June 24, 2005

• I've had this topic come up several times in the past week (my sister's baby, and several commenters on Xanga), so I felt it was about time to discuss Christian Baptism. I've tried to organize it slightly, see below

  
  

  1. Is baptism necessary for salvation?
  2. Why do some Christians baptize infants when the Bible doesn't mention baptism of babies?
   2.1 Biblical evidence
   2.2 Jewish tradition of circumcision
   2.3 Evidence from early Christians' writings
  3. Conclusions and criticisms

  
  

   

  
  

  1. Is baptism necessary for salvation?

  
  

  The quick answer is yes.  The exceptions to a traditional water baptism are summed up well by the Catholic church as follows, though the conservative protestant churches believe similarly (most just haven't written it down):

  
  

  
  

  "Those who die for the faith, those who are catechumens [someone preparing to be initiated into the Church], and all those who, without knowing of the Church but acting under the inspiration of grace, seek God sincerely and strive to fulfill his will, are saved even if they have not been baptized" (CCC 1281)

  
  

  Those martyrs that die for the faith are considered baptized by blood, those that are actively striving to fulfill God's will are considered baptized by desire.  The Church gets these beliefs from Jesus' second baptism [Luke 12:50] and the salvation of the Jews before the time of Jesus.  One of the church fathers summed it up pretty well less than 2 centuries after Jesus:

  
  

  
  

  "We have, indeed, a second [baptismal] font which is one with the former [water baptism]: namely, that of blood, of which the Lord says: ‘I am to be baptized with a baptism’ [Luke 12:50], when he had already been baptized. He had come through water and blood, as John wrote [1 John 5:6], so that he might be baptized with water and glorified with blood. . . . This is the baptism which replaces that of the fountain, when it has not been received, and restores it when it has been lost" (Baptism 16 [A.D. 203]) - Tertullian).

  
  

  Well, what about the Bible?  Ok, try these on for size:

  
  

  
  

  and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:21)

  
  

  Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call. (Acts 2:38-39)

  
  

  Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit." (John 3:5)

  
  

  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:16)

  
  

  2. Why do some Christians baptize infants when the Bible doesn't mention baptism of babies?

  
  

  The lack of any specific mentioning of baptism of infants holds problems both for the baptism of infants and for the baptism of young adults - which are also not mentioned in the Bible. The only specific baptism accounts in the Bible involve converts from Judaism or paganism, there is no mention of baptism—either in infancy or later. 

  
  

  How then, did the Christian churches (Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Anglican, etc.) come to baptize infants?  Through a careful reading of the Bible, understanding the Jewish roots of Christianity, and early Christian writings, that's how.

  
  

  2.1 Biblical evidence:

  
  

  
  

  When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house." And she persuaded us. (Acts 16:15)

  
  

  At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. (Acts 16:33)

  
  

  Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else (1 Cor 1:16)

  
  

  While these verses don't specifically mention - nor exclude - infants, the use of "households" indicates an understanding of the family as a whole. If there were to be exceptions, it would probably have been explicit.  However, it is pretty explicit when Jesus tells his apostles to let the infants come to him in this verse:

  
  

  
  

  People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." (Luke 18:15-16)

  
  

  The baptism of water and the entry of the Holy Spirit into your life, though usually occurring at the same time for converts, isn't always occurring at the same time in the Bible.  The apostles were baptized before Jesus's crucifixion, but the Holy Spirit didn't come upon them until they were "baptized by fire" at Pentecost, after Jesus's resurrection and ascension.

  
  

  2.2 Jewish tradition of circumcision

  
  

  Paul likened baptism to the former Jewish practice of circumcision:

  
  

  
  

  In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead (Col 2:11-12)

  
  

  Faith in the Lord was necessary for an adult convert to Judaism to receive it, but it was not necessary for the children of believers. The infants were usually circumcised around the 8th day after their birth, and was done in anticipation of the Jewish faith that their parents were going to raise them in.  Likewise, Christians baptize infants because they are going to raise them in the Christian faith - after all, parents have control over what their children are taught and what they will believe in why exclude something as important as religion?

  
  

  2.3 Evidence from early Christians' writings:

  
  

  Irenaeus (and other Fathers of the Church) was raised in a Christian home and wouldn't have taught infant baptism as apostolic if their own baptisms had been deferred until the age of reason.  Irenaeus was probably baptized by Polycarp, who was a personal disciple of the apostle John.  If this was a heresy, we would have had records of other early Christians saying "Not so!", instead of everyone either agreeing with it or not commenting on it.  (After all, why comment on things that are common belief and aren't being questioned?)  Here are some of the many others who commented on infant baptism.

  
  

  
  

  "He [Jesus] came to save all through himself; all, I say, who through him are reborn in God: infants, and children, and youths, and old men. Therefore he passed through every age, becoming an infant for infants, sanctifying infants; a child for children, sanctifying those who are of that age . . . [so that] he might be the perfect teacher in all things, perfect not only in respect to the setting forth of truth, perfect also in respect to relative age" (Against Heresies 2:22:4 [A.D. 189] - Irenaeus ).

  
  

  "Baptize first the children, and if they can speak for themselves let them do so. Otherwise, let their parents or other relatives speak for them" (The Apostolic Tradition 21:16 [A.D. 215] - Hippolytus).

  
  

  "Every soul that is born into flesh is soiled by the filth of wickedness and sin. . . . In the Church, baptism is given for the remission of sins, and, according to the usage of the Church, baptism is given even to infants. If there were nothing in infants which required the remission of sins and nothing in them pertinent to forgiveness, the grace of baptism would seem superfluous" (Homilies on Leviticus 8:3 [A.D. 248] - Origen).
  
  "The Church received from the apostles the tradition of giving baptism even to infants. The apostles, to whom were committed the secrets of the divine sacraments, knew there are in everyone innate strains of [original] sin, which must be washed away through water and the Spirit" (Commentaries on Romans 5:9 [A.D. 248] - Origen).

  
  

  "The custom of Mother Church in baptizing infants is certainly not to be scorned, nor is it to be regarded in any way as superfluous, nor is it to be believed that its tradition is anything except apostolic" (The Literal Interpretation of Genesis 10:23:39 [A.D. 408] - Augustine).

  
  

  If you don't count the people in the Church only a few generations from Jesus, how about from one of the first protestants?  I'll try my best to summerize what Martin Luther stated in his Large Catechism, you can read the entire thing at: http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/catechism/web/cat-13a.html

  
  

  
  

  Lurther states that we can be sure the baptism of infants is pleasing to Christ because "God sanctifies many of them who have been thus baptized, and has given them the Holy Ghost....  If God did not accept the baptism of infants, He would not give the Holy Ghost nor any of His gifts to any of them"  He states that Baptism does not become invalid if the person believes or not, because Baptism is not bound to our faith, but to the Word.  "How dare we think that God's Word and ordinance should be wrong and invalid because we make a wrong use of it?"

  
  

  He states that "we bring the child in the conviction and hope that it believes, and we pray that God may grant it faith..." but that we baptize solely upon the command of God.  He compares the false logical conclusion 'if the faith is false, then the baptism is false' to the equally false conclusion "if I do not believe, then Christ is nothing."  To explain this argument, he states "For gold is not the less gold though a horlot wear it in sin and shame."  Thus even if our baptism is performed with imperfect or no faith, the baptism is still valid - because no baptism with water and the Word of God can be invalid..

  
  

  He reminds us that Baptism is tied to Repentance, because repentence returns us to our baptism and the forgiveness of sins received there.  He states that we need to be aware that our Baptism isn't a single completed event in our past that we cannot use after we fall again into sin.  Instead, though it is our initial entry into the Christian Church, we are always falling from the Church through further sin and need to come back - not through additional baptisms, but through repentance which brings us back to our baptism.

  
  

  3. Conclusion

  
  

  Some protestant denominations claim that baptism is not necessary for salvation, (ignoring the verses above) and that it also cannot be done on infants because infants cannot believe in Jesus since they can't learn yet.  They quote many verses that say that such-and-such person believed and was baptized, pointing out the fact that believing precedes baptism, failing to realize that everyone was a convert at that time.  They try to get people who were baptized as infants to be baptized again, claiming that their first baptism doesn't count. 

  
  

  
  

  There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called - one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Eph 4:4-6)

  
  

  The Catholics and the conservative protestant churches believe that baptism should be done only once, when the person enters into the Christian church.  Either when their parents initiate them into the church (usually at infancy), or after they believe and are converted.  I was baptized a Methodist, and when I was married to a Catholic, the Catholic church recognized my baptism as valid because it was done with water while invoking the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  If that was done to you, that is the only baptism needed, a second baptism will not give you any more grace, or forgive any more sins. 

  
  

  The most hypocritical thing I've ever heard about may soon be done to my newly born niece in a Baptist church.  If her mom decides to, little Ellie will have a 'sprinkling ceremony', which is definitely not a baptism - because baptism cannot be done until she can believe according to the Baptists.  I would be fine if they were to just present her to the church, and leave the sprinkling of water and other baptismal acts and symbols out of it.  However, the fact that they are making a farce of the baptism ceremony makes it even worse than if nothing was done. 

  • 10:44 am
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