Yemi Olakitan
Infant baptism, the practice of baptising infants is unarguably
a controversial issue in Christendom. While many orthodox churches practise it,
the Pentecostals have rejected it, preferring to baptise older people.Yemi
Olakitan examines the subject.
According to the encyclopedia Britannica, Baptism is a sacrament
of admission into the Christian church. It involves immersion or sprinkling of
water in the case of infants, with the invocation; ‘I baptize you in the name
of the father and of the son and the Holy Ghost.’ This practice is popular with
the Catholic Church as well as other orthodox churches but very unpopular with
Pentecostals, Protestants, The Jehovah’s witnesses and the Seventh Day
Adventist among others.
In a chat with Pastor Emmanuel Onoja of Hope of Life Evangelical
Church, he said, Baptism is for adults and older children, because it is to be
administered only after one is “born again,” after one has “accepted Jesus
Christ as his personal Lord and Saviour.”
“When the adult becomes a Christian, and his salvation is
assured; when he is born again and thereafter, Baptism follows. This is because
babies cannot reason in the word of God,” he added.
In another chat with Elder Ogunjobi of the Redeemed Christian
Church of God, he said, “baptism is a public manifestation of the person’s
conversion. Since only an adult or older child can be converted, baptism is
inappropriate for infants or for children who have not yet reached the age of
reasoning.
“Parents and Guardians make decisions for children, a child can
grow up and decide that he does not want to be a Christian or he wants to be a
Christian. Therefore, what is the point in baptizing them,? he asked
Deaconess Shola Abimbola of the Global Church of the Living God,
Lagos, also opined that infants are incapable of being baptized.
“A person is baptized when they have reached the age of reason
and have been taught the word of God and they have accepted it and believed in
the name and sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. Since infants are not old enough to
do this, they cannot be qualified for baptism,” she said.
The Catholic Church in a statement says that it is a sacrament
which accomplishes several things, the first of which is the remission of sin,
both original sin and actual sin—only original sin in the case of infants and
young children, since they are incapable of actual sin; and both original and
actual sin in the case of older persons.
Apostle Peter explained said, “Repent, and be baptized every one
of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you
shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). But he did not restrict
this teaching to adults. He added, “For the promise is to you and to your
children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to
him” (2:39). We also read: “Rise and be baptized, and wash away your sins,
calling on his name” (Acts 22:16). These commands are universal, not restricted
to adults.
Further, these commands make clear the necessary connection
between baptism and salvation, a connection explicitly stated in 1 Peter 3:21:
“Baptism . . . now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an
appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus
Christ.”
The Catholic Church has also held that Christ’s law applies to
infants as well as adults, for Jesus said that no one can enter heaven unless
he has been born again of water and the Holy Spirit (John 3:5). His words can
be taken to apply to anyone capable of belonging to his kingdom. He asserted
such even for children: “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them;
for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 19:14).
A member of the Jehovah’s Witness, (name withheld) while
speaking on the subject of Infant Baptism said, ‘‘one need to have accurate
knowledge of the Bible before one can become baptized as a member of the
Jehovah’s Witness. Infants do not have such ability and are therefore not
qualified for baptism”.
According to him, only a person who has studied the Bible and
come to a decision to follow Jehovah should be baptized.’’
In another chat with Ayinde Stephens, a member of the Catholic
Church, he quoted, ‘the book of Luke which states, “Now they were bringing even
infants to him that he might touch them; and when the disciples saw it, they
rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him, saying, ‘Let the children come to
me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God’” (Luke 18:15–16).
Jesus said: “to such as these belongs the kingdom of heaven.” The Lord did not
require them to make a conscious decision. He says that they are the kind of
people who can come to him and receive the kingdom. So on what basis can
infants and young children be excluded from baptism? If Jesus said “let them
come unto me,” who are we to say “no,” and refuse to baptize them,? he asked.
Speaking further Stephens said: “Apostle Paul wrote that baptism
has replaced circumcision (Col. 2:11–12). He refers to baptism as “the
circumcision of Christ” and “the circumcision made without hands.” Only infants
were circumcised under the Old Law; circumcision of adults was rare, since
there were few converts to Judaism. If Paul meant to exclude infants, he would
not have chosen circumcision as a parallel for baptism.
‘In the Old Testament, if a man wanted to become a Jew, he had
to be circumcised. In the New Testament, if one wants to become a Christian,
one must be baptized. In the Old Testament, those born into Jewish households
could be circumcised in anticipation of the Jewish faith in which they would be
raised. Thus in the New Testament, those born in Christian families can be
baptized with the hope of the Christian faith in which they will be raised’’.
Elder Ajibola Theophilus of the United African Methodist Church
said: ‘‘The Bible did not say baptism is to be restricted to adults; the people
whose baptisms we read about in Scripture are adults, because they were
converted as adults. This makes sense, because Christianity was just
beginning—there were no people brought up from childhood in Christian homes.’’
In the New Testament, we read that Lydia was converted by Paul’s
preaching and that “She was baptized with her household” (Acts 16:15). The
Philippian jailer whom Paul and Silas had converted to the faith was baptized
that night along with his household. We are told that “the same hour of the
night . . . he was baptized, with all his family” (Acts 16:33). And in his
greetings to the Corinthians, Paul recalled that, “I did baptize also the
household of Stephanas” (1 Cor. 1:16). In all these cases, whole households or
families were baptized. This means more than just the spouse; the children too
were included. If the text of Acts referred simply to the Philippian jailer and
his wife, then we would read that “he and his wife were baptized,” but we do
not. Thus his children must have been baptized as well. The same applies to the
other cases of household baptism in Scripture.’’
‘‘Granted, we do not know the exact age of the children; they
may have been past the age of reason, rather than infants. Then again, they
could have been babes in arms. More probably, there were both younger and older
children. Certainly there were children younger than the age of reason in some
of the households that were baptized.
Furthermore, given the New Testament pattern of household
baptism, if there were to be exceptions to this rule (such as infants), they
would be explicit. Why do we have no record of the Apostles condemning infant
baptism, if it was not practiced by the first believers?’’
Methodists contend that infant baptism has spiritual value for
the infant. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, held that baptism is a means
of grace, but it was symbolic. Methodists view baptism in water as symbolic.
However, Pastor Akereja of Christ Lights Assembly, Lagos, opined
that whether one is baptized as an adult or as an infant does not really matter
to God. According to him, the important thing is that one is baptized.
“It is a symbolic activity of one’s acceptance of the goodness
of the Gospel and the sacrifice that was made by Jesus Christ for all humanity.
No-one is excluded whether one is a baby or an elder. Look, the most important
message of our Lord Jesus is not even baptism, it is love.”
He said, we should love our neighbours as ourselves and love God
with all our hearts. If you love your neighbour, you will not do anything to
harm him. I think Christians should focus more on the message of love because
that is the true heart and soul of Christianity,” he counselled.
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