Did Constantine "order" infant baptism?

[Hawkmaid]

A friend of mine (Baptist) said that he heard somewhere that the only reason we have infant baptism is because Emperor Constantine made it a law. My friend says this was because the Emperor could tax those baptized, so therefore he wanted more baptisms to take place. I already know why the Church actually does it, but I want to know; did such a law exist?

 

[Fr.Charles_Grondin]

If that is your friend’s claim then he needs to back it up. Who did Constantine order Christian baptism for? It surely was not the general population since Constantine did not make Christianity the official religion of the empire, he merely legalized it. And if he wanted to promote Christianity in any way over paganism why would he only tax Christians? I am unaware of any evidence that Constantine order any such thing.

Before Constantine, Christian writers made reference to infant baptism:

• Hippolytus: “Baptize first the children, and if they can speak for themselves let them do so. Otherwise, let their parents or other relatives speak for them” (The Apostolic Tradition 21:16 [A.D. 215]).
• Origen: “according to the usage of the Church, baptism is given even to infants” (Holilies on Leviticus, 8:3:11 [A.D. 244])
• The Council of Carthage, in 253, condemned the opinion that baptism should be withheld from infants until the eighth day after birth.
• Cyprian of Carthage: “If, in the case of the worst sinners and those who formerly sinned much against God, when afterwards they believe, the remission of their sins is granted and no one is held back from baptism and grace, how much more, then, should an infant not be held back…” (Letters 64:5 [A.D. 253])