Acts 2:38-41
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. 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. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
The church’s first baptisms serve both sides. Those who baptize infants read in “to your children” that the promise reaches the family, as in the covenant with Abraham; those who baptize only believers stress the order — repent, then be baptized — and verse 41: those who received the word were baptized.
Read the chapter →Acts 16:30-34
And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.
The Philippian jailer was baptized, “he and all his”, like Lydia and her household (Acts 16:15) and the household of Stephanas (1 Corinthians 1:16). Those who baptize infants ask whether a whole household had no children in it; those who baptize only believers note that the word was spoken to everyone in the house and that the household believed (verses 32 and 34). The text names no infant and excludes none.
Read the chapter →Colossians 2:11-12
In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
Paul connects circumcision — the covenant sign given to boys on the eighth day (Genesis 17:12) — with baptism. For those who baptize infants, baptism is the covenant sign in place of circumcision and belongs to children too; for those who baptize only believers, Christ’s circumcision is “made without hands”, and verse 12 speaks of rising “through the faith”.
Read the chapter →Acts 8:36-38
And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.
The eunuch hears the gospel, asks for baptism and is baptized on the spot: the model for those who baptize only believers. Verse 37, the confession of faith, is missing from many ancient manuscripts and several Bibles place it in a footnote; even without it, baptism follows hearing the gospel and asking for it.
Read the chapter →Mark 16:16
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Those who baptize only believers see here the order believe, then be baptized. Those who baptize infants answer that the text speaks of adults hearing the preaching, and that condemnation falls on not believing, not on not being baptized. The ending of Mark (16:9-20) is also missing from the oldest manuscripts, though most Bibles keep it; the same order appears in Acts 18:8.
Read the chapter →Romans 6:3-4
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
What baptism means: being united with Christ in his death and resurrection, to walk in “newness of life”. Those who baptize only believers see in the burial imagery the immersion of someone who has already chosen that new life; those who baptize infants see in it above all an act of God, which the child will be called to embrace by faith as they grow.
Read the chapter →Mark 10:13-16
And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.
Jesus did not baptize the children: he took them in his arms and blessed them. Both sides quote “Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not” — some to argue against withholding baptism from them, others as the basis for dedicating children, which also recalls Jesus being presented in the temple (Luke 2:22).
Read the chapter →Where churches differ
Catholics and Orthodox baptize infants and see baptism as a new birth that unites the child to Christ — for Catholics, it washes away original sin; Lutherans also see it as an act of God that creates faith; Presbyterians and other Reformed churches see it as the sign of the covenant that includes believers’ children, as circumcision was. Baptists, Pentecostals and most nondenominational churches reserve baptism for those who profess faith, usually by immersion, and dedicate children to God. Infant baptism already appears in Christian writings of the early third century, alongside voices that questioned it, and believer’s baptism gained strength in the sixteenth-century Reformation, with the Anabaptists and later the Baptists. Both sides confess the same Christ: the disagreement is about who receives the sign, and when.
Frequently asked questions
- Is infant baptism biblical?
- It depends on how the whole Bible is read. Those who baptize infants rely on the covenant that includes children (Genesis 17; Acts 2:39) and on the baptisms of entire households; those who do not rely on the accounts where baptism follows hearing and believing. Both sides take the Bible seriously and reach different conclusions.
- If I was baptized as a baby, do I need to be baptized again?
- Churches answer differently. Those that baptize infants consider that baptism valid and do not repeat it: the person owns the faith at confirmation or a profession of faith. Those that baptize only believers usually ask for baptism after conversion, since they do not see the first as a response of faith. It is worth talking with the leaders of the church you attend.
- What is a baby dedication?
- It is the practice of churches that do not baptize infants: parents bring their child before the church, give thanks, commit to raising the child in the faith, and the church prays. It draws on Jesus being presented in the temple (Luke 2:22), Hannah giving Samuel to the Lord (1 Samuel 1:27-28) and Jesus blessing the children (Mark 10:16).
- Do babies who die without baptism go to heaven?
- The Bible does not answer this directly. Many Christians find comfort in David, who said of his infant son who had died: “I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me” (2 Samuel 12:23). The Catholic Church entrusts these children to God’s mercy, with hope, and most evangelical churches believe they are with God.
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