Infant Baptism: The Practice of the First Century Church Part Two

 

                                                                     Introduction: 

In the previous post, I discussed the rite of circumcision in the Old Testament. I explained that this rite was essential for Hebrew children being members of the covenant community. Additionally, I elaborated on how gentile adults had to receive physical circumcision in order to be accepted into the Israelite family. The continuity between Old Testament Circumcision and New Testament Baptism is something that I shall again return to. For now, though, my focus shall be on infant Baptism in the gospels. Of primary focus in this post, is my attempt to prove historically that infant Baptism was not unknown in the early first century. Likewise, I wish to demonstrate that this practice would not have been unknown to the apostles themselves.

                                                 Gleams of Infant Baptism in the Gospels

It is a common argument by credobaptists that children should not be forced into Christianity by their parents baptizing them. They assert that children should come to faith in God on their own without their parents bringing them into some sort of ceremony. However, this concept is simply not Biblical in light of Jesus's ministry. 

In Mark 10: 13-15, people bring children to Jesus so that He will bless them. Never does the passage insinuate that the adults had to ask their children for permission to bring them to Jesus. No, indeed, the parents wanted what was best for the children. For those who say that children should be older before they receive the blessings of Christ (including holy baptism), we should learn from the wisdom of a Greek Orthodox priest who once said that in this case, we should also wait to feed children food only once they ask for it. Certainly, spiritual food is of much greater significance than physical food, and given the fact that Baptism confers grace (1 Peter 3: 21, Acts 1: 5 Acts 2: 38), parents actually have a moral obligation to give their children what is right and good for them. Many today have no issue raising their child from a young age with knowledge of sports, movies, and music---but they find complete objections to raising a child to promote it to accept the things of God (Deuteronomy 6: 7, Proverbs 22: 6). 

Luke 18: 15-17 gives a strong indication that Jesus likely supported infant baptism. The passage tells us that as children were brought to Him for blessings (the children didn't bring themselves), the apostles attempted to keep them away until Jesus insisted that the Kingdom of God was for them. Those credobaptists who argue against this by quoting Jesus ''Let the children come to me'' are missing the point. They falsely understand this to mean that children should simply come to water Baptism on their own faith. However, the beginning of the mentioned passage has already explained otherwise when it says, ''now they were bringing even infants to Him...'' While Luke 18: 15-17 does not explicitly speak of baptism, the passage does show that Jesus did not withhold those at a young age from His blessings even if they were too young to understand them. 

Many of the credobaptists point to the ministry of John the Baptist as evidence against infant baptism. They assert that he rejected the baptism of young children because he baptized people based only on repentance and did not baptize children for the purpose of them being part of the covenantal community (a subject that will be discussed in a later post). However, before we discuss John the Baptist's relation to Baptism, let us discuss the origins of the Essenes, with which, he was associated. 

Josephus reports that there were three sects of Judaism at the time of the first century (Sadducees, Pharisees, and Essenes. (The Antiquities of the Jews, Book 13, Chapter Five, Verse Nine). He claims that the Essenes were strong believers in fate. Likewise, elsewhere, Josephus discussed how the Essenes refrained from anointing themselves with oil and how they had a strong interest in reading sacred writings. No doubt, humility seemed to have been a strong character throughout their ranks.  

Now, to return to the subject of John the Baptist's relationship to Baptism, it should be noted that even if he did not infant baptize, this in no way disproves the valid and orthodox practice of baptizing young children. Actually, Luke 1: 41 speaks of him being full of the Holy Spirit even before his birth. Those who strike against the doctrine of infant baptism by claiming that infants cannot believe are contradicting themselves with the scripture in the mentioned passage. Furthermore, even if we conceded that John the Baptist was born with a unique faith that other infants aren't (which scripture never claims), this does not mean that his baptism of believers in the Jordan River attests against any other Baptism. For instance, in Luke 3: 13, he testifies to his Baptism being different than the coming one that will later be known to the apostles at Pentecost (Acts 8: 16). In short, it is quite the assumption on the part of our credobaptist friends (who first of all assume that John the Baptist didn't infant baptize) for them to think of his baptism as interchangeable with the one that shall define the church in Acts. Scripture, however, portrays a quite different picture. The baptism that John the Baptist practiced was strongly distinct from the Baptism that was yet to come. 

As a side note, according to the Anglican theologian, J. I. Packer, baptism did not originate with Christianity. The Jews, he claims, had long practiced it as purification for Gentiles who joined the Hebrew community (Packer, 163). More on this, later. 

Over the forthcoming posts, I will continue to rebuttal objections by credobaptists against infant baptism. My work on this topic has only just now begun. My next post will be on infant baptism in the Book of Acts. 

Further Sources: 

The Works of Josephus. (1987). Hendrickson Publishers. 

Packer, J. I. The New Testament and Its World. (1982). Thomas Nelson Inc. Publishers.