Infant Baptism: A Response to Objections

The  objections against infant baptism by Protestants are as follows

1.)Christ never taught infant baptism

2.) Infants should not be baptized until they can speak for themselves.

To Objection 1

Christ NEVER condemned infant baptism in the Bible. He loved children so dearly and always loved them around him. To the parents He said “Let the children come to me, do not hinder them.” If Our Lord would like children to come to Him, will infant baptism be odious in his sight? For through infant baptism, the child is “led to God”.  He stressed the necessity of baptism when he said “Unless one is born of water and fire, he cannot enter the kingdom of God”(John 3:5). Since baptism is NECESSARY FOR ALL MEN, there is no need to be specific about infant baptism – only if it is wrong. Those who hold the erroneous view about infant baptism will have no choice but to object to the baptism of Lydia’s household(c. Acts 6:15) – for the term “household” does not exclude infants. Their fingers – in objection –   will also point to the baptism Steph’annas household(c. 1 cor. 16) and the Jailer’s family(c. Acts 6:33). Besides, if we all hold that infants shouldn’t be baptized, we will end up with the conclusion (according to the protestant theology) that children who die at such tender age will go to hell – or where else would a protestant designate the souls of infant who die without baptism?

To Objection 2

St. Hippolytus of Rome in 215 AD wrote: Baptize first the Children and if they can speak for themselves, let them do so. Otherwise let their parents or other relatives them speak for them  (c. The Apostolic Tradition 21). In the old testament God said to Abraham; “He that is eight days old among you shall be circumcised”( Gen. 17:12) – clearly God didn’t ask Abraham to wait for the child’s opinion before being circumcised. If baptism replaces circumcision (according to Col. 2:11-12), why should we wait for the infant’s choice at the expense of his soul (in view of the necessity of baptism). If we train up a child in the way he should go (prov. 22:6), he will be quite glad that he is baptized.

If a baptized child grows despise his baptism, the case of Julian the Apostate might be instructive:

Baronius relates that after Julian the Apostate’s infamous apostasy, he conceived such great hatred against Holy Baptism that day and night, he sought a way in which he might erase his own. To that purpose he had a bath of goat’s blood prepared and placed himself in it, wanting this impure blood of a victim consecrated to Venus to erase the sacred character of Baptism from his soul.

Kyrie Eleison