Baptism, infant and adult

                                      

Is there Scriptural and historical support for Infant Baptism? Does the Holy Spirit come into infants?   Is the actual baptism active in someone's salvation, or is it symbolic?  The Bible and the Early Church Fathers/Church Councils make multiple references to Baptism. The question is this; is baptism done when someone is old enough to repent and profess Christ as Lord, or can entire households be baptized?  Actually, both methods are Scrpitural and historical, and in both cases, there were different amounts of water used throughout history that the Early Church still called valid.  In order to understand why certain Christian traditions baptize infants, we have to know what the word "household" means.  Let's see what a fraction of the Early Church Fathers/Church Councils and the majority of corresponding Bible verses say about Baptism.  The Roman Catholic, Eastern Orhtodox Church, Coptic Church, Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian Churches, and even some smaller Protestant groups all baptize infants.  Please watch at least the top video first that talks about why the early Church baptized infants starting in the first century.  This practice was routine by the third century.

from Catholic Answers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX9prB5tNg8
Catholic Apologist Steve Ray https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSdTBUfakG8
an Eastern Orthodox Church baptism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U1ippYXJDU

Infant Baptism

Irenaeus of Lyons Against Heresies book 2 ch 22.4 [120-180 AD]

"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" 

Cyprian of Carthage Epistle 58 par 2 [200-270 AD]

"As to what pertains to the case of infants: You [Fidus] said that they ought not to be baptized within the second or third day after their birth, that the old law of circumcision must be taken into consideration, and that you did not think that one should be baptized and sanctified within the eighth day after his birth. In our council it seemed to us far otherwise. No one agreed to the course which you thought should be taken. Rather, we all judge that the mercy and grace of God ought to be denied to no man born" 

Cyprian of Carthage Epistle 58 par 3 [200-270 AD]

"If, in the case of the worst sinners and those who formerly sinned much against God, when afterwards they believe, the remission of their sins is granted and no one is held back from baptism and grace, how much more, then, should an infant not be held back, who, having but recently been born, has done no sin, except that, born of the flesh according to Adam, he has contracted the contagion of that old death from his first being born. For this very reason does he [an infant] approach more easily to receive the remission of sins: because the sins forgiven him are not his own but those of another"  

Jerome against the Pelagians book 3 par 19 (347-420 ad)

One thing I will say and so end my discourse, that you ought either to give us a new creed, so that, after baptizing children into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you may baptize them into the kingdom of heaven; or, if you have one baptism both for infants and for persons of mature age, it follows that infants also should be baptized for the remission of sins after the likeness of the transgression of Adam

Gregory Nazianzen Oration 40 ch 28 [325-389 AD]

"'Well enough,' some will say, 'for those who ask for baptism, but what do you have to say about those who are still children, and aware neither of loss nor of grace? Shall we baptize them too?' Certainly [I respond], if there is any pressing danger. Better that they be sanctified unaware, than that they depart unsealed and uninitiated" 

Gregory Nazianzen Oration 40 On Baptism par 17 (325-389 ad)

Have you an infant child? Do not let sin get any opportunity, but let him be sanctified from his childhood; from his very tenderest age let him be consecrated by the Spirit.

John Chrysostom Homily 23 on Acts ch 10 (347-407 ad)

Thus those who are yet Catechumens, because they make this their object, (how they may defer baptism to the last,) give themselves no concern about leading an upright life: and those who have been baptized (fwtisqentes), whether it be because they received it as children, or whether it be that having received it in sickness, and afterwards recovered glory of God), so it is, that neither do these make an earnest business of it

Augustine Two Letters of the Pelagians Book 3 ch 26 (354-430 ad)

But this I say, that according to the Holy Scriptures original sin is so manifest, and that this is put away in infants by the layer of regeneration is confirmed by such antiquity and authority of the catholic faith, notorious by such a clear concurrent testimony of the Church, that what is argued by the inquiry or affirmation of anybody concerning the origin of the soul, if it is contrary to this, cannot be true.

Augustine Homily 4 on the First Epistle of John par 11 (354-430 ad)

For if we are born without any sin, wherefore this running with infants to baptism that they may be released?

Augustine Letter from Augustine to Jerome on Original Sin ch 3 par 6 (354-430 ad)

I ask where can the soul, even of an infant snatched away by death, have contracted the guilt which, unless the grace of Christ has come to the rescue by that sacrament of baptism which is administered even to infants, involves it in condemnation?

Augustine of Hippo City of God Book 8 ch 4 (354-430 ad)

Who would not, then, in company with the infants presented for baptism, run to the grace of Christ, that so he might not be dismissed from the body?

Apostolic Constitutions book 6 par 15 (400ad)

Do you also baptize your infants, and bring them up in the nurture and admonition of God. For says He: "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not."

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Necessity of Baptism

Hermas The Shepherd of Hermas Book II, Commandment 4 ch 3.1-2 [60-120 AD]

"'I have heard, sir,' said I [to the Shepherd], 'from some teacher, that there is no other repentance except that which took place when we went down into the water and obtained the remission of our former sins.' He said to me, 'You have heard rightly, for so it is'" (The Shepherd 4:3:1–2 [A.D. 80]).

Tertullian On Baptism ch 1 [160-240 AD]

"Happy is our sacrament of water, in that, by washing away the sins of our early blindness, we are set free and admitted into eternal life. . . . [But] a viper of the [Gnostic] Cainite heresy, lately conversant in this quarter, has carried away a great number with her most venomous doctrine, making it her first aim to destroy baptism-which is quite in accordance with nature, for vipers and asps . . . themselves generally do live in arid and waterless places. But we, little fishes after the example of our [Great] Fish, Jesus Christ, are born in water, nor have we safety in any other way than by permanently abiding in water. So that most monstrous creature, who had no right to teach even sound doctrine, knew full well how to kill the little fishes-by taking them away from the water!" 

Tertullian On Baptism ch 12 [160-240 AD]

"Without baptism, salvation is attainable by none" 

Tertullian On Baptism ch 16 [160-240 AD]

"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" 

Tertullian On Baptism ch 13 (160-240 ad)

Here, then, those miscreants provoke questions. And so they say, "Baptism is not necessary for them to whom faith is sufficient; for withal, Abraham pleased God by a sacrament of no water, but of faith." But in all cases it is the later things which have a conclusive force, and the subsequent which prevail over the antecedent. Grant that, in days gone by, there was salvation by means of bare faith, before the passion and resurrection of the Lord. But now that faith has been enlarged, and is become a faith which believes in His nativity, passion, and resurrection, there has been an amplification added w the sacrament, viz., the sealing act of baptism; the clothing, in some sense, of the faith which before was bare, and which cannot exist now without its proper law. For the law of baptizing has been imposed, and the formula prescribed: "Go," He saith, "teach the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." The comparison with this law of that definition, "Unless a man have been reborn of water and Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of the heavens," has tied faith to the necessity of baptism.

Cyprian of Carthage Epistle 72 ch 21 [200-270 AD]

"[T]he baptism of public witness and of blood cannot profit a heretic unto salvation, because there is no salvation outside the Church." 

Cyprian of Carthage Epistle 72 ch 22 [200-270 AD]

"[Catechumens who suffer martyrdom] are not deprived of the sacrament of baptism. Rather, they are baptized with the most glorious and greatest baptism of blood, concerning which the Lord said that he had another baptism with which he himself was to be baptized [Luke 12:50]" 

Cyprian of Carthage epistle 75.12 (200-270 ad)

You have asked also, dearest son, what I thought of those who obtain God's grace in sickness and weakness, whether they are to be accounted legitimate Christians, for that they are not to be washed, but sprinkled, with the saving water.

Cyprian of Carthage epistle 75.2 (200-270 ad)

Peter also, showing this, set forth that the Church is one, and that only they who are in the Church can be baptized; and said, the like figure where-unto even baptism shall save you;" proving and attesting that the one ark of Noah was a type of the one Church. If, then, in that baptism of the world thus expiated and purified, he who was not in the ark of Noah could be saved by water, he who is not in the Church to which alone baptism is granted, can also now be quickened by baptism.

  Genesis 18:19

For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”

Genesis 50:8

as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's household. Only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen.

1 Timothy 3:4

He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping           his children submissive,

1 Timothy 5:4

But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.

1 Timothy 5:14

So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander.

It is obvious from the passages above in both the Old and New Testaments that the word household included children.  Did early baptisms include infants?  Let's see what Paul said about that in his letter to the Colossians.

Colossians 2:11-12  (ESV)

¹¹ In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,¹² having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

--Obviously Paul is comparing baptism to circumcision. Circumcision in ancient Judaism was done on the eighth day of life and so is infant Baptism because Baptism is the new circumcision. 
  

The Little Children and Jesus

Holy Spirit into Infants and blessing them
Luke 1:13: But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth; for he will be great before the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.

Luke 8:15-17
15 People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16 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. 17 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Accounts of entire Households being Baptized
Acts 16:31-34 31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. 34 The 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 household.

Col 2:11-12  In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not administered by hand, by stripping off the carnal body, with the circumcision of Christ. You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

1 Corinthians 1:16: I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any one else

Acts 18:8

Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.

   

  Infant Baptism removed original sin and saves the child from the start with water, BUT the child had to walk faithfully throughout life with Christ to obtain salvation at the end of his/her life.

1 Peter 3:20-21: who formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. "Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ"

John 3:5: Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of  water  and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

I will stop right here a minute.  Our children were young when we spent some time in the Baptist Church.  I remember wanting to have them baptized, but they were not "of the age of reason or make a decision to accept Jesus in their hearts yet,"  and they were not allowed to be baptized.  Due to what John 3:5 says and the way I was raised in the Episcopal Church, I took my children back to the Episcopal Church I grew up in and had them baptized at ages 3-1/2, 2, and 1.  The purpose was to remove original sin and for them receive the Sacrament of Baptism in case something happened to one of them, especially since Sam was so sickly.  John 3:5 and history says that being baptized with water is a requirement for salvation, so therefore, I wanted my children baptized..  When they became of age to fully follow Jesus Christ on their own, then they could be confirmed which they were in the Anglican Church.  They also chose full emersion baptism as a profession of faith in the Baptist Church. which are both correct and valid methods of baptism both SCripturally and historically. 

Mark 1:4-11: John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  And there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.  Now John was clothed with camel's hair, and had a leather girdle around his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey.  And he preached, saying, "After me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.  I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."  In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove;  and a voice came from heaven, "Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased."

Acts 2:38: And Peter said to them, "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 22:16

Now, why delay?  Get up and have yourself baptized and your sins washed away, calling upon his name.

I Corinthians 6:11

That is what some of you used to be; but now you have had yourselves washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

Romans 6:4

We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.