F. A. Q.

F.A.Q’S:

Infant Baptism:

None of the ancient churches question the rightness of the practice of infant baptism. It was the Anabaptists of the sixteenth century who started re-baptizing those who had received infant baptism. The ‘ other’ churches reject infant baptism on several grounds- infants are not able to believe or have faith, baptism should be given only to people that have faith in Christ, Christ was baptized as an adult and therefore we must follow suit, etc. Therefore let us examine a few of these arguments in fair detail.

Q1. Is faith a pre- requisite to receive God’s blessing?

No! Faith is not a pre- requisite to receive God’s blessings. We can receive God’s blessings through the prayer and faith of others. For example, the Gospel of St. Luke records the event when St. John the Baptist leaps in his mother’s womb filled with the Holy Spirit (Lk. 1: 41). Jesus Christ blessed infants, when they were brought by their mothers who had faith in Christ (Mk 10: 13- 16).

H. G Dr. Geevarghese Mar Osthathios says, “If the infants can receive the blessing of laying of hands by the Lord, they can also receive baptismal grace of regeneration.” The theology behind this is that grace precedes faith (Eph. 2: 8) and perennial grace is a reality. The initiative is always from God. If God takes the first step in dying for us, he also takes the first step in saving through the free gift of regeneration without the precondition of faith. Our duty is only to respond and reciprocate by faith and obedient life.

Acts 2: 39 says, “ For the promise ( gift of the Holy Spirit) is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Him. Here, ‘techna’ is the word which is used in the original text which was written in Greek. Since this word is used here in the third person, it cannot include grown up people. Hence it is beyond any doubt that St. Peter says infants who cannot have faith can receive the Holy Spirit. Saying this may not be acceptable to those who reason out things. Our faith is not dependent on reason alone, but on the faith in the words and deeds of our Lord Jesus Christ. Moreover, it is not faith but the Holy Spirit who takes initiative according to St. Paul. In 1 Cor. 12: 3, he says, “… and no one can say ‘ Jesus is Lord’, except by the Holy Spirit. “

Q2. When do the children who receive baptism dedicate themselves?

As the children grow up, they are to be brought up in faith, repentance and dedication by the Church including God- parents, Sunday School teachers and the ministers of the Church. This self- dedication is done by administering the sacraments of Holy Confession and Holy Qurbana. Therefore the children must be specially prepared for this.

It is also to be noted that the teaching ministry is to be continued even after the baptism of adults.

Q3. It is argued that we must receive baptism after we become adults following the example of Jesus Christ who was baptised in his 30^th year.

This question arises only if we think that the baptism of Jesus and our baptism are the same. But they are entirely different. The baptism that Jesus took was not the one that was being given to sinners by St. John the Baptist. Jesus was the Son of God and without sin and guilt. Then why would he undertake a baptism for the remission of sins?

Since Christian baptism is different from the baptism given by John the Baptist, those who had received the baptism of John were given Christian baptism, as we find in the Acts of the Apostles 19: 1-8. Here twelve (12) people were given Christian Baptism at Ephesus. Hence we need not wait for adulthood to get baptised in order to follow the model of Jesus Christ.

Q4. What is Christian Baptism?

The baptism given by John and Christian baptism are different in the following respects:

(1) Christian Baptism is given in the name of the Holy Trinity.

(2) Christian Baptism is a baptism of re- birth through the Holy Spirit.

Q5. Then why, did Jesus not ask his disciples to baptise infants?

The Jewish practice of circumcision is enough evidence to prove that children could receive the blessings of God owing to the faith if the parents. Moreover Jesus blessed the children saying, “ Let the children come to me, do not hinder them, for to such belongs the Kingdom of God”.

Moreover there is no special command or instruction to the disciples not to baptise children. If Jesus was against infant baptism, he certainly would have given instructions against the practice.

Q6. Were infants baptised in the early Church?

Yes! Sometimes entire house holds were baptised. Eg:

(1) Lydia and her household (Acts 16: 15)

(2) The jailor and his family (Acts. 16. 33)

(3) Chrispus and his family (Acts 18: 8)

(4) Stephanos and his family ( 1 Cor. 1: 16)

The very fact that St. John in his epistle addresses three groups of people- children, fathers and young men (1 Jn. 2: 12- 14) confirms the fact that children were members of the early church and that children received forgiveness for sins. And drawing from the biblical examples given above we can safely infer that whole families, which naturally included children were baptised. It is also to be mentioned that there is no incident where any infant baptism was denied or postponed.

Hence we can conclude that infant baptism was accepted by Christ and his Apostles and practised in the early church. More importantly, we must accept the fact that 0- 3 years are the most formative and important for a child’s mental and psychological growth. Hence, infants should be given spiritual blessings like forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Also baptism is only once. Eph. 4: 5 says, “ One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism”. If we repeat baptism, it is a disgrace to the teachings of our Lord and the Church.

Compiled by Jacob Anish Varghese.

Select Bibliography:

A Basic Text Book on Orthodox Faith: Rev. Fr. Dr. Mathew Vaidyan

40 Questions Answered: H. G. Dr. Geevarghese Mar Osthathios

We Believe: Rev. Fr. Sam Oommen Panackamattam