What Does the Bible Say About Infant Baptism?

Christians disagree about infants. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1252 (1), calls infant baptism an immemorial tradition, with explicit testimony from the second century, while the Baptist Faith and Message, Article VII (6), defines Christian baptism as the immersion of a believer.

Key Points

• Catechism 1250 (1) says children, born with a fallen nature and tainted by original sin, need the new birth in baptism, and that the sheer gratuitousness of grace is particularly manifest in infant baptism.
• Augsburg IX (3) teaches that children are to be baptized and, being offered to God through baptism, are received into God’s grace.
• Westminster 28.4 (4) says the infants of one or both believing parents are to be baptized. Heidelberg Q&A 74CloseQ. What does the Lord require in the first commandment?
  A. That I, not wanting to endanger my own salvation, avoid and shun all idolatry, sorcery, superstitious rites, and prayer to saints or to other creatures. That I rightly know the only true God, trust him alone, and look to God for every good thing humbly and patiently, and love, fear, and honor God with all my heart. In short, that I give up anything rather than go against God’s will in any way. Q. What is idolatry?
  A. Idolatry is having or inventing something in which one trusts in place of or alongside of the only true God, who has revealed himself in the Word.Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 94–95 · Christian Reformed ChurchOpen source (5) says yes, infants as well as adults are in God’s covenant and should be incorporated by baptism, which replaced circumcision.
• United Methodist Article XVII (8) says the baptism of young children is to be retained. The Confession of Faith, Article VI (9), says children are under the atonement of Christ and are acceptable subjects for Christian baptism.
• Church of England Article XXVII (10) retains the baptism of young children “as most agreeable with the institution of Christ,” and it uses the word christened for those marked by baptism.
• Baptist Faith and Message VII (6) and the 1689 Confession, 29.2 (7), limit baptism to a believer, or to those who profess repentance, faith, and obedience. The Assemblies of God, article 6 (11), says all who repent and believe are to be baptized.
• Acts 16:15CloseAnd when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.Acts 16:15 · King James VersionOpen source (16), Acts 16:33CloseAnd he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.Acts 16:33 · King James VersionOpen source (17), and 1 Corinthians 1:16CloseAnd I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.1 Corinthians 1:16 · King James VersionOpen source (18) say a household was baptized. None of those verses lists the ages in the house.

Which Churches Baptize Infants?

Is Baptism Necessary for Salvation? is whether the water is required for salvation. This page is who is baptized, and why the churches that baptize infants say the Bible allows it.

What the Churches That Baptize Infants Say

Catechism 1250 (1):

Born with a fallen human nature and tainted by original sin, children also have need of the new birth in Baptism to be freed from the power of darkness and brought into the realm of the freedom of the children of God, to which all men are called. The sheer gratuitousness of the grace of salvation is particularly manifest in infant Baptism.

The next sentences say the Church and the parents would deny a child the grace of becoming a child of God if they did not confer baptism shortly after birth. 1252 (1) says the practice is an immemorial tradition, with explicit testimony from the second century on, and that when whole households received baptism, infants may also have been baptized.

Augsburg IX (3) cites Acts 2:38–39 for the children. It then says, in the confession’s own word, “Our churches condemn the Anabaptists, who reject the Baptism of children, and say that children are saved without Baptism.”

Westminster 28.4 (4): “Not only those that do actually profess faith in and obedience unto Christ, but also the infants of one, or both, believing parents, are to be baptized.” 28.3 (4) says dipping is not necessary. 28.6 (4) says the grace promised is really exhibited and conferred, by the Holy Ghost, to those to whom that grace belongs, whether of age or infants, in God’s appointed time, and that the efficacy is not tied to the moment of administration. 28.5 (4) says not all who are baptized are undoubtedly regenerated.

Heidelberg Q&A 74CloseQ. What does the Lord require in the first commandment?
A. That I, not wanting to endanger my own salvation, avoid and shun all idolatry, sorcery, superstitious rites, and prayer to saints or to other creatures. That I rightly know the only true God, trust him alone, and look to God for every good thing humbly and patiently, and love, fear, and honor God with all my heart. In short, that I give up anything rather than go against God’s will in any way. Q. What is idolatry?
A. Idolatry is having or inventing something in which one trusts in place of or alongside of the only true God, who has revealed himself in the Word.Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 94–95 · Christian Reformed ChurchOpen source (5) asks, “Should infants also be baptized?” The answer is “Yes.” Infants as well as adults are included in God’s covenant and people, are promised deliverance from sin through Christ’s blood and the Spirit who produces faith, and by baptism, the sign of the covenant, should be incorporated into the Christian church and distinguished from the children of unbelievers. It says this was done in the Old Testament by circumcision, which baptism replaced.

The OCA essay (12) says that before baptism a person, or sponsors or godparents for that person, proclaims the Creed. “Because the godparent speaks on behalf of the child,” receives the child out of the baptismal waters, and cares for the child’s spiritual life, the godparent must be a member of the Church. The person is then immersed three times. The essay is not a synod.

Methodist Article XVII (8) retains the baptism of young children. Confession VI (9) says baptism signifies entrance into the household of faith and is a symbol of repentance and inner cleansing, a representation of the new birth, and a mark of discipleship. It then says children are under the atonement and, as heirs of the kingdom, are acceptable subjects. Children of believing parents through baptism become the special responsibility of the Church. They should be nurtured and led to personal acceptance of Christ, and by profession of faith confirm their baptism.

Anglican Article XXVII (10) says the baptism of young children “is in any wise to be retained in the Church, as most agreeable with the institution of Christ.”

What Believer’s Baptism Says

Baptist Faith and Message VII (6) says Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life. It is a testimony to faith in the final resurrection of the dead, and it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and the Lord’s Supper.

The 1689 Confession, 29.2 (7):

Those who do actually profess repentance towards God, faith in, and obedience to, our Lord Jesus Christ, are the only proper subjects of this ordinance.

The Assemblies of God (11) say the ordinance of baptism by immersion is commanded, and “All who repent and believe on Christ as Savior and Lord are to be baptized.” What Do Pentecostals Believe? is the rest of that statement, including Spirit baptism. This page does not repeat it.

What Is the Difference Between Christening and Baptism?

In the documents fetched for this page, christening is not a second sacrament. Church of England Article XXVII (10) uses “christened” for the people set apart by baptism: baptism is a sign of profession and a mark of difference, “whereby Christian men are discerned from others that be not christened,” and it is also a sign of regeneration. The Catholic paragraphs and the Methodist articles on this page say Baptism. They do not define a separate rite called christening. A Book of Common Prayer page for public baptism, fetched while this article was written, did not contain the word christening, so this page does not assign that word to a service title.

What Do Household Baptisms Say?

Acts 16:14–15Close^16:14 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. ^16:15 And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.Acts 16:14–15 · King James VersionOpen source (16) says Lydia’s heart was opened, she attended to Paul’s words, and she was baptized, and her household. Acts 16:31–33Close^16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. ^16:32 And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. ^16:33 And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.Acts 16:31–33 · King James VersionOpen source (17) has Paul and Silas tell the jailer in Philippi to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and he shall be saved, and his house. The jailer and all his were baptized the same hour. 1 Corinthians 1:16CloseAnd I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.1 Corinthians 1:16 · King James VersionOpen source (18) says Paul baptized the household of Stephanas. Acts 2:38–39Close^2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. ^2:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call.Acts 2:38–39 · King James VersionOpen source says the promise is to the hearers and to their children.

Catechism 1252 (1) reads those households as a place where infants may also have been baptized. Heidelberg Q&A 74CloseQ. What does the Lord require in the first commandment?
A. That I, not wanting to endanger my own salvation, avoid and shun all idolatry, sorcery, superstitious rites, and prayer to saints or to other creatures. That I rightly know the only true God, trust him alone, and look to God for every good thing humbly and patiently, and love, fear, and honor God with all my heart. In short, that I give up anything rather than go against God’s will in any way. Q. What is idolatry?
A. Idolatry is having or inventing something in which one trusts in place of or alongside of the only true God, who has revealed himself in the Word.Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 94–95 · Christian Reformed ChurchOpen source (5) cites Acts 16:31 beside the infant answer. The Baptist and 1689 sentences require a profession. Those verses do not print a list of ages, so both readings are claims about what “household” and “children” include. Matthew 28:19CloseGo ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:Matthew 28:19 · King James VersionOpen source (19) commands baptism in the Triune name and does not name an age.

What Early Christian Texts Say

The Didache, chapter 7 (13), says to baptize into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in living water, or in other water, or, if there is not enough to immerse, to pour water three times on the head in that name. The baptizer and the baptized are to fast, and the baptized is ordered to fast one or two days before. The chapter does not mention infants. The translation is the Ante-Nicene Fathers text on New Advent.

Tertullian, On Baptism, chapter 18 (14), prefers delay, “principally, however, in the case of little children.” He asks why sponsors should be put in danger, tells the children to come while they are growing up and learning, and says, “let them become Christians when they have become able to know Christ.” He quotes the Lord’s “Forbid them not to come unto me” and still argues for waiting. That is his treatise, not a council decree. It shows that baptizing little children was already a question he thought he had to answer.

Cyprian’s letter to Fidus (15) opens from Cyprian and the colleagues present in council, “in number sixty-six.” Fidus had said infants ought not to be baptized within the second or third day after birth, and that circumcision’s eighth day should be kept. The letter says the council thought very differently: “we all rather judge that the mercy and grace of God is not to be refused to any one born of man.” Section 6 says no one ought to be hindered from baptism and from the grace of God, and that this is to be even more observed for infants and newly born persons. The New Advent heading calls the letter “on the Baptism of Infants.” The Argument printed above the letter is the editor’s summary and is not Cyprian’s sentence.

What Happens When a Baby Is Baptized?

The churches that baptize infants do not give one account of the moment.

Catechism 1263 (2) says that by baptism all sins are forgiven, original sin and all personal sins, as well as all punishment for sin, so that nothing remains that would impede entry into the kingdom. 1264 (2) says suffering, illness, death, and the inclination to sin called concupiscence remain. 1278 (20) says the rite is immersion or pouring, with the invocation of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Westminster 28.1 (4) calls the sacrament a sign and seal of ingrafting, regeneration, and remission, and 28.5 (4) says baptism and regeneration are not the same fact for every person baptized. Methodist Confession VI (9) places a later profession of faith after the child’s baptism. The OCA essay (12) describes the godparent speaking the faith and the triple immersion as death to this world and birth in the resurrection of Christ.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Do Baptists Not Recognize Infant Baptism?

Baptist Faith and Message VII (6) requires a believer, and it calls the act a symbol of that person’s faith. The 1689 Confession (7) says professors of repentance, faith, and obedience are the only proper subjects. A baptism that does not meet that definition is not Christian baptism in those sentences. Those texts do not add a separate paragraph on how a person baptized as an infant should be received.

Which Sin Do the Catholic Paragraphs Say Baptism Removes?

Catechism 1263 (2) names original sin, all personal sins, and all punishment for sin. 1264 (2) says concupiscence remains and cannot harm those who do not consent but resist it by the grace of Jesus Christ. That is the Catechism’s pair of sentences, not a Baptist or Reformed sentence.

Is Infant Baptism the Same as Dedication?

The confessions on this page do not define a service called dedication. They either retain baptism for young children or they require a believer’s profession before the water.

The Churches on This Site

• Catholic
• Eastern Orthodox
• Lutheran
• Reformed
• Anglican
• Methodist
• Baptist
• Pentecostal
• Is Baptism Necessary for Salvation?
• Baptist vs Catholic
• Methodist vs Baptist
• Common Arguments