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"O blessed light,
 O Trinity and
 first Unity!"


                 Infant Baptism

 The First Christians baptized infants because the first Christians have always done so. This practice was never challenged until the Middle Ages.

"Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God" (Luke 18:16). Some say that only an adult can make a conscious decision to be baptized. So what happens to the children who die before they have a chance to make this decision? We must remember that Salvation is a gift from God, and all are capable of receiving this gift,

 For the promise is for you and your children (Acts 2:38,39)

The remission of sins for an adult is a treasure included in Baptism, but sinning is not a requirement for Baptism, it is a fact of our fallen nature.  From the writings of the first Christians and from Scripture we find that the first Christians were baptized as adults to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, because the church was just being formed. These adults who were first baptized began to baptize their own children at a very early age to bring them the same free gift of Salvation, the Holy Spirit that they had received as adults. "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household . . . and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. (Acts 16:15a) "

It was the obligation of these parents to raise their children in the Christian faith, teaching them the many treasures that Christ had gifted them. You will be hard pressed to find in the early church writings an early Christian who had not been baptized as a child. There are no writings of early Christians who were born into Christian families who at an age of reason made the decision to be baptized into Christ, to be born again, because they already were being raised in the faith. It was and is only those who did not know of Christ, who found Christ at a later age, who were called to the water and made the choice to renounce their accumulated sin, to enter into the community of Christians through the Great Sacrament of Baptism, to join in the Sacrament of Confession, forgiveness and reconciliation, for the lifelong battle over sin while being embraced by Christ.

Baptism is not just a testimony in the soul of an adult who has come to believe in the saving power of Christ, but is the means by which we clothe ourselves in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For an infant, it is the receiving of the Holiest of Spirits, a blanket of security covered with the communion of saints in the One Body of Christ (Romans 6:4) (Galatians 3:27)

Peter said, "Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38) "For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him"

After these first Christians were baptized, they naturally passed this saving Grace on to their first-born, second-born and so on. This baptism of infants was not for conscious sin, the remission of sins committed since their birth, because they had not yet consciously sinned. But it was for the receiving of the Holy Spirit for the remission of original sin, that which we are all born with and by which we are afflicted, the why and reason for needing our Savior.  As you ponder Scripture about Baptism, try to find where baptism is restricted only to adults. Where do we find the so-called “Age of Reason as a degree for receiving Baptism in the Scriptures "? Either the gift of salvation is freely given to those who hear the Shepherd’s voice and follow, or it is not. Is this gift earned through our sin? Or is this gift given, because of original sin, to all who accept this gift? And what about those who are mentally ill who cannot make decisions on their own, is not the receiving of the Spirit put forth to transform them, as well?  Do we have to be smart enough to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit at Baptism? What father or mother does not give the gift of life to his or her child before an age of reason?  What conditions can we as mere creatures place on the special gift of life, the special gift of baptism? A life in Christ.

"Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them; and when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him, saying, ‘Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God’" (Luke 18:15–16).

(Acts 16:15). "the same hour of the night . . . he was baptized, with all his family" (Acts 16:33) "I did baptize also the household of Stephanas" (1 Cor. 1:16).

What is the interpretation of “whole families were baptized?” For a Christian who studies the early Church Fathers’ writings, and has come to know the connection between original sin and conscious sin, this interpretation includes everyone in the household, including infants. (See side bar notes)

Jesus said that no one can enter heaven unless he has been born again of water and the Holy Spirit (John 3:5). The first Christians took this literally and in their hearts gave their children the best gift that a parent could give: Christ in them, and a Christian family to raise them in Christ. 

Again: "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 19:14).

If a child is born into a Christian home, he or she is baptized to receive the Holy Spirit and to be taught the faith by his or her parents along with the community of Christ, the Church.  An adult who is not born into a Christian home would be baptized naturally as an adult to accept the same faith that a child raised in a Christian home had already received.  Baptism was not administered to bring them into a certain Christian sect; it was administered to bring them into a life of Christ, as there was only one Christian faith. Since the Reformation, we now have over 2500 different sects, each interpreting Baptism in their own light, in their own way, in a way that makes sense to them. The Church's mission has always been to protect the teachings of Christ, handed down to the Apostles and, in turn, to teach others. Through earnest study, one can learn these teachings because they go back to Christ himself in unbroken succession and are documented.

If you belong to one of the several sects that claim that only through baptism one is saved, but do not baptize infants, then the question must be: Are children who die before baptism saved? If your answer is, yes, than you are coming to an understanding of infant baptism and of our Lord’s Mercy and love. If your answer is, no, with no understanding of infant baptism, then the question would be: Who is this God you have come to worship; is he a just and merciful God?
 
Common Sense

This is common sense, as we have a kind, just, and merciful God. Be careful of the Law that has been planted in your soul, for whose Law is it and from where did it come?  How harsh can it be, if it is with and in God?

Again: "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God"(Luke 18:16).
 
The Early Church Fathers

Irenaeus:
For he came to save all by means of himself -- all, I say, who by him are born again to God -- infants, children, adolescents, young men, and old men. (Against Heresies II.22.4)

Hippolytus:
And they shall baptize the little children first. And if they can answer for themselves, let them answer. But if they cannot, let their parents answer or someone from their family. And next they shall baptism the grown men; and last the women. (Apostolic Tradition 21.3-5)

Origen:
 I take this occasion to discuss something which our brothers often inquire about. Infants are baptized for the remission of sins. Of what kinds? Or when did they sin? But since "No one is exempt from stain," one removes the stain by the mystery of baptism. For this reason infants are baptized. For "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." (Homily on Luke 14:5).

[After quoting Psalm 51:5 and Job 14:4] These verses may be adduced when it is asked why, since the baptism of the church is given for the remission of sins, baptism according to the practice of the church is given even to infants; since indeed if there is in infants nothing which ought to pertain to forgiveness and mercy, the grace of baptism would be superfluous. (Homily on Leviticus 8:3).

[After quoting Leviticus 12:8 and Psalm 51:5] For this also the church had a tradition from the apostles, to give baptism even to infants. For they to whom the secrets of the divine mysteries were given knew that there is in all persons the natural stains of sin which must be washed away by the water and the Spirit. On account of these stains the body itself is called the body of sin. (Commentary on Romans 5:9)

Cyprian:
In respect of the case of infants, which you say ought not to be baptized within the second or third day after birth, and that the law of ancient circumcision should be regarded, so that you think that one who is just born should not be baptized and sanctified within the eighth day, we all thought very differently in our council. For in this course which you thought was to be taken, no one agreed; but we all rather judge that the mercy and grace of God is not to be refused to any one born of man... Spiritual circumcision ought not to be hindered by carnal circumcision... we ought to shrink from hindering an infant, who, being lately born, has not sinned, except in that, being born after the flesh according to Adam, he has contracted the contagion of the ancient death at its earliest birth, who approaches the more easily on this very account to the reception of the forgiveness of sins - that to him are remitted, not his own sins, but the sins of another" (Letter 58 to Fidus).

Augustine:
 For from the infant newly born to the old man bent with age, as there is none shut out from baptism, so there is none who in baptism does not die to sin. (Enchiridion; ch. 43)
Definition of  "Household" in Greek

We know that the Greek word oikos, translated "house" or "household," has traditionally included infants and children in its meaning for several reasons. There is no evidence of this word being used either in secular Greek, Biblical Greek,or in the writing of Hellenistic Judaism in a way which would restrict its meaning only to adults. The Old Testament parallel for "house" carries the sense of the entire family. The Greek translation of the original Hebrew manuscripts (completed in 250 B.C.) uses this word when translating the Hebrew word meaning the complete family (men, women, children, infants). Similarly, we know that the phrase "he and his house" refers to the total family; the Old Testament use of this phrase clearly demonstrates this by specifically mentioning the presence of children and infants at times.