Baptized with Water & Fire!

(Picture above includes my Methodist Pastor friend and a dear mentor, Pastor Dave Scifres, performing a baptism.)

Submitted by a friend on Facebook. Could you explain the biblical basis for infant baptism? I’ve always wondered and have attended a few baptisms [at a Lutheran Church.] I was the most uncomfortable when the pastor (priest?) said that it is washing the child’s sins away (admittedly Lutheran, so maybe the Catholic take is different). I’m so curious and have always been afraid to ask, not wanting to sound insensitive.

Kyle’s Response: Thanks friend! This is a wonderful question. I grew up Baptist (perhaps like you?) and so was also uncomfortable with infant baptism. My journey toward eventually embracing the idea began by attending a Presbyterian youth group down the road (Christ Pres for us Christ United people). The Youth Minister at the time referenced infant baptism, and we had a great talk about it on the way back from a youth trip. To clarify, this is not strictly a Catholic-Protestant Conversation. Most of the faiths from the Reformation embraced infant baptism (Lutherans, Reformed, Presbyterians, Anglicans (Episcopalians), and we will add Methodists much later).

Today, many Christian denominations do not embrace the idea, most notably Baptists who were originally called Anabaptists which means “Baptized Twice.” Many of them had been baptized as infants, but they were baptized a second time wanting to express their faith at their own baptism. Other groups that embrace only adult baptism (or making the decision at the age of reason which could be at the age of 5,6, or 7) are most Pentecostals (Assemblies of God, Church of God, Vineyard) and other groups such as Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ, many non-denominational churches (which typically are rooted in the Pentecostal or Baptist tradition) such as Saddleback church with Rick Warren (Baptist).

1. The idea of Baptism for Catholics as well as many other groups (particularly Presbyterians and the Reformed) is rooted in covenant theology. Let us review what the covenants of Scripture are. Covenants are contracts or promises between God and his people that work a lot like ancient betrothal or engagement contracts before a wedding takes place. The cool idea is that God wants to be united and ‘married’ to His people.
2. There are typically considered to be 5 main covenants in Scripture (w/ Noah, Abraham, Moses & Israel, David, and Jesus, the final New Covenant). If one was apart of Israel, the People of God, it meant that one had entered into a Covenant Community with the Living God and Creator of all things. He initiated these covenants, and they could not fail though the people in the contract very well could. Circumcision initiated a baby, child, or adult fully into Israel. This rite of circumcision was given to them through Abraham (Gen 12, 17). Keeping the Law (and repenting when broken) kept one in the covenant. This came through Moses. Other actions renewed these covenants such as the Passover meal and sacrifices in the Temple. Giving your allegiance to King David and his descendants who were promised the throne forever was the last covenant. The New Covenant absorbed, fulfilled, and in some sense, annulled the original covenants between God and His people. This is where we begin to talk about Baptism in connection to the New Covenant.
3. In the New Covenant, Baptism fulfills and replaces circumcision (Col 2:11-12). Communion fulfills and replaces the passover meal. Christ’s law of love (Sermon on the Mount and other material) fulfills and replaces Moses’ law. Our allegiance to King David and His Throne is fulfilled by saying that ‘Jesus is Lord’ as the final descendant of King David and ultimately King of the Universe. The New Israel is no longer tied to geography but has become both Jew and Gentile spread throughout the world (Galatians 6). This is Covenant Theology, and I think one of the best ways to unify all of the Scriptures.
4. Again, according to the Apostle Paul, baptism replaces circumcision in the New Covenant. Circumcision was administered on the 8th day to a baby boy. What does this mean? The Jews believed their children were included in the People of God, the called out ones. (the word Church in Greek is ekklessia, which literally means ‘called out ones.’) Salvation was for them and their children. Baptism has become the new doorway into the People of God and the first moment that the Holy Spirit descends in power upon our little ones as members of the Church, citizens of Heaven, and the in-breaking the Kingdom of God. (Below- an icon depicting Christ’s circumcision)
5. Here are the words of one of the top New Testament scholars in the world, Dr. Ben Withering III (Methodist/Weslyan tradition), ““Baptism is neither a Christian dedication ritual nor a Christian equivalent to a bar mitzvah– a rite of passage for a young adult prepared to assume the mantle of his faith consciously and on his own. Baptism in the New Testament is a rite of initiation, and should be practiced on anyone who is at the point of entering the covenant community or has already done so, whatever their age. Once one has crossed the boundary from the world into Christ one should already have the initiation ritual, the rite of passage into the community. All the baptisms in Acts are missionary baptisms. The book of Acts neither raises nor answers the second generation question– what do we do with children born into and raised in Christian families who know no other way of life? Should we treat them like little heathens, or are they already a provisional part of the covenant community? 1 Cor. 7 suggests the children of even one Christian parent is ‘holy’ that is, set apart for God, and not unclean. Acts and Paul’s letters (see 1 Cor. 1) as well talks about the baptism of whole households.Were there really no infants in any of these households?”
6. Again, in the Book of Acts, the whole household was baptized. Jews knew that their children, including infants, were apart of the People of God moving through history. They always had. This is why whole households were baptized at once. Now we have to admit that we do not actually have a story of an infant being baptized in the Bible, but we also do not have a story of an infant being healed by Jesus or an apostle. This doesn’t mean we can’t assume that no infants were ever healed by Jesus or the first Christians. The same could be said for baptism.
7. According the the Apostle Peter, baptism saves us–“Baptism that now saves you also–not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:21). This is why Catholics and many others believe the Holy Spirit washes away our sin at Baptism. We are comfortable with idea of God binding himself to us through a baptism, because we are comfortable with covenants. Baptism could be compared to a wedding ceremony. God binds himself to us in the actual event. God weds the engaged couple in the actual wedding ceremony through the readings and promises. Marriage is a covenant, and the covenant does not actually begin before the wedding day. We know this is true, because we do not consider it a sin if an engaged couple breaks up! It is certainly sad, but it is not a divorce of the covenantal marriage. The wedding unites the two. They become one flesh in one covenant. It is the same with baptism according to Catholics. The covenant with God, which begins with the washing away of Original Sin and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, does not actually begin until Baptism. Grace and the Holy Spirit can be at work in an individual, but it is not the same thing.
8. According to John the Baptist, his baptism is only with water, whereas Jesus’ baptism will include both water and fire (Holy Spirit). According to the Apostle John, he recalls a time when Jesus stated that a person is ‘born again’ through both water and Spirit. For the Early Church, receiving the baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit are events that go together.
9. For the first 1,500 years of Christianity, the Church agreed on this issue. The controversy in the Early Church was actually concerning how long to wait to baptize an infant! Do you baptize the first day of birth or do you wait until the 8th day since baptism fulfills circumcision? (The early Christians were already doing covenant theology!). The reason this was a hot topic was due to the sad fact that many infants would die in the ancient world. All families lost children and many lost them near the time of childbirth. Just like prayers to the saints, we have also found ancient cemeteries that show infants who died that had been baptized.
10. There are also a lot of quotes from the ancient Church. Here are a few: “‘And [Naaman] dipped himself . . . seven times in the Jordan’ [2 Kgs. 5:14]. It was not for nothing that Naaman of old, when suffering from leprosy, was purified upon his being baptized, but [this served] as an indication to us. For as we are lepers in sin, we are made clean, by means of the sacred water and the invocation of the Lord, from our old transgressions, being spiritually regenerated as newborn babes, even as the Lord has declared: ‘Except a man be born again through water and the Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven’ [John 3:5]”   St. Irenaeus (Bishop in France) (Fragment34 [A.D. 190]) ***Irenaeus was a student of Polycarp who was a student of the Apostle John. Irenaeus wrote these words 90 years after the Bible was completed.
    
11. “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.”  St. Hippolytus of Rome (“The Apostolic Tradition,” 215 A.D.)
12. But what about the role of faith? If baptized as infants, the Catholic Church still expects this little one to grow in faith. This will have to be another blog post, but we expect our children to ‘walk by faith’ daily and at critical junctures such as confession, communion, and confirmation. Our Church requires faith-filled people.
13. Lastly, I understand the issue of baptism also relates to the nature of salvation and how it is applied and experienced by Christians. This is why I am excited to talk about that in my next post relating to Confession, Justification, Grace, and everything else concerning our salvation!

Thanks for your wonderful question concerning infant baptism. I hope that we can see that the Churches who practice infant baptism have not abandoned the authority of Scripture but are actually making sound Biblical sense (even if we cannot all agree). It all begins with a Father who keeps His promises (or covenants!) =)