Infant Baptism
.webp)
For the generations to come every male among you who is eight
days old must be
circumcised, including those born in your household or bought
with money from a
foreigner-those who are not your offspring.
Genesis 17, 12
In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made
without hands, by putting
off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the
circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in
baptism, in which you also were
raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who
raised Him from the
dead.
Colossians 2, 11-12
Since the earliest time,
the Catholic Church has stressed the importance of infant baptism. As members
of the human family and descendants of Adam, we are all born with a
fallen nature that is tainted with original sin. Even as infants, we have need
of the rebirth given in the sacrament of Baptism to be liberated from the
powers of darkness and brought into the realm of the freedom of the children of
God, to which all human beings are called (Col 12:1-4). Baptism (Gk. Βάπτισμα /
baptisma) is a Christian rite of not only admission into Christianity
but also adoption with the use of water. The sacrament has been administered by
sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing the recipient in water
either partially or completely. The essential thing, however, is the use of
water which purifies and cleanses the soul of the stain of original sin. The
person who is baptized regains the state of justice and sanctity that Adam had
forfeited for all his offspring. Thus, baptized infants receive the privileged washing
of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit by being reborn of water and the
Spirit, without which no soul can enter the kingdom of heaven.
Original sin is a sin
that is contracted rather than personally committed. It’s the state of having
fallen short of the glory of God. Since this sin isn’t one that any human being
is morally culpable of having committed, it’s imperative that infants be
baptized as much as adults should. After all, they, too, must suffer and die by
being associated with the fallen Adam, although the pride of life and concupiscence
haven’t yet manifested themselves in their lives.
.webp)
St. Paul tells us that
through Baptism the soul enters into communion with Christ’s death, is buried
with him, and rises with him (Rom 6:3-4). Baptism is a gift of gratuitous grace
from God that is offered to every human soul despite their age. Infants mustn’t
be denied the gift of Baptism for they, too, must be “incorporated into Christ”
and “configured to Christ.” They need to be sealed with the indelible spiritual
mark or character of belonging to Christ albeit any conscious awareness.
Since the grace of
Baptism doesn’t presuppose any human merit for its conferral, there is no just
reason for excluding infants from being consecrated to God. No personal sin can
erase the indelible mark that is sealed through Baptism even if sin prevents
Baptism from bearing the fruits of salvation, so it makes no difference whether
the infant is consciously aware of being baptized and making personal
commitments of faith that are connected with the sacrament. Once a child
attains the age of moral reasoning, while having been nurtured in the Christian
faith at home and in the Church, they can decide for themselves whether to live
up to their baptismal commitments and persevere in faith. These life-long
baptismal commitments also apply to people who have been baptized in adulthood.
One isn’t automatically and irrevocably saved just by being baptized and making
an initial profession of faith. The important thing for the infant or any human
being is that they receive the initial grace of justification and forgiveness
for being implicated in the sin of Adam, and becoming a partaker of the divine
nature through the water of cleansing and regeneration in the Spirit.
.webp)
In Judaism, the ritual
of circumcision ( Heb. בְּרִית מִילָה / brit milah) is a symbol of one’s partnership with God. This partnership with YWHW is
a mysterious covenant that surpasses human comprehension. It is a pledge of unconditional
devotion, no matter what may transpire between God and an individual. It is a bond
that is absolute and immutable. For this reason, a Jew is circumcised as an
infant, although it hasn’t yet developed its capacity for reasoning or making
moral judgments since the covenant of circumcision is not an intellectual or
calculated partnership. The circumcision of an infant demonstrates that the
connection between the Jews and YHWH is beyond human rationale. Moreover, God
chose the very organ that is the reproductive source of life, which can also be
chosen to use for the basest acts, as the point to be sanctified with
circumcision. The message here is that
we can and must use every physical drive for holy purposes.
In Genesis 17, God gives
no reason for circumcision other than it shall be a sign of the eternal
covenant between God and Abraham and all of his descendants. God clearly
commands that circumcision must occur on the eighth day of life for every
Jewish male. Since Biblical times, male infants have been circumcised on the
eighth day of life for it had been given since the time of Abraham and Isaac
that each newly born son should be brought into the Covenant just as their
fathers, grandfathers, and so on, had been before them. Ritual circumcision was
originally a defining act for the young Israelite nation and continued to
distinguish the Israelites (including infants) from other peoples.
When God told Israel,
" Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no
longer " ( Deuteronomy 10:16 ), it meant that they were to remove their obstinate
sinful thoughts from their minds. In other words, they were to purge sin from
their lives and be obedient to the laws of God. The covenant God established
between Him and the Israelites was essentially meant to be a relationship of
reciprocal love and fidelity. The Israelites were to have no false gods before
YHWH. This covenantal relationship contributed to a communal self-understanding
and encouraged the Israelites to examine who they were as consecrated people
in relation to God and how they ought to behave towards each other in their
common relation to God as children of Abraham.
The Old Covenant served
to remind the nation of how God desired the people should live in relation to
God and each other: compassionately, generously, and righteously. The eight-year-old infants were consecrated to God by their circumcision to enter this
covenant of holiness. The ritual marked their separation from the sinfulness of
the surrounding pagan nations. Now, the infant boys of the covenant were to be
circumcised on the eighth day of their birth because this is the day of newness
in Judaic tradition. If there are seven days in a week, the eighth day is the
first day of a new week. The performance of circumcision on the eighth day represents
God’s promise of newness to His covenant children who had formerly lived
profane lives among the pagan nations. This rite ultimately points forward to
the eighth day (the first day of a new week) on which Christ arose from the
dead in the newness of life.
Baptism proceeds from the
rite of circumcision, as to how God intended that a spiritual circumcision must
take place, which is the physical aspect of circumcision represented in the Old
Covenant. Baptism, therefore, is a sign of inward, spiritual “circumcision.” Baptism
is a rebirth to a new life with God and being reborn from above. Although
circumcision isn’t a sacrament but a symbolic ritual in Judaism, there are
significant parallels between the two that show how baptism fulfills
circumcision, as the Old Covenant finds its fulfillment in the New that has
been established by Christ through the outpouring of his blood.
By baptism, we gain entry
into the kingdom of God. Infants must be included as members of the body of
Christ just as infants and young children were members of God’s chosen people
in the Old Covenant. “We are members one of another.” Baptism not only purifies
us from all sins but makes the neophyte a “new creature” and adopted child of
God. “From the baptismal fonts is born the one people of God of the New
Covenant (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1265). The Old Covenant was
designed as a means to impart holiness to newly restored people who were
chosen to serve God by observing His statutes. It served as an instrument of
grace. In the New Covenant, we become God’s own people, “a chosen race,” and “a
holy nation” by our common baptism. We “become living stones to be built up
into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood” (1 Pet 2:5; 9) through the graces
and spiritual gifts we receive by being baptized.
Thus, the key benefits of
baptism demand that infants should be baptized but not simply as an act of
defining what it means to be God’s chosen people of the New Covenant. Infants
are baptized in water to reap the spiritual benefits that have been merited for
all of us by the blood of Christ. Blood and water flowed from our Savior’s side
as he hung upon the cross. Infants should be baptized because through the
sacrament they, too, receive the “grace of sanctification or justification” to
have eternal life with God. This grace shall “enable them [as members of God’s
kingdom] to believe in God, to hope in Him, and to love Him through the
theological virtues [Faith, Hope, and Charity].” This grace will give them “the
power to live and act under the prompting of the Holy Spirit through the gifts
of the Holy Spirit” allowing them to “grow in goodness through the moral
virtues” (CCC, 1266). The infant itself is separated from all the people who
haven’t yet been reborn from above or from heaven.
St. Paul points out that
baptism has replaced circumcision. He refers to the sacrament as “the
circumcision of Christ” and “the circumcision made without hands” (Col
2:11-12). The latter reference recalls the passage above taken from the Book of
Deuteronomy which refers to the physical ritual as essentially being a
circumcision of the heart of all the Israelites including the circumcised male
infants who will eventually grow into manhood expected to abide by God’s
covenant. When a Jewish boy reaches the age of thirteen, the family celebrates
his Bar Mitzvah, on which occasion he is regarded as ready to observe religious
moral precepts and eligible to participate in public worship at the synagogue.
The boy’s father offers a prayer of thanksgiving to God for relieving him of
being morally responsible for his son’s actions, because he is primarily held
accountable for the boy’s religious and spiritual nurturing until he has
reached adolescence.
This same principle holds
in the Catholic faith with respect to baptizing infants. Infant baptism has its
roots in Judaism and is an ecclesial tradition handed down to us from the
apostles who themselves were Jewish (Judeans). Anyway, if the nascent Church
didn’t practice infant baptism, we should doubt whether Paul would have used
the rite of circumcision as a parallel for the sacrament. Of course, most of
the new Jewish converts to Christianity were adults in apostolic time, but
adult males who converted to Judaism (proselytes) had to be circumcised, too,
though these conversions were rare.
Further, we read in the New Testament that Lydia was baptized with her “household” after she converted (Acts 16:15). The Philippian jailer who was converted by Paul and Silas was baptized that same night along with his household. In fact, he was baptized “with all his family” (Acts 16:33). And in his greetings to the church in Corinth, Paul writes, “I did baptize also the household of Stephanus” (1 Cor 1:16).
In the above passages, Paul uses the Greek word oikon (οἶκον) for the English word “household.” This accusative masculine singular noun literally means “a dwelling” and by implication “a family.” If children weren’t part of these families, Paul could have simply written that “she and her husband” or “he and his wife” were baptized. Nor would it make sense for him to have used the all-inclusive word “household” or “family” if children weren’t included as members. Now, evangelical Christians contend that if there were children in these families, they could have been young adolescents. But Paul doesn’t draw a parallel between the rite of circumcision and the sacrament of baptism because Jewish boys are circumcised at the age of thirteen. As we know, they are circumcised as infants. Still, there must surely have been young children below the age of reason who belonged to at least one of these households. Though they might not have been infants, they could still be like newborn babes by being below the mature age of moral accountability. Everyone must include infants.
Early Sacred Tradition
“And
many, both men and women, who have been Christ’s disciples from
childhood, remain pure and at the age of sixty or seventy years…”
St. Justin Martyr, First Apology, 15:6
(A.D. 110-165)
who through Him are born again to God–infants,
“And
they shall baptise 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.”
St. Hippolytus, Apostolic Tradition, 21
(c. A.D. 215)
“For
this reason, moreover, the Church received from the apostles
the tradition of baptizing infants too.”
Origen, Homily on Romans, V:9
(A.D. 244)
“But
in respect of the case of the infants, which you say ought not to be baptized
within the
second or third day after their birth, and that the law of ancient
circumcision should be regarded,
so that you think one who is just born should not
be baptized and sanctified within the eighth
day…And therefore, dearest brother,
this was our opinion in council, that by us no one ought to be
hindered from
baptism…we think is to be even more observed in respect of infants and newly
born
persons…”
St. Cyprian, To Fidus, Epistle 58(64):2, 6
(A.D. 251)
“Be
it so, some will say, in the case of those who ask for Baptism; what have you
to say about those
who are still children, and conscious neither of the loss
nor of the grace? Are we to baptize them
too? Certainly, if any danger presses.
For it is better that they should be unconsciously sanctified
than that they
should depart unsealed and uninitiated.”
St. Gregory Nazianzen,
Oration on Holy Baptism, 40:28
(A.D. 381)
.jpg)
“We
do baptize infants, although they are not guilty of any sins.”
St. John Chrysostom, Ad Neophytos
(A.D. 388)
.webp)
“And
if any one seek for divine authority in this matter, though what is held by the
whole Church,
and that not as instituted by Councils, but as a matter of
invariable custom, is rightly held to have
been handed down by apostolical
authority, still we can form a true conjecture of the value of the
sacrament of
baptism in the case of infants, from the parallel of circumcision, which was
received
by God’s earlier people, and before receiving which Abraham was
justified, as Cornelius also was
enriched with the gift of the Holy Spirit
before he was baptized.”
St. Augustine, On Baptism against the Donatist, 4:24:31
(A.D. 400)
“While
the son is a child and thinks as a child and until he comes to years of
discretion to choose
between the two roads to which the letter of Pythagoras
points, his parents are responsible for his
actions whether these be good or
bad. But perhaps you imagine that, if they are not baptized, the
children of
Christians are liable for their own sins; and that no guilt attaches to parents
who
withhold from baptism those who by reason of their tender age can offer no
objection to it. The
truth is that, as baptism ensures the salvation of the
child, this in turn brings advantage to the
parents. Whether you would offer
your child or not lay within your choice, but now that you
have offered her,
you neglect her at your peril.”
St. Jerome, To Laeta, Epistle 107:6
(A.D. 403)
But Jesus said to them: Suffer the little children,
and forbid them not to come to me:
for the kingdom of heaven is for such.
Matthew 19, 14
