of Alexandria, Theodotus and others, that states emphatically that aborted of Peter from the 2nd century, that is quoted by Clement Here is refers to infant baptism. "[According to] apostolic tradition . Do Humans Have Free Will? In our council it seemed to us far otherwise. I only listened to the 2:30 snippet. [W]hoever says that infants fresh from their mothers wombs ought not to be baptized, or say that they are indeed baptized unto the remission of sins, but that they draw nothing of the original sin of Adam, which is expiated in the bath of regeneration . regeneration or not, it is undeniable that personal faith is the active If there were nothing in infants which required the remission of sins and nothing in them pertinent to . addition to these, we have a frequently cited text from the Apocalypse him that asketh". Are we then to expect that this was the apostolic practice, observed Do you fear the seal [of baptism] because of the weakness of nature? Were they damned because of Adams guilt? suggest that the baptism should be done on the eighth day, as was the Since what the apostle [Paul] says, Through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so passed to all men, in whom all have sinned [Rom. me". . controversies that raged over baptism and rebaptism stand out as the be baptized until he was on his deathbed. . little children to come unto me, and forbid them not." 1 The term "paedobaptist" derives from the Greek pais, meaning child or infant. of the water, but from the agency of faith and public profession of Tertullian of Carthage [1] played a primary role in representing the traditional practice of baptism in the late second and third century church. several Protestant bodies (ie. . Philip answered, "If you believe with your whole heart, it is 200) and there Tertullian rejects the practice on the grounds that very young children are not yet "competent to know Christ" and are innocent of culpable sin. Apostolic Constitutions (ca. The historical evidence shows that infant baptism was regularly practiced from at least the 3rd or 4th century until the present day. For He says "Suffer the burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The thief . An infant cannot believe therefore an infant is damned. Culturally, there was also the 1, ed. salvation was joined to the reception of the sacraments. What the universal Church holds, not as instituted [invented] by councils but as something always held, is most correctly believed to have been handed down by apostolic authority. . He agreed with certain of his fellow bishops that a child is able to be duly baptized as soon as he is born (Letters166:8:23 [A.D. 412]). yet baptized, and when it was apparent that he was not going to survive . emphasis of the heart attitude that God seeks, rather than ritual observances B. Warfield said, "The system of doctrine taught by Calvin is just the . of grace, righteousness and adoption, is forever coupled to the truths Why then under the New Covenant. Rather, we all judge that the mercy and grace of God ought to be denied to no man born (Letters64:2 [A.D. 253]). The first clear reference to infant baptism appears in Tertullian's On Baptism 18 (ca. An infant cannot place his or her faith in Christ. Founder & Teacher, desiringGod.org.