Infant Baptism and Adult/Young child Baptism

Baptism does not guarantee salvation, so baptizing an infant is not believed to do that. As for the effectiveness of the sacrament, it is God's sacrament operating on us and for us; it is not something we do in order to please him. And the infant who is baptized must still make a commitment to Christ at a later time.

In that respect Baptism like an immunization (or other medical procedures that are done on small children). You believe in immunizing young children against various diseases, I assume.

But they don't know what immunization is all about. Can the shot or surgery possibly do them any good, then?

Baptism, whether done as a child or as an adult, marks the formal entrance of the person into the life of the Church. This is why in all Eastern Christian traditions we baptize and commune infants, as they are considered to be full members of the Church same as any person. It is not a matter of their salvation as a status (we instead would say that we are all being saved; cf. 2 Corinthians 2:15), nor of their mental capacity to ascertain the meaning of receiving the mysteries/sacraments.

Of course not all Christians have this same stance, with some preferring that the child reach some level of knowledge and understanding before choosing of their own free will to get baptized, which I wouldn't speak out against on that account except to say that if you are a Christian parent or guardian it has been tradition throughout all Christianity that you should raise any child you have in the faith. This goes back to the OT, wherein we are advised "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will depart from it." (Proverbs 22:6) In light of this, for those who practice it infant baptism is nothing other than the following this good counsel.

Oh. Sorry for misunderstanding you.

No, being baptized (whether as an infant or an adult) is not equal to being saved. Again, baptism is the formal entrance into the Church, so it's more like the first step, not the last. You still have to live rightly and do all of the things that a Christian must do in order to run the race until the end.

Do some churches believe that infant baptism = that they are saved if they baptised.


No. But that assumes that the child lives on.

If, hypothetically, an infant were to be baptized and then die within minutes or days, the church has always assumed that they would be received into the loving arms of God.

I've honestly never heard of any churches that say that. Do you have any examples in mind? I don't mean to sound like I'm doubting you, I just don't know about things that I've never seen or read anywhere.

PrincessofGod18 said:

Ok so why do some churches do infant baptism because why don't they wait until they getting older or just have a dedication. what is the meaning behind infant baptism?

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The meaning behind all baptism is the same: the spiritual rebirth of the person into the Church/the body of Christ.

As to why we do not wait until they are older, it is the same as any other reason that a parent would be responsible right away to their child: this is what they need to live (cf. John 3). The spiritual food allows us all to enter heaven. And so just as we feed them actual food to nourish their bodies, we also feed them the Word to nourish their spirits. And if they do not understand (whether they are young or old), we do not withhold food from them on that account, but continue to feed them because that's simply what good parents do.

If you want your child to live, you don't leave it up to them whether or not they want to eat. In time, if they want to reject it they will, in the same way that nobody can stop a grown adult from having a can of cake frosting for dinner every night. In the end everyone is responsible for their own choices and their own journey, but baptism makes sure they are at least starting out on the right path.

Hello everyone, I want your opinion. My child is 6 months old, I thought about infant baptism. But my husband and I have a difference of opinion. He thinks it's too early and it's better to leave him alone, wait until his adulthood to make this decision of his own. So, not to impose my vision and my faith. Give him the chance to realize whether he wants to enter the church or not. What do you think?

First, it appears that your husband is voicing an opinion that is not part of the usual debate--infant baptism vs. believers baptism--but instead is expressing a version of the POV that many people adopt, quite apart from taking sides on that controversy.

I refer to the idea that the child should not be saddled with the parents religion but should be allowed to grow up and then choose one for himself.

In practice, this amounts to raising him without a strong personal faith, and the most common outcome is that he will not be especially motivated to start fresh as an older person and actually choose one. What's more, it is very difficult to split the difference somehow, raising him to value the faith but treating him as a provisional adherent or apprentice of some sort.

It is possible, of course, that he will seek out a faith for himself or choose a denomination carefully later on, but the odds are longer that way. In my view, it is better to baptize him, raise him in the faith, be fair-minded when speaking to him about other Christian churches, and then if he chooses to switch churches (as many people do) as an older person, he is coming at it with a solid grounding in the faith needing only to refine some of the particulars.

When a child is baptized, in the churches which do this, the parents promise to raise him in the faith. The idea that the baptism suggests that he is left on his own is mistaken.

And aside from the presumed spiritual benefits connected with baptism which have gotten a lot of play in this thread, being baptized also signifies that the person is part of the family of Christ. And he actually is counted for membership purposes. Not so in the other kind of Christian church.

That is something that I wanted my children to know as they were being instructed in the faith and participating in church youth activities, etc. over the course of their growing-up years.

My husband and I chose to delay our children's baptism until they could choose it for themselves and say their own vows -- a legacy of our Baptist upbringing -- but I agree with Albion's overall analysis. We most definitely did raise our children in our Christian faith.

Is your husband just proposing delaying baptism, or is he proposing that you postpone all religious education until the children are older? Does he share your Christian faith, or do you have an interfaith marriage?

This video about religious practice and belief may be interesting to consider when thinking about situations like this one:


I think this may be one of those areas where there is a distinct difference in what being a member of a religion even means depending on what particular Church you belong to, so I'll refrain from further comment other than to say it makes me really happy to see the Syriac Orthodox Christians featured on a relatively high-profile religion-themed YouTube channel.

PrincessofGod18 said:

I have noticed some churches have infant baptism.

I find infant baptism leading people away from Christ. Because a lot people think oh i have been baptised as a infant "i am christian". which is not right.

I believe in only adult or young child baptism, Why, because i believe a infant doesn't have a understanding and knowledge to have a relationship with God yet. And once you adult or young child you do have that understanding and knowledge, but not a infant. Baptism is a step of faith and growing with a relationship with God, not to be saved.

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This is the "Christian Advice" forum? What advice were you looking for?

My advice would be for you to reconsider infant baptism.

PrincessofGod18 said:

What i getting to
Do some churches believe that infant baptism = that they are saved if they baptised.

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Yes, some churches do believe that.

PloverWing said:

Is your husband just proposing delaying baptism, or is he proposing that you postpone all religious education until the children are older? Does he share your Christian faith, or do you have an interfaith marriage?

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We have the same faith, both Christians. And he wants to postpone all religious education. To give the kid a choice, even if he likes another religion more and in the end choose it.