ.

The nature of your question seems to indicate that you realize that there was a time when this was not the practice.

The idea of infant baptism is related to the mistaken idea that babies are born with the guilt of inherited sin. If a baby is guilty of sin, the thought is that they should be baptized to wash away that sin.

The Bible however teaches that "sin is the transgression of the law." (1 John 3:4) If a baby is guilty of sin, what law have they transgressed? A baby is not capable of transgressing, or even understanding, any law.

But, what about inherited sin (guilt)?

This idea goes against many verses, including Ezekiel 18:20.

"The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself."

This verse clearly teaches that children do not inherit the guilt of sin.

Those who teach infant baptism many times point to the households that were baptized in the New Testament. They assume these households had infants and those young children were included in the baptism.

This, however is just an assumption. It is risky to base your doctrine on a guess that cannot be proven from the Scriptures!

In fact, the context of many of these scriptures DISPROVE infant baptism. Notice for example the household of the keeper of the prison in Acts 16.

He was baptized with his household (verse 33). But notice also, all his household was taught ( verse 32), and they all believed (verse 34). An infant cannot be taught, and an infant cannot believe. Therefore, "household" here does not include any infants.

In fact, to be baptized one must first believe and repent, therefore, baptism is not for infants. (Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38)

Notice the eunuch in Acts 8. He asked, "What hinders me from being baptized?” (verse 36) "Then Philip said, 'If you believe with all your heart, you may.'" (verse 37)

A baby cannot believe, therefore a baby would not meet this requirement for one to be baptized.

I hope this information helps!

Answer 2

The earliest proponant of infant baptism is Hippolytus of Rome, who wrote a treatise called "Apostlic Tradition" in 215 AD. However, Hippolytus was a brazen pagan, who advocated nude baptisms of adults in front of a nude congregation; his other "apostolic traditions" actually CONTRADICTED the Scriptures. (He was later put to death due to heresy, since his teachings caused a HUGE schism within the early Church.) So his teachings are best ignored by Christians seeking the truth about the beliefs of our early brothers and sisters in Christ.

If you'd like to read it, here's a link: http://www.bombaxo.com/hippolytus.html

EDIT: "Adoptive Father," please show me where babies are mentioned within the passage you quoted, because I don't see it. You are merely assuming that his family included infants.

Answer 3

From the time of the Apostles.

The Book of Acts Chapter 16:
29The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

31They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household." 32Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family.

Suzanne: You are correct that the passage does not specifically mention babies one way or the other. It says "all his family". It does not say "all his family over the age of (blank)". Guess we will just disagree.