CHARGES

Infant Baptism is unscriptural.

BACKGROUND

Infant Baptism is the practice of baptizing infants. It usually entails pouring or sprinkling them with water instead of immersion as most evangelical churches do. It is sometimes referred to "Christening" by some faith traditions. Infant Baptism is practiced by Catholics, Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, and among Protestants, several denominations: Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Congregationalists and other Reformed denominations, Methodists, Nazarenes, and the Moravian Church.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF BAPTISM?

The biblical purpose of water baptism is symbolic gesture representing being buried with Jesus' The Apostle Paul writes:

"Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:3-11)

THE CASE AGAINST

Only Mature Individuals Are Eligible For Baptism

The Word of God is clear on this subject. Jesus said, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." (Mark 16:16). The Apostle Peter later states, "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." (Acts 2:38). From these two passages of scripture we can see that only people who have believed in Jesus, and repented of their sin are eligible to be baptized. This is a dilemma for those who believe in infant baptism because an infant isn't mature enough to make any decisions on its own, let alone something as life changing as accepting Jesus and repentance of sin. Therefore, only adults and children mature enough to make such decisions are candidates to be baptized.

Immersion is the Correct Method

Amongst various Christian denominations, there are some whose tradition is sprinkling of water and some whose tradition is immersion in water. But which method biblically is correct? If you were to look at the original Greek word that was translated into the English word "baptize", it is the Greek word "baptizō" [Strong's 907]. It means, "to make whelmed (i.e. 'fully wet')". So we can see from this definition that proper biblical water baptism is done by immersion. Let me give you an analogy. What happens when you sprinkle dirt on a dead cow? After a while it's going to stink! In order to properly bury that dead cow, you need to immerse it in the ground.

"IN THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES SHALL EVERY MATTER BE ESTABLISHED." (2 Corinthians 13:1)