Infant Baptism is Biblical

One might ask, does the Bible ever say that infants or young children can not be baptized? The answer is no! The Bible tells us in case after case where whole households or families were baptized. Lydia was converted by Paul's preaching. "She was baptized, with her household" (Acts 16:15). The Philippian jailer whom Paul and Silas had converted to the faith was baptized along with his household,"the same hour of the night . . . he was baptized, with all his family" (Acts 16:33). Another example is when Paul baptized Stephanas and his household. "I did baptize also the household of Stephanas" (1 Cor. 1:16). The evidence is overwhelming that more than just the adults were baptized.

Paul states that baptism has replaced circumcision (Col. 2:11-12). In that passage he refers to baptism as "the circumcision of Christ" and "the circumcision made without hands." Of course it was mainly infants who were circumcised under the Old Law. In other words, a Jewish boy was recognized as a Jew within the covenant as an infant. One must remember that circumcision of adults was rare, there being few converts to Judaism and if Paul in making this parallel meant to exclude infants from baptism, he would have said so.

The Bible never says baptism is to be restricted to adults. Protestants that forbid infant baptism need to open their Bibles and read (Luke 18:15-16) "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." The Lord did not require the infants to make a conscious decision to accept Him as their personal Lord and Savior. Christ says that they are precisely the kind of people who can come to Him and receive the kingdom. So if Jesus said "let them come unto me," who are Protestants to say " no," and withhold baptism from infants?

So the next time a Protestant proclaims babies do not need to be baptized, ask them this simple question. If Jesus is the Savior of unbaptized babies, what exactly did He save them from? They will be stuck, and have no answer. The Catholic then must state, "although babies have no actual mortal sin upon their souls they are born with the stain of Original Sin, the sin passed onto all humanity because of the fall of Adam and Eve." The Bible clearly teaches that, "By one man sin entered into this world, and by sin, death, and so death passed upon all men in whom all have sinned." (Rom 5:12) Catholics must conclude by saying, "If babies are totally untouched by sin, as Protestants assert, then there is nothing for Jesus to save them from; therefore there was no need for Christ to suffer and die upon the cross."