Infant Baptism

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I need some quick help in supporting the Church belief in Infant Baptism based in scripture. A family member baptised as an infant is now looking to be re baptised in a fundamentalist church. She was raised Catholic but left the church with her mother when she was very young and is now a teenager.
 
[BIBLEDRB]Luke 18:16[/BIBLEDRB]

How do we bring Children to Christ? Through Baptism!

[BIBLEDRB]1 Corinthians 1:16[/BIBLEDRB]

Paul baptized the household. Infants TO Grandmothers were baptized.

They [Fundamentalist] will state a verse that refers to Philip being baptized (Or someone) once they accepted the Gospel. Well reply that since one was able to understand, one must accept. But infants were baptized on the faith and promise of their parents to be raised Catholic.

Hope this clears stuff up. I’m pretty sure more apologist can help you more than I can. 😉

Also tell them the Early Church Fathers supported 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]).

AND MORE!
 
This is the best I can do for you at the moment, pay special attention to 1252 and the scriptures noted (as they refer to the household, which would include infants).

Infant Baptism removes original sin and introduces us to the Christian life.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church: scborromeo.org/ccc/p2s2c1a1.htm

THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM

1213 Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua),4 and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: "Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word."5

The Baptism of infants

1250 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.50 The sheer gratuitousness of the grace of salvation is particularly manifest in infant Baptism. The Church and the parents would deny a child the priceless grace of becoming a child of God were they not to confer Baptism shortly after birth.51

1251 Christian parents will recognize that this practice also accords with their role as nurturers of the life that God has entrusted to them.52

1252 The practice of infant Baptism is an immemorial tradition of the Church. There is explicit testimony to this practice from the second century on, and it is quite possible that, from the beginning of the apostolic preaching, when whole “households” received baptism, infants may also have been baptized. (Acts 16:15,33; Acts 18:8; 1 Corinthians 1:16)

VI. THE NECESSITY OF BAPTISM

1257 The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation.60 He also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them.61 Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament.62 The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are “reborn of water and the Spirit.” God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments.

1258 The Church has always held the firm conviction that those who suffer death for the sake of the faith without having received Baptism are baptized by their death for and with Christ. This Baptism of blood, like the desire for Baptism, brings about the fruits of Baptism without being a sacrament.

1259 For catechumens who die before their Baptism, their explicit desire to receive it, together with repentance for their sins, and charity, assures them the salvation that they were not able to receive through the sacrament.

1260 "Since Christ died for all, and since all men are in fact called to one and the same destiny, which is divine, we must hold that the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of being made partakers, in a way known to God, of the Paschal mystery."63 Every man who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of his Church, but seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it, can be saved. It may be supposed that such persons would have desired Baptism explicitly if they had known its necessity.

1261 As regards children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. Indeed, the great mercy of God who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus’ tenderness toward children which caused him to say: "Let the children come to me, do not hinder them,"64 allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without Baptism. All the more urgent is the Church’s call not to prevent little children coming to Christ through the gift of holy Baptism.

VII. THE GRACE OF BAPTISM

1262 The different effects of Baptism are signified by the perceptible elements of the sacramental rite. Immersion in water symbolizes not only death and purification, but also regeneration and renewal. Thus the two principal effects are purification from sins and new birth in the Holy Spirit.65

1267 Baptism makes us members of the Body of Christ: "Therefore . . . we are members one of another."72 Baptism incorporates us into the Church. From the baptismal fonts is born the one People of God of the New Covenant, which transcends all the natural or human limits of nations, cultures, races, and sexes: "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body."73
 
I need some quick help in supporting the Church belief in Infant Baptism based in scripture. A family member baptised as an infant is now looking to be re baptised in a fundamentalist church. She was raised Catholic but left the church with her mother when she was very young and is now a teenager.
Check out: scripturecatholic.com/baptism.html

I personally found it helpful to look at the Jewish practice of circumcision.

There were 2 different processes, logically based on age.

BEFORE the person was an adult - Parents had them circumcised into God’s covenant.
AFTER adulthood - because one is an adult, it makes sense that one has faith FIRST and THEN is circumcised into the faith. Because as an adult… we must come to faith FIRST.

Logically if we look at the NT, we see the beginning of the faith… so most converts would logically be adults.

What we DO see are that entire HOUSEHOLDS would be baptized into the faith when the head of that household (the father) had faith and converted.
Since the bible makes it clear that entire households were baptized… then we know that children were baptized, even adult wives, often times BEFORE they had fully come into the faith…
There is even possible that infants were part of those households at least in some circumstances.

So no where do we see the Apostles EXCLUDING children from that process until they are adults or come to the faith on their own.

But what most don’t realize is that we are still looking at the first generations of Christianity, so it still makes sense that people believe and THEN are baptized.

What we need to do THEN… to test this interpretation is to see what the NEXT generation of Christians did. Did THEY have the same interpretation of as modern non-Catholic Christians or fundamentalists? – NO, we see NO evidence that the next generation only baptized adults or those who believed FIRST. Instead, we see evidence and records of infants being baptized as a way to wash away origin sin and enter them into the new covenant, making them children of God.

Add to this the countless verses that link Baptism AND salvation… and baptism being the beginning of the faith. scripturecatholic.com/baptism.html
 
I need some quick help in supporting the Church belief in Infant Baptism based in scripture. A family member baptised as an infant is now looking to be re baptised in a fundamentalist church. She was raised Catholic but left the church with her mother when she was very young and is now a teenager.
They’re “shooting blanks”:
1280 Baptism imprints on the soul an indelible spiritual sign, the character, which consecrates the baptized person for Christian worship. Because of the character Baptism cannot be repeated (cf. DS 1609 and DS 1624).
Also, one can no longer “leave the Church”:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actus_formalis_defectionis_ab_Ecclesia_catholica
 
Catholic Answers has several short tracts concerning Baptism, including this one specifically about infant Baptism.

Perhaps the best detailed defense of infant Baptism (aka paedobaptism) was actually written by John Calvin (one of the guys who first invented protestantism, and the spiritual forefather of (among others) Presbyterians, Methodists, Mennonites, and the Assemblies of God). I refer you to this essay (Chapter 16 of Book-4 of the Institutes of Christian Religion).
 
I need some quick help in supporting the Church belief in Infant Baptism based in scripture. A family member baptised as an infant is now looking to be re baptised in a fundamentalist church. She was raised Catholic but left the church with her mother when she was very young and is now a teenager.
First you have to ask is what happens when one is baptized. If one agrees that one receives the Holy Spirit at baptism, then point them no further to Luke’s account of St. John the Baptist receiving the Holy Spirit in the womb of St. Elizabeth. Sure, he was not baptized in the sense we are baptized today, but the fact that an infant (and one in the womb at that) receives the Holy Spirit, it holds Biblical support for infantrs receiving baptism.
 
I need some quick help in supporting the Church belief in Infant Baptism based in scripture. A family member baptized as an infant is now looking to be re baptized in a fundamentalist church. She was raised Catholic but left the church with her mother when she was very young and is now a teenager.
This should help. The Case For Infant Baptism
 
But Peter said to them: Do penance, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins: and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all that are far off, whomsoever the Lord our God shall call. [Acts 2:38-39]
 
I need some quick help in supporting the Church belief in Infant Baptism based in scripture.
Couple quick additional things I didn’t see in skimming the thread (although I did not check every link, so I’m sorry if this is pointed out somewhere).

Scripture says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, except for the babies.” (Matt. 28:19

WAIT! Just kidding. That last part isn’t in the text. The verse really just says: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matt. 28:19) :o

Also, baptism is pre-figured in several places in the Old Testament. Peter says the story of Noah and the flood is a figure of baptism (1 Pet 3:18-21). Another example is when Paul cites the crossing of the Red Sea: *1 Corinthians 10:1-2 I want you to know, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.*Moses, of course, is the prefigurement of Christ, leading his people from earthly slavery. In the NT, of course, Jesus leads his people from spiritual slavery to sin. But in the crossing of the Red Sea, did the elders say, “Wait! Leave the children in slavery with Pharoah. Only the adults may cross!” Of course not. Thus, this is just one way we can see that denying the children baptism does violence to the baptismal type of the Red Sea that Paul cites in 1 Corinthians 10.
 
I need some quick help in supporting the Church belief in Infant Baptism based in scripture. A family member baptised as an infant is now looking to be re baptised in a fundamentalist church.
All of the answers above are great and very in-depth. I find particularly relevant the comparisons with the brit milah of the Old Testament.

Also remember that Christianity professes, as expressed in the Creed for almost 17 centuries, one baptism for the forgiveness of sins (Confíteor unum baptisma in remissionem peccatorum.)
 
Ive never understood how a person can be baptized without their concent, I child has no clue what is going on, let alone be dedicated to jesus or even know who he is.
 
A child has no clue what is going on, let alone be dedicated to Jesus or even know who he is.
We don’t hold that against them.

Jews are circumcised at the age of eight days (with the expectation that they will be raised in the Jewish faith). Baptism is the new circumcision (and does not exclude girls).
 
Ive never understood how a person can be baptized without their concent, I child has no clue what is going on, let alone be dedicated to jesus or even know who he is.
While I am in support of infant Baptism according to the rules of the Church, I cannot understand why people try to hold other people accountable for decisions they clearly didn’t make and to something to which they did not give their consent. To whine about noncompliance and disobedience to something a person never agreed to is kind of useless… the same for insisting another person is beholden to something they never consented to. Of course, it doesn’t matter, because they will make their own decisions regardless of what others think, but still…it’s all strange to me. :confused:
 
We don’t hold that against them.

Jews are circumcised at the age of eight days (with the expectation that they will be raised in the Jewish faith). Baptism is the new circumcision (and does not exclude girls).
But the child has no choice, nor understanding. One cannot make such an incredibly important commitment if the don’t know what’s happening, nor can someone make it for you. I was baptized long years before my oldest memories, and it had no meaning to me because I hadn’t chosen nor do I remember.
 
But the child has no choice, nor understanding. One cannot make such an incredibly important commitment if the don’t know what’s happening, nor can someone make it for you. I was baptized long years before my oldest memories, and it had no meaning to me because I hadn’t chosen nor do I remember.
First, read my post about St. John the Baptist receiving the Holy Spirit in the womb.

Second, baptism isn’t merely a commitment. In fact, it is not a commitment at all.
 
👍

Baptism is a gift, not a commitment.
Ok, that would make more sense from the child standpoint, but baptism is still considered an initiation, so what if that person grows up to be a person who dosn’t want to be Christian. They have been initiated into a religion they don’t beleave against their will.
 
In Luke 5:18-26, the paralytic’s friends lowered the man through the ceiling on his mat. Jesus saw the faith of the man’s friends, and told him “Your sins are forgiven” There is not a hint that the man himself had any faith - only his friends. It is this biblical principle that also applies to parents having their children baptized.
 
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