Is Infant Baptism Biblical ?
– We cannot find any New Testament teaching that advocates (or even suggests) that unbelieving infants should be baptized nor can we find any example of such occurring during the lifetime and ministry of the Apostles. The New Testament concept of salvation and “covenant membership” is clearly aimed at those who have sinned and are capable of hearing the Gospel message and making a personal and conscientious decision and response to it. Salvation is tied to personal faith and faith involves hearing and responding to the Gospel message (John 3:16; Acts 8:12,36-37; 18:8; Romans 10:14-17; 1Corinthians 1:21; Hebrews 11:1,6), which would seem to argue against unbelieving infants being proper subjects. However, those already holding to the doctrine of infant baptism do have a few favorite “proof-texts” that they appeal to.
(no) Is there a Scripture text authorizing baptizing babies or small children? (No, there is no record of such a thing. “Whosoever believes” should be baptized. A person should be old enough to know what they believe.) • Some people began to realize the fact that infant baptism is not Biblical. A group of them developed, and they called themselves the Anabaptists. This group believed that people should not be baptized until they were old enough to understand what Christ’s death meant. As their belief spread across Europe, there grew several different varieties of Anabaptists. Some Anabaptists were fanatical and some were moderate. • A fanatical Anabaptist group in Munster taught that the Bible millennium would soon appear. To be ready, they tried to set up God’s kingdom on earth. To do this they did some very unbiblical deeds. They began to kill people they considered ungodly and took over the city. Do you think that killing people that don’t believe like you is a Biblical principal? •
