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Infant baptism (view source)

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The earliest explicit mention of infant baptism is found A.D. 185 in [[Irenaeus]], ''Against Heresies'', Book II, Chapter 22:4.<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103222.htm Against Heresies (Book II, Chapter 22) - Catholic Encyclopedia (newadvent.org)] ''scroll down to paragraph 4''.</ref>

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:"For He came to save all through means of Himself — all, I say, who through Him are '''born again''' to God — '''infants''', and children, and boys, and youths, and old men." (''boldface emphasis added'')

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{{cquote|For He came to save all through means of Himself — all, I say, who through Him are '''born again''' to God — '''infants''', and children, and boys, and youths, and old men." (''boldface emphasis added'')}}This is a direct reference to John 3:3-5:{{cquote|3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and ''of'' the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. —[[King James Bible]] (KJV)}}

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This is a direct reference to John 3:3-5:{{cquote|3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and ''of'' the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. —[[King James Bible]] (KJV)}}

The Greek New Testament word for "man" here is '''τις''' ''tis'' "anyone".<ref>See [http://biblehub.com/greek/5100.htm Strong's number ''5100''. '''τις''' ''tis'' "''some'' or ''any'' person or object:— any ''one''.]</ref>

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The next earliest mention of infant baptism is A.D. 200 in [[Tertullian]], in his [[treatise]] ''On Baptism''. The very first words of ''On Baptism'' show the doctrine of "regenerative baptism"

:{{cquote|Happy is our sacrament of water, in that, by washing away the sins of our early blindness, we are set free and admitted into eternal life! … [''And further on he says''] All waters, therefore, in virtue of the pristine privilege of their origin, do, after invocation of God, attain the sacramental power of sanctification; for the Spirit immediately supervenes from the heavens, and rests over the waters, sanctifying them from Himself; and being thus sanctified, they imbibe at the same time the power of sanctifying.<ref>See the article [http://shamelesspopery.com/does-tertullian-reject-infant-baptism/ Does Tertullian Reject Infant Baptism? Joe Heschmeyer - Shameless Popery (shamelesspopery.com)] —''a critical clarification of the context of Tertullian's treatise.'' See the text: [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0321.htm Tertullian: On Baptism (newadvent.org)]</ref>}}

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His treatise on baptism shows throughout that baptism saves from sins and that infant baptism is a practice accepted in the early church. The [[Ante-Nicene Fathers|early Church Fathers]] are unanimous in their belief in regenerative baptism, that Baptism actually saves us (as [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A21&version=RSVCE 1 Peter 3:21 explicitly says]), by causing us to be born again by water and the Spirit ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A5&version=RSVCE John 3:5]); that it actually washes away our sins ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+22%3A16&version=RSVCE Acts 22:16]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+5%3A26&version=RSVCE Ephesians 5:26]), and creates in us a clean heart ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+10%3A22&version=RSVCE Hebrews 10:22]), making us new creatures ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+5%3A17&version=RSVCE 2 Corinthians 5:17]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+6%3A15&version=RSVCE Galatians 6:15]), enabling us to approach God (Hebrews 10:22), all of which is prophesied by Ezekiel 36:25-27.{{cquote|Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do ''them''. —Ezekiel 36:25-27 (KJV)}}Whole families who converted to Christ had all of their members baptized into Jesus, including infants, that they all might belong to God.<ref>1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:27.</ref> All who were in immanent danger of death were immediately baptized, using available water, even if only a few drops; and if they were unconscious, all who were unable to request baptism, including infants, to save them from damnation. Tertullian does not denounce the practice of infant baptism but urges that the sacrament be delayed until after the period of innocence because it is holy and a "heavy responsibility", and even much later, even in the case of adults, especially the young and unmarried who are subject to great temptations, and elders, because of the danger of committing a mortal sin, which some at that time believe cannot be forgiven after baptism, based on their particular controversial interpretation of Hebrews 6:4-6.<ref>It has been said that this is why [[Constantine]] delayed his own baptism until just before he died.</ref> The references to (i) being enlightened, (ii) tasting the heavenly gift, (iii) becoming partakers of the Holy Spirit, (iv) falling away, and (v) repentance, are interpreted in general by all as references to Baptism, Communion, Confirmation, [[Apostasy]], and Confession, respectively.{{cquote|For ''it is'' impossible for those who were once enlightened [Baptism], and have tasted of the heavenly gift [Eucharist], and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost [Confirmation], And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away [Apostasy], to renew them again unto repentance [Confession]; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. —Hebrews 6:4-6 (KJV)}}Not everyone agrees with Tertullian's recommendation that baptism is best delayed, because of the belief that baptism actually cleanses the soul, washing away sins. "And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." Acts 22:16. He held the opinion that baptism alone, which could not be repeated, is the only, unique and singular means of forgiveness of sins. The controversial opinion of some very intolerant strict moral rigorists that ''no mortal sin can ever be forgiven'' was rejected in the condemnation of the heresy of Novatianism,<ref>See [http://earlychristianwritings.com/novatian.html Novatian - Early Christian Writings- New Testament (earlychristianwritings.com)] [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11138a.htm Novatian and Novatianism - Catholic Encyclopedia (newadvent.org)] [https://orthodoxwiki.org/Novatian Novatian (orthodoxWiki.org)].</ref> in favor of the Catholic doctrine that there is no sin that cannot be forgiven by Christ in the [[Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation|sacrament of confession]] before death.<ref>See [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/1_john/5-16.htm 1 John 1:8-10 and 1 John 5:16.]</ref> The only exception is [[blasphemy]] against the Holy Spirit.<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+12%3A30-37&version=RSVCE Matthew 12:30-37]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+3%3A28-30&version=RSVCE Mark 3:28-30]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+12%3A10&version=RSVCE Luke 12:10]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+8%3A42-50&version=RSVCE John 8:42-50].</ref> The predominant orthodox catholic doctrine held that just as people spoke against Jesus, so they speak against his body, against his household the church (as Novatian did).<ref>1 Timothy 3:15]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+10%3A25&version=RSVCE Matthew 10:25]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+12%3A24&version=RSVCE 12:24], 27]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+3%3A22&version=RSVCE Mark 3:22]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+11%3A14-23&version=RSVCE Luke 11:14-23].</ref> As blasphemy against the Son of Man is forgiven, so blasphemy against his body the church is forgiven. As blasphemy against the Holy Spirit in Jesus is not forgiven, in this world or in the world to come, so blasphemy against the Holy Spirit of his body the church, as the One working <ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12%3A6&version=RSVCE 1 Corinthians 12:6]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+2%3A13&version=RSVCE Philippians 2:13]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8%3A1-14&version=RSVCE Romans 8:1-14].</ref> in the sacraments and ministries of healing and attested miracles in his body,<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12%3A4-28&version=RSVCE 1 Corinthians 12:4-28].</ref> is not forgiven, in this world or in the world to come. And as blasphemy against the Bride of Christ is forgiven, so blasphemy against the Spirit dwelling in Her and ruling Her, as being in reality the evil spirit of [[Antichrist]] and [[Satan#Lucifer|Satan]], is not forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+5%3A11-12&version=RSVCE Matthew 5:11-12]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+2%3A4-10&version=RSVCE 1 Peter 2:4-10]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A29-36&version=RSVCE John 3:29-36]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+19%3A6-9&version=RSVCE Revelation 19:6-9]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+22%3A14-15&version=RSVCE 22:14-15] [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+22%3A17&version=RSVCE and 17].</ref> {{cquote|If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy ''are ye''; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you''':''' on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. —[https://www.biblehub.com/1_peter/4-14.htm 1 Peter 4:14 (KJV)]}}

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His treatise on baptism shows throughout that baptism saves from sins and that infant baptism is a practice accepted in the early church. The [[Ante-Nicene Fathers|early Church Fathers]] are unanimous in their belief in regenerative baptism, that Baptism actually saves us (as [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A21&version=RSVCE 1 Peter 3:21 explicitly says]), by causing us to be born again by water and the Spirit ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A5&version=RSVCE John 3:5]); that it actually washes away our sins ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+22%3A16&version=RSVCE Acts 22:16]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+5%3A26&version=RSVCE Ephesians 5:26]), and creates in us a clean heart ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+10%3A22&version=RSVCE Hebrews 10:22]), making us new creatures ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+5%3A17&version=RSVCE 2 Corinthians 5:17]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+6%3A15&version=RSVCE Galatians 6:15]), enabling us to approach God (Hebrews 10:22), all of which is prophesied by Ezekiel 36:25-27.{{cquote|25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do ''them''. —Ezekiel 36:25-27 (KJV)}}Whole families who converted to Christ had all of their members baptized into Jesus, including infants, that they all might belong to God.<ref>1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:27.</ref> All who were in immanent danger of death were immediately baptized, using available water, even if only a few drops; and if they were unconscious, all who were unable to request baptism, including infants, to save them from damnation. Tertullian does not denounce the practice of infant baptism but urges that the sacrament be delayed until after the period of innocence because it is holy and a "heavy responsibility", and even much later, even in the case of adults, especially the young and unmarried who are subject to great temptations, and elders, because of the danger of committing a mortal sin, which some at that time believe cannot be forgiven after baptism, based on their particular controversial interpretation of Hebrews 6:4-6.<ref>It has been said that this is why [[Constantine]] delayed his own baptism until just before he died.</ref> The references to (i) being enlightened, (ii) tasting the heavenly gift, (iii) becoming partakers of the Holy Spirit, (iv) falling away, and (v) repentance, are interpreted in general by all as references to Baptism, Communion, Confirmation, [[Apostasy]], and Confession, respectively.{{cquote|4 For ''it is'' impossible for those who were once enlightened [Baptism], and have tasted of the heavenly gift [Eucharist], and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost [Confirmation], 5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6 If they shall fall away [Apostasy], to renew them again unto repentance [Confession]; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. —Hebrews 6:4-6 (KJV)}}Not everyone agrees with Tertullian's recommendation that baptism is best delayed, because of the common belief that baptism actually cleanses the soul, washing away sins. "And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." Acts 22:16. He held the opinion that baptism alone, which could not be repeated, is the only, unique and singular means of forgiveness of sins. The controversial opinion of some very intolerant strict moral rigorists that ''after baptism no mortal sin can ever be forgiven'' was rejected in the condemnation of the heresy of Novatianism,<ref>See [http://earlychristianwritings.com/novatian.html Novatian - Early Christian Writings- New Testament (earlychristianwritings.com)] [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11138a.htm Novatian and Novatianism - Catholic Encyclopedia (newadvent.org)] [https://orthodoxwiki.org/Novatian Novatian (orthodoxWiki.org)].</ref> in favor of the Catholic doctrine that there is no sin that cannot be forgiven by Christ in the [[Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation|sacrament of confession]] before death.<ref>See [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/1_john/5-16.htm 1 John 1:8-10 and 1 John 5:16.]</ref> The only exception is [[blasphemy]] against the Holy Spirit.<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+12%3A30-37&version=RSVCE Matthew 12:30-37]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+3%3A28-30&version=RSVCE Mark 3:28-30]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+12%3A10&version=RSVCE Luke 12:10]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+8%3A42-50&version=RSVCE John 8:42-50].</ref> The predominant orthodox catholic doctrine held that just as people spoke against Jesus, so they speak against his body, against his household the church (as Novatian did).<ref>1 Timothy 3:15]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+10%3A25&version=RSVCE Matthew 10:25]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+12%3A24&version=RSVCE 12:24], 27]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+3%3A22&version=RSVCE Mark 3:22]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+11%3A14-23&version=RSVCE Luke 11:14-23].</ref> As blasphemy against the Son of Man is forgiven, so blasphemy against his body the church is forgiven. As blasphemy against the Holy Spirit in Jesus is not forgiven, in this world or in the world to come, so blasphemy against the Holy Spirit of his body the church, as the One working <ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12%3A6&version=RSVCE 1 Corinthians 12:6]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+2%3A13&version=RSVCE Philippians 2:13]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8%3A1-14&version=RSVCE Romans 8:1-14].</ref> in the sacraments and ministries of healing and the attested miracles worked by his body,<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12%3A4-28&version=RSVCE 1 Corinthians 12:4-28].</ref> is not forgiven, in this world or in the world to come. And as blasphemy against the Bride of Christ is forgiven, so blasphemy against the Spirit dwelling in Her and ruling Her, as being in reality the evil spirit of [[Antichrist]] and [[Satan#Lucifer|Satan]], is not forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+5%3A11-12&version=RSVCE Matthew 5:11-12]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+2%3A4-10&version=RSVCE 1 Peter 2:4-10]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A29-36&version=RSVCE John 3:29-36]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+19%3A6-9&version=RSVCE Revelation 19:6-9]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+22%3A14-15&version=RSVCE 22:14-15] [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+22%3A17&version=RSVCE and 17].</ref> {{cquote|If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy ''are ye''; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you''':''' on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. —[https://www.biblehub.com/1_peter/4-14.htm 1 Peter 4:14 (KJV)]}}

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Tertullian became convinced that the willingness of the Catholic Orthodox Church to absolve all sins was proof that it had become [[Heresy|heretical]] and committed [[Great Apostasy|apostasy]] from the purity of the Gospel. He and his followers [[Schism|departed]] and joined the Montanists for a while; then afterward the Tertullianists formed their own group. In his own time, [[Augustine]] (354 – 430) records that the Tertullianist group had dwindled to almost nothing and was finally reconciled to the church and handed over its basilica.<ref>"dwindled to almost nothing"—see [http://biblehub.com/john/15-6.htm John 15:6]</ref> <ref>[http://www.tertullian.org/tertullianistae/de_haeresibus.htm ''De haeresibus ad Quodvultdeus'' chapter 86 (To Quodvultdeus, On Heresies) (by St. Augustine)].</ref> It is not certain whether these Tertullianists were in all respects "Montanist" or not. In the 6th century, on the orders of the Emperor [[Justinian]], John of Ephesus led an expedition to Pepuza to destroy the Montanist shrine there, which was based on the tombs of Montanus, Priscilla and Maximilla.

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Tertullian became convinced that the willingness of the Catholic Orthodox Church to absolve all sins was proof that it had become [[Heresy|heretical]] and committed [[Great Apostasy|apostasy]] from the purity of the Gospel. He and his followers [[Schism|departed]] and joined the Montanists for a while; then afterward the Tertullianists formed their own group. In his own time, [[Augustine]] (354 – 430) records that the Tertullianist group had dwindled to almost nothing and was finally reconciled to the church and handed over its basilica.<ref>"dwindled to almost nothing"—see [http://biblehub.com/john/15-6.htm John 15:6]</ref> <ref>[http://www.tertullian.org/tertullianistae/de_haeresibus.htm ''De haeresibus ad Quodvultdeus'' chapter 86 (To Quodvultdeus, On Heresies) (by St. Augustine)].</ref> It is not certain whether these Tertullianists were in all respects "Montanist" or not. In the 6th century, on the orders of the Emperor [[Justinian]], John of Ephesus led an expedition to Pepuza to destroy the Montanist shrine there, which was based on the tombs of the self-proclaimed prophets of the New Prophesy, Montanus, Priscilla and Maximilla.

A sect called "Montanist" existed in the 8th century; the Emperor Leo III the Isaurian ordered the conversion and baptism of its members. These Montanists refused, locked themselves in their houses of worship, [[Suicide|set the buildings on fire and perished]].<ref>Quoted by [[Eusebius]], [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250105.htm ''Ecclesiastical History'', Book 5, Chapter 16. 4. Chapter 16. The Circumstances related of Montanus and his False Prophets. (newadvent.org)]</ref>

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In response, Christian Evangelicals and Fundamentalists argue that Jesus did not command the "bringing" of infants by others, but that he said, "'''Allow the little children to come to me, and do not hinder them'''"—the words "allow to come" and "do not hinder them" indicating to them that these little children are capable of walking, and therefore of an age to reason, understand, repent, and "be baptized", by their own choice, not the choice of their parents on their behalf bringing them to him before they reach an age to have any rational understanding of the meaning of being sorry for their own sins. This [[Eisegesis|eisegetical interpretation]] utterly contradicts, or at the very least totally ignores, the Bible's word '''βρέφη''' ''brephe'', which clearly means, "an unborn or a newborn child, infant, babe, child in arms", children not yet able to walk. Such an interpretation is a clear example of [[confirmation bias]]. From the context, Jesus' word, "allow the little children to come to me", means, "allow the little babies to be brought to me—don't exclude them!"

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Apologists for infant baptism respond that Jesus was countermanding his disciples' refusal of infants, babies, being brought to him for his blessing, and that even infants, babies, incapable of conscious choice, can receive the blessing of Jesus from heaven in baptism. They also point to [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A21&version=NRSVCE 1 Peter 3:21] and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+5%3A25-27&version=NRSVCE Ephesians 5:25b-27], teaching that according to the Bible baptism [[Salvation|saves]] us now, and that Jesus sanctifies and cleanses his church with the washing of water with the word, to present the whole church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. They point to the fact that Paul teaches that baptism replaces [[circumcision]], which is done when a child is only eight days old, which made that baby a member of the people of God, to be raised and taught the way of the Lord in truth. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+2%3A9-14&version=NRSVCE Colossians 2:9-14]. They say this has always been the "tradition" by "word" as handed down from the apostles of the Lord, that whole "households" and "all their families" with all "your children" were baptized.<ref>[https://preachersinstitute.com/2016/11/23/infant-baptism-biblical/ On Infant Baptism – Is it Biblical? Fr. John Peck - Preachers Institute: The World's Premier Online Orthodox Christian Homiletics Resource (preachersinstitute.com)]</ref> Those "household" passages of the New Testament do not exclude children and infants, neither are they explicitly mentioned, although Acts 21:5-6 mentions wives and children bringing Paul on his way. No minimum age of accountability is mentioned in the New Testament as a requirement of eligibility for baptism into Christ. Nowhere do we read of children raised in believing households reaching the age of reason and then being baptized.

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Apologists for infant baptism respond that Jesus was countermanding his disciples' refusal of infants, babies, being brought to him for his blessing, and that even infants, babies, incapable of conscious choice, can receive the blessing of Jesus from heaven in baptism. They also point to [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A21&version=NRSVCE 1 Peter 3:21] and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+5%3A25-27&version=NRSVCE Ephesians 5:25b-27], teaching that according to the Bible baptism [[Salvation|saves]] us now, and that Jesus sanctifies and cleanses his church with the washing of water with the word, to present the whole church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. They point to the fact that Paul teaches that baptism replaces [[circumcision]], which is done when a child is only eight days old, which made that little baby a member of the people of God, to be raised and taught the way of the Lord in truth. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+2%3A9-14&version=NRSVCE Colossians 2:9-14]. They say this has always been the "tradition" by "word" as handed down from the apostles of the Lord, that whole "households" and "all their families" with all "your children" were baptized.<ref>[https://preachersinstitute.com/2016/11/23/infant-baptism-biblical/ On Infant Baptism – Is it Biblical? Fr. John Peck - Preachers Institute: The World's Premier Online Orthodox Christian Homiletics Resource (preachersinstitute.com)]</ref> Those "household" passages of the New Testament do not exclude children and infants, neither are they explicitly mentioned, although Acts 21:5-6 mentions wives and children bringing Paul on his way. No minimum age of accountability is mentioned in the New Testament as a requirement of eligibility for baptism into Christ. Nowhere do we read of children raised in believing households reaching the age of reason and then being baptized.

:[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+6%3A3-11&version=KJV Romans 6:3-11]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A21&version=KJV 1 Peter 3:21]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+10%3A19-22&version=KJV Hebrews 10:19-22]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+22%3A16&version=KJV Acts 22:16]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+5%3A25-27&version=KJV Ephesians 5:25-27]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+18%3A15-17&version=KJV Luke 18:15-17]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Thessalonians+2%3A13-15&version=KJV 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+13%3A17&version=KJV Hebrews 13:17]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Timothy+2%3A2&version=KJV 2 Timothy 2:2], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Timothy+2%3A23-25&version=KJV 23-25]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jude+1%3A3&version=KJV Jude 3]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Peter+3%3A14-18&version=KJV 2 Peter 3:14-18]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+2%3A39&version=KJV Acts 2:39]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+11%3A14&version=KJV 11:14]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+16%3A15&version=KJV 16:15], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+16%3A31&version=KJV 31], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+16%3A33&version=KJV 33]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+18%3A8&version=KJV 18:8].

The Catholic and Orthodox doctrine of "household salvation" including the '''βρέφη''' ''brephe'' infants of Luke 18:15 finds support in Hebrews 11:7, 9, 20, 28, 31, and James 2:17, 22, 24-26.<ref name=luther>Luther's controversial addition of "alone" to [http://biblehub.com/romans/1-17.htm Romans 1:17] and [http://biblehub.com/romans/3-28.htm 3:28] "by faith alone", absolutely contradicted the doctrine of [http://biblehub.com/james/2-24.htm James 2:24 "You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone."]</ref>

*[http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-7.htm Hebrews 11:7] By active faith Noah constructed an ark for the saving of his household.

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*[http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-9.htm Hebrews 11:9] Isaac and Jacob as infants were heirs with Abraham who by active faith entered and dwelt in the land of promise.

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*[http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-9.htm Hebrews 11:9] Isaac and Jacob as infants were heirs with Abraham their father who by active faith entered and dwelt in the land of promise.

*[http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-20.htm Hebrews 11:20] By active faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau his sons.

*[http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-28.htm Hebrews 11:28] By active faith Moses kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the first-born might not touch them, infants and adults.

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*[http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-31.htm Hebrews 11:31] The active faith of Rahab the harlot saved the spies of Joshua from the king's soldiers, and saved her whole family from death.

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*[http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-31.htm Hebrews 11:31] The active faith of Rahab the harlot saved the spies of Joshua from the king's soldiers when they were powerless to save themselves, and saved her whole family from death, which they could not have done without her.

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*[http://biblehub.com/james/2-17.htm James 2:17] Faith by itself, without works, is dead.

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*[http://biblehub.com/james/2-17.htm James 2:17] Faith by itself, without works, is dead, and baptism is a work of mercy.

*[http://biblehub.com/james/2-22.htm James 2:22] Faith was active along with Abraham's works, and faith was completed by his works on behalf of himself and his descendants.

*[http://biblehub.com/james/2-24.htm James 2:24] You can see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.<ref name=luther/>

*[http://biblehub.com/james/2-25.htm James 2:25] Rahab was justified by works by receiving the messengers and saving them from the king by sending them out of the city by another way, and by saving her whole family from death.

*[http://biblehub.com/james/2-26.htm James 2:26] As the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead.

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They claim that baptism is a work of Christ alone, performed by them in faith, for the salvation of those who are baptized by the washing of water with the word in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

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They claim that baptism is a work of Christ alone, performed by them in faith,<ref>[http://biblehub.com/philippians/2-13.htm Philippians 2 13]; [http://biblehub.com/ephesians/2-10.htm Ephesians 2:10].</ref> for the salvation of those who are baptized by the washing of water with the word in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

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According to the pedobaptist doctrine of salvation of infants by "regenerative baptism", a permanent "baptismal character" (often called a "mark") is imprinted indelibly by the Holy Spirit of Jesus on the regenerated soul of the baptized which cannot be removed.<ref>[http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p2s2c1a1.htm Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition, Part Two, The Celebration of the Christian Mystery, Section Two, The Seven Sacraments of the Church, Chapter One The Sacraments of Christian Initiation, Article 1 The Sacrament of Baptism, paragraphs 1213-1284.]</ref> The cleansing of the soul from sin and the gift of supernatural faith implanted in the soul by baptism is, in the case of baptized infants, a "seed"remaining in the soul,<ref>[http://biblehub.com/1_john/3-9.htm 1 John 3:9 (KJV)]</ref> to be nurtured and encouraged by the upbringing and teaching of the parents and the Christian doctrine of the Church. Devout Christian parents who have their infants baptized, take upon themselves the duty to raise their children to understand that because of their baptism into Christ they are [[Duty|obligated]] to dedicate their whole lives to living the Christian life in obedience to Christ, and that to refuse to do so after they are old enough to understand is a very serious sin of rebellion against God himself, punishable by condemnation to [[hell]] for all eternity if, having known the truth, they do not repent of their conscious refusal to live a Christian life of holiness in obedience to Christ Jesus the Lord before they die. They have been taught that just as Israelites, consecrated to God by the rite of circumcision when they were babies, passed from life to death, by betraying the covenant of God in Moses, so those infants baptized into Christ, kill the baptismal gift of spiritual life within them, after reaching the age of understanding, by committing mortal sins, or at the very least wound it by sins that are not mortal (venial sins).<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel+18%3A24&version=KJV Ezekiel 18:24] (context [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel+18%3A5-28&version=KJV 18:5-28]); [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+5%3A16-17&version=KJV 1 John 5:16-17].</ref> The "baptismal character" thus wounded, or rendered inert and lifeless, killed by mortal sin, can be revived by confession and absolution in the confessional <ref>A "confessional" is a kind of very small partitioned room or closet designed so that the priest and the one "confessing" do not see each other. It normally has a seat and a "kneeler" to kneel upon facing the screen or curtain on the other side of which is the priest. The "seal of the confessional" binds the Christian priest to never reveal what has been confessed. "The ministry of reconciliation" according to the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:18-20] and Jesus in Matthew 18:19-20] is exercised in the name of the Lord John 14:13-14]; 20:19-23].</ref> by the [[Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation]], where the priest and the repentant sinner meet together in the name of the Lord, "For where or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." [http://biblehub.com/matthew/18-20.htm Matthew 18:20.]

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According to the pedobaptist doctrine of salvation of infants by "regenerative baptism", a permanent "baptismal character" (often called a "mark") is imprinted indelibly by the Holy Spirit of Jesus on the regenerated soul of the baptized which cannot be removed.<ref>[http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p2s2c1a1.htm Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition, Part Two, The Celebration of the Christian Mystery, Section Two, The Seven Sacraments of the Church, Chapter One The Sacraments of Christian Initiation, Article 1 The Sacrament of Baptism, paragraphs 1213-1284.]</ref> The cleansing of the soul from sin and the gift of supernatural faith implanted in the soul by baptism is, in the case of baptized infants, a "seed"remaining in the soul,<ref>[http://biblehub.com/1_john/3-9.htm 1 John 3:9 (KJV)]</ref> to be nurtured and encouraged by the upbringing and teaching of the parents and the Christian doctrine of the Church. Devout Christian parents who have their infants baptized, take upon themselves the duty to raise their children to understand that because of their baptism into Christ they are [[Duty|obligated]] to dedicate their whole lives to living the Christian life in obedience to Christ, and that to refuse to do so after they are old enough to understand is a very serious sin of rebellion against God himself, punishable by condemnation to [[hell]] for all eternity if, having known the truth, they do not repent of their conscious refusal to live a Christian life of holiness in obedience to Christ Jesus the Lord before they die. They have been taught that just as Israelites, consecrated to God by the rite of circumcision when they were babies, passed from life to death, by betraying the covenant of God in Moses, so those infants baptized into Christ, kill the baptismal gift of spiritual life within them, after reaching the age of understanding, by committing mortal sins, or at the very least wound it by sins that are not mortal (venial sins).<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel+18%3A24&version=KJV Ezekiel 18:24] (context [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel+18%3A5-28&version=KJV 18:5-28]); [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+5%3A16-17&version=KJV 1 John 5:16-17].</ref> The "baptismal character" thus wounded, or rendered inert and lifeless, killed by mortal sin, can be revived by confession and absolution in the confessional <ref>A "confessional" is a kind of very small partitioned room or closet designed so that the priest and the one "confessing" do not see each other. It normally has a seat and a "kneeler" to kneel upon facing the screen or curtain on the other side of which is the priest. The "seal of the confessional" binds the Christian priest to never reveal what has been confessed. "The ministry of reconciliation" according to the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:18-20] and Jesus in Matthew 18:19-20] is exercised in the name of the Lord John 14:13-14]; 20:19-23].</ref> by the [[Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation]], where the priest and the repentant sinner meet together in the name of the Lord, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." [http://biblehub.com/matthew/18-20.htm Matthew 18:20.]

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This doctrine of "regenerative baptism" which causes an [[Ontology|ontological change]] that actually cleanses and washes away sins, by effecting in the soul a new supernatural life directly infused by the "washing of water with the word", is found by apologists for infant baptism in the following scriptural texts:

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This doctrine of "regenerative baptism" which causes an [[Ontology|ontological change]] that actually cleanses and washes away sins, by effecting in the soul a new supernatural life directly infused by the Holy Spirit ''[[Ex opere operato and ex opere operantis|ex opere operato]]'' through the "washing of water with the word", is found by apologists for infant baptism in the following scriptural texts:

:[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel+11%3A19-20&version=NRSVCE Ezekiel 11:19-20]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel+36%3A25-29&version=NRSVCE 36:25-29a]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+24%3A7&version=NRSVCE Jeremiah 24:7]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+31%3A31-33&version=NRSVCE 31:31-33]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Titus+3%3A5-6&version=NRSVCE Titus 3:5-6]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Peter+1%3A9&version=NRSVCE 2 Peter 1:9]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A21&version=NRSVCE 1 Peter 3:21]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+5%3A25-27&version=NRSVCE Ephesians 5:25b-27]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+2%3A9-14&version=NRSVCE Colossians 2:9-14]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+2%3A9-14&version=NRSVCE 2 Corinthians 5:17]; and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+2%3A9-14&version=NRSVCE Galatians 6:15].

They point to these texts as teaching that according to the Bible baptism [[Salvation|saves]] us now by regeneration of the soul unto new life, as a "new creature", and that Jesus sanctifies and cleanses his church with his blood by the washing of water with the word as a true [[sign]] of the cleansing of the soul by his blood, to present the whole church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. They point to the fact that Paul teaches by a [[Typology|typological]] [[analogy]] that baptism replaces [[circumcision]], which is done when a child is only eight days old, which made that tiny baby a genuine member of the people of God, to be raised and taught the way of the Lord in truth, by the priests of the faith.<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Malachi+2%3A4-7&version=NRSVCE Malachi 2:4-7]</ref>

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This doctrine of baptismal regeneration, which includes infant baptism, is repudiated as being totally against the teaching of the Bible. Abraham, our father in [[faith]], was converted, regenerated, forgiven, and had righteousness reckoned (imputed) to him, by faith (an unborn or newborn child cannot exercise faith), being circumcised in the heart by faith, apart from physical circumcision, baptism, or any other statute, or ordinance. Those who reject infant baptism as regenerative or salvific in any manner accept that the outward [[symbol]] of washing of water with the word is simply an [[ordinance]] to be faithfully obeyed, not a [[sacrament]], solely as an outward testimony to faith in the salvation of God through [[Belief|believing]] in the promises of Jesus Christ alone. They obey His ordained ordinances, including baptism, because by faith in Him they '''''are''''' regenerated, not in order to '''''be''''' regenerated; and as a result of '''''having''''' a new heart, not that they might receive a new heart.<ref>See [https://www.bing.com/search?q=a+concise+refutation+of+baptismal+regeneration%2C+by+james+p.+shelley.&form=EDGEAR&qs=PF&cvid=3f263ada36184adab3a65191ce7aba9c&cc=US&setlang=en-US&plvar=0 A Concise Refutation of Baptismal Regeneration, by James P. Shelley (bing.com)] Also [https://arcapologetics.org/comparative-religion/baptismal-regeneration-refuted/ Baptismal Regeneration Refuted, By Robin A. Brace - Apologetics Resource Center(arcapologetics.org)]</ref>

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[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A21&version=KJV '''1 Peter 3:21'''] in the King James Version states that baptism is "the answer of a good conscience toward God". The Greek word here translated as "answer" is '''έπερώτημα''' ''eperotema'' <ref>[http://biblehub.com/greek/1906.htm Strong's number 1906 '''έπερώτημα''' ''eperotema'']</ref>, which means much more than a mere answer to a question. It means primarily [https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/usage/enquire-or-inquire “question,” “enquiry,” “inquiry”] as in a probing investigation or hearing and a trial by law before the examiners, the judge and the court. A true understanding according to ''[[Historical-critical method (Higher criticism)#The literal sense of scripture|the literal sense of scripture]]'' is found partly in the [[Forensics|forensic]] use of the Greek word for '''question''', '''έπερώτημα''' ''eperotema'', as including, like our word “examination,” both question and answer. Substantive evidence as an "exhibit" brought before the court is presented to the judge as an answer to the charge of the guilt or innocence of the accused. In a medical examination of the patient who has been healed the doctor can see for himself that the disease is cured, as in the case of an infant cured of a deadly communicable disease, and the evidence is presented to the chief medical examiner at the head of a medical panel of judges to answer the question of the possibility of any remaining [[pathology]] which could pose a risk to the health of the patient and to the community as a whole.<ref>See for example, [https://answersafrica.com/diseases-in-africa.html Top 10 Diseases in Africa - Most Deadly (answersafrica.com)]</ref> The "answer of a good conscience" by baptism in 1 Peter 3:21 is the New Testament [[Typology|antitype]] to the Old Testament type in the book of [[Leviticus]], the examination by the Levitical priests of an Israelite healed of [[leprosy]] to establish proof of having been cleansed by God, after which the ritual of cleansing was performed.<ref>See [https://biblehub.com/leviticus/14-34.htm Leviticus 14:34 "''I put a leprous disease on...''"] and [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/leviticus/14-34.htm multiple commentaries on Leviticus 14:34]. See also [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+24%3A8&version=NRSVCE Deuteronomy 24:8] as a parallel to [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+12%3A15&version=NRSVCE Hebrews 12:15], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+13%3A17&version=NRSVCE 13:17] and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+20%3A23&version=NRSVCE John 20:23], also the whole context of [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+13-14&version=NRSVCE Leviticus 13–14.]</ref>

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[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A21&version=KJV '''1 Peter 3:21'''] in the King James Version states that baptism is "the answer of a good conscience toward God". The Greek word here translated as "answer" is '''έπερώτημα''' ''eperotema'' <ref>[http://biblehub.com/greek/1906.htm Strong's number 1906 '''έπερώτημα''' ''eperotema'']</ref>, which means much more than a mere answer to a question. It means primarily [https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/usage/enquire-or-inquire “question,” “enquiry,” “inquiry”] as in a probing investigation or hearing and a trial by law before the examiners, the judge and the court. A true understanding according to ''[[Historical-critical method (Higher criticism)#The literal sense of scripture|the literal sense of scripture]]'' is found partly in the [[Forensics|forensic]] use of the Greek word for '''question''', '''έπερώτημα''' ''eperotema'', as including, like our word “examination,” both question and answer. Substantive evidence as an "exhibit" brought before the court is presented to the judge as an answer to the charge of the guilt or innocence of the accused. In a medical examination of the patient who has been healed the doctor can see for himself that the disease is cured, as in the case of an infant cured of a deadly communicable disease, and the evidence is presented to the chief medical examiner at the head of a medical panel of judges to answer the question of the possibility of any remaining [[pathology]] which could pose a risk to the health of the patient and to the community as a whole.<ref>See for example, [https://answersafrica.com/diseases-in-africa.html Top 10 Diseases in Africa - Most Deadly (answersafrica.com)]</ref> The "answer of a good conscience" by baptism in 1 Peter 3:21 is the New Testament [[Typology|antitype]] to the Old Testament type in the book of [[Leviticus]], the examination by the Levitical priests of an Israelite healed of [[leprosy]] to establish proof of having been cleansed by God, after which the ritual of cleansing was performed.<ref>See [https://biblehub.com/leviticus/14-34.htm Leviticus 14:34 "''I put a leprous disease on...''"] and [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/leviticus/14-34.htm multiple commentaries on Leviticus 14:34]. See also [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+24%3A8&version=NRSVCE Deuteronomy 24:8] as a parallel to [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+12%3A15&version=NRSVCE Hebrews 12:15], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+13%3A17&version=NRSVCE 13:17] and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+20%3A23&version=NRSVCE John 20:23], also the whole context of [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+13-14&version=NRSVCE Leviticus 13–14.]</ref> The healing of Naaman the Syrian of his leprosy, by his obedient recourse to the water of the [[Jordan River|Jordan]] according to the word of the prophet, was a real cleansing. It was not a merely symbolical declaration of his personal conversion to a sincere belief in the God of Israel. And this Old Testament episode has been seen by the [[Ante-Nicene Fathers]] as a [[Typology|type]] of the New Testament sacrament of "regenerative baptism" for the healing of the soul. As the soul of the child is conceived in sin and born without personal consent, unresisting, sin is washed away from the soul of the newborn child by the blood of Christ in baptism without personal consent, unresisting.

The tragic case of "crack babies"<ref>[https://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/crackcocaine/children-the-most-innocent-victims-of-crack-cocaine.html Children: the most innocent victims of crack cocaine (drugfreeworld.org)]</ref> formed in the womb and born of mothers already [[Addiction|addicted]] to "crack [[cocaine]]" is a very strong [[analogy]] to the doctrine of inherited sin. Just as these innocently addicted babies need curative medical treatment for the utter misery of a tormenting defect not chosen by themselves as individuals, so every individual human soul at the moment of conception is afflicted with the deadly terminal defect of original sin for which they are not personally responsible, already in "lifelong bondage" to the [[devil]].<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+2%3A14-15&version=NRSVCE Hebrews 2:14-15]; see [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+4%3A5-6&version=NRSVCE Luke 4:5-6]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+5%3A6-19&version=NRSVCE Romans 5:6-19].</ref> They are innocent, but they need salvation from the collective death of sin inherited from their parents descended in the direct lineage of Adam and Eve.<ref>See Luke 1:46-47 "''God my Savior''", and the articles [[Immaculate Conception]] and [[Theotokos]]. According to Catholic doctrine''':''' from all eternity the merit of salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ alone was applied solely for his sake alone to the soul of her whom he had destined to be his mother, that the incarnation of the Word made flesh in her womb might not be taken from flesh defiled by sin but be taken from the sinless flesh of the body of his mother Mary whom God had prepared for the sake of Christ himself alone, in accordance with what is said in [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/hebrews/10-5.htm Hebrews 10:5 "a body hast thou prepared for me"] and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Wisdom+8%3A19-20&version=NRSVCE Wisdom 8:19-20 "being good, I entered an undefiled body."]</ref>

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[[Calvinism|Calvinist]] and [[Anabaptist]] doctrines of [[predestination]] and credobaptism alone are represented by their opponents as a doctrine of "monstrous evil" which arbitrarily and without mercy condemns to an [[eternal]] [[hell]] all who by default do not believe, simply because they are too young to understand or, because of the accidental circumstance of a lack of any kind of opportunity to hear it, have never heard about [[the Gospel]] of salvation, and do not believe. This includes all [[Paganism|pagans]] and babies, infants, all those whom Luke 18:15 calls '''βρέφη''' ''brephe'', "an unborn or a newborn child, infant, babe, child in arms", not yet able to walk. Apologists for this view respond that this is because their opponents do not grasp the fact that because of the fall of man, the whole human race became totally depraved, and as a consequence of their totally depraved nature are deprived of the power of [[free will]], and are "by nature the children of wrath".<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+2%3A3&version=NRSVCE Ephesians 2:3]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+3%3A10-18&version=NRSVCE Romans 3:10-18].</ref> According to this doctrine, the Sovereign God, just and compassionate and merciful, is in his supremely sovereign, ~~prefect~~, absolute justice under no obligation to save creatures who by nature have no love for him and are by their very nature destined for hell because of their depravity, which cannot be attributed to God, but to Adam alone, because of his abuse of free will by disobedience, with the consequentially complete self-destruction of free will in both himself and all his descendants as one whole united body of humanity. But to manifest absolutely his goodness before all creation, the Sovereign Lord God has predestined for glory all those chosen souls whom he has sovereignly elected to receive the unmerited grace of salvation for the praise of his glory and honor as the absolute Lord of all creation in heaven and on earth.

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[[Calvinism|Calvinist]] and [[Anabaptist]] doctrines of [[predestination]], and of credobaptism alone, are represented by their opponents as a doctrine of "monstrous evil" which arbitrarily and without mercy condemns to an [[eternal]] [[hell]] all who by default do not believe, simply because they are too young to understand or, because of the accidental circumstance of a lack of any kind of opportunity to hear it, have never heard about [[the Gospel]] of salvation, and do not believe. This includes all [[Paganism|pagans]] and babies, infants, all those whom Luke 18:15 calls '''βρέφη''' ''brephe'', "an unborn or a newborn child, infant, babe, child in arms", not yet able to walk. Apologists for this view respond that this is because their opponents do not grasp the fact that because of the fall of man, the whole human race became totally depraved, and as a consequence of their totally depraved nature are utterly deprived of the power of [[free will]] to choose to repent and be saved, and are "by nature the children of wrath".<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+2%3A3&version=NRSVCE Ephesians 2:3]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+3%3A10-18&version=NRSVCE Romans 3:10-18].</ref> According to this doctrine, the Sovereign God, just and compassionate and merciful, is in his supremely sovereign, perfect, absolute justice under no obligation to save creatures who by nature have no love for him and are by their very nature destined for hell because of their depravity, which cannot be attributed to God, but to Adam alone, because of his abuse of free will by disobedience, with the consequentially complete self-destruction of free will in both himself and all his descendants as one whole united body of humanity. But to manifest absolutely his goodness before all creation, the Sovereign Lord God has predestined for glory all those chosen souls whom he has sovereignly elected to receive the unmerited grace of salvation for the praise of his glory and honor as the absolute Lord of all creation in heaven and on earth.

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However, according to the Bible, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." [http://biblehub.com/2_peter/3-9.htm 2 Peter 3:9]. "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." [http://biblehub.com/john/3-17.htm John 3:17]. This indicates clearly that a sovereign willingness on the part of God to '''''not''''' provide for all souls in ~~'''~~the world''' any possible opportunity for salvation, even ignorant pagans and infants, is not a doctrine supported by the Bible.<ref>See [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+22%3A17&version=RSVCE Revelation 22:17 "''whosoever '''will'''''"]</ref>

+

However, according to the Bible, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." [http://biblehub.com/2_peter/3-9.htm 2 Peter 3:9]. "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." [http://biblehub.com/john/3-17.htm John 3:17]. This indicates clearly that a sovereign willingness on the part of God to '''''not''''' provide for '''all souls in the world''' any possible opportunity for salvation, even ignorant pagans and infants, is not a doctrine supported by the Bible.<ref>See [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+22%3A17&version=RSVCE Revelation 22:17 "''whosoever '''will'''''"]</ref>

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Many Christians reject the arbitrary doctrine that babies who have died, who have not been baptized, who did nothing, either good or bad, and did not believe, are automatically doomed to an eternity in the lake of fire.<ref>See [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20%3A10&version=NRSVCE Revelation 20:10], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20%3A13-15&version=NRSVCE 13-15]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25%3A41-46&version=NRSVCE Matthew 25:41-46].</ref> Those Christians who at the same time also reject any need for infant baptism, who have been told that infants are ''[[ipso facto]]'' totally innocent of all sin, that there is an "age of innocence", and have heard preachers and apologists cite the phrase "below the age of innocence" with reference to very young children, have searched in vain for this phrase in the Bible.<ref>A search of [[Strong's]] under the topic of [http://biblehub.net/searchtopical.php?q=innocence"innocence"] gives no examples of these phrases. Online searches for the phrase [https://www.bing.com/search?q=bible+verse+%22age+of+innocence%22&form=EDGEAR&qs=PF&cvid=0ca3aae1f43b45139bb73e5b40a2869c&cc=US&setlang=en-US&plvar=0 "age of innocence"] and [https://www.bing.com/search?q=bible+verse+%22below+the+age+of+innocence%22&form=EDGEAR&qs=PF&cvid=7e33910d5a2c4df99886f48f82ca3f75&cc=US&setlang=en-US&plvar=0 "below the age of innocence"] in the Bible produce no result.</ref> Their doctrinal belief is not found in the New Testament, that the baptism of infants is utterly unnecessary, because they have accepted ~~the~~ unsupported belief that the Bible itself teaches that '''''all''''' babies in the womb and those infants and children "below the age of innocence" are already "covered by the saving blood of Jesus" because they are innocent of any sin, and are already saved up until the age of understanding and accountability, at which time they must choose on their own to make a decision for Christ to be saved. Theologians and apologists who have been challenged to defend this doctrine with support from scripture are not able to cite a single text that explicitly states that an unborn or a newborn child, infant, babe, child in arms, a child not yet able to walk, is saved by the covering blood of Christ apart from the baptism mentioned in the New Testament, [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A3-5&version=NRSVCE John 3:3-5]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+28%3A18-19&version=NRSVCE Matthew 28:18-19]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+16%3A15-16&version=NRSVCE Mark 16:15-16]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+2%3A38-39&version=NRSVCE Acts 2:38-39]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+5%3A25-27&version=NRSVCE Ephesians 5:25-27]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A21&version=NRSVCE 1 Peter 3:21]. This is simply from reading the whole text of the New Testament alone ''[[sola scriptura]]''. Such a doctrine appears to be only a "tradition of men" outside of the Bible alone. They are unwilling to consign unbaptized infants to hell, yet "as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" Romans 5:12 (KJV). ~~It is~~ a belief in the universal compassionate mercy of God for all mankind, yet it is coupled with a doctrinal rejection of the apostolic tradition of infant baptism received by mainstream Christianity, [[Catholic Church|Catholics]], [[Orthodox Church|Eastern and Oriental Orthodox]], and among [[Protestantism|Protestants]], several [[denomination]]s: [[Anglican Communion|Anglicans]], [[Lutheranism|Lutherans]], [[Presbyterian]]s, [[Congregationalism|Congregationalists]] and other [[Calvinism|Reformed]] denominations, [[Presbyterians]], [[Methodist]]s, some [[Church of the Nazarene|Nazarenes]], and the Moravian Church.

+

Many Christians reject the arbitrary doctrine that babies who have died, who have not been baptized, who did nothing, either good or bad, and did not believe, are automatically doomed to an eternity in the lake of fire.<ref>See [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20%3A10&version=NRSVCE Revelation 20:10], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20%3A13-15&version=NRSVCE 13-15]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25%3A41-46&version=NRSVCE Matthew 25:41-46].</ref> Those Christians who at the same time also reject any need for infant baptism, who have been told that infants are ''[[ipso facto]]'' totally innocent of all sin, that there is an "age of innocence", and have heard preachers and apologists cite the phrase "below the age of innocence" with reference to very young children, have searched in vain for this phrase in the Bible.<ref>A search of [[Strong's]] under the topic of [http://biblehub.net/searchtopical.php?q=innocence"innocence"] gives no examples of these phrases. Online searches for the phrase [https://www.bing.com/search?q=bible+verse+%22age+of+innocence%22&form=EDGEAR&qs=PF&cvid=0ca3aae1f43b45139bb73e5b40a2869c&cc=US&setlang=en-US&plvar=0 "age of innocence"] and [https://www.bing.com/search?q=bible+verse+%22below+the+age+of+innocence%22&form=EDGEAR&qs=PF&cvid=7e33910d5a2c4df99886f48f82ca3f75&cc=US&setlang=en-US&plvar=0 "below the age of innocence"] in the Bible produce no result.</ref> Their doctrinal belief is not found in the New Testament, that the baptism of infants is utterly unnecessary, because they have accepted this unsupported belief:

+

:that the Bible itself teaches that '''''all''''' babies in the womb and those infants and children "below the age of innocence" are already "covered by the saving blood of Jesus" because they are innocent of any sin, and are already saved, but only up until the age of understanding and accountability, at which time they become unsaved and must choose on their own to make a decision for Christ to be saved.

+

Theologians and apologists who have been challenged to defend this doctrine with support from scripture are not able to cite a single text that explicitly states that an unborn or a newborn child, infant, babe, child in arms, a child not yet able to walk, is saved by the covering blood of Christ apart from the baptism mentioned in the New Testament, [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A3-5&version=NRSVCE John 3:3-5]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+28%3A18-19&version=NRSVCE Matthew 28:18-19]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+16%3A15-16&version=NRSVCE Mark 16:15-16]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+2%3A38-39&version=NRSVCE Acts 2:38-39]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+5%3A25-27&version=NRSVCE Ephesians 5:25-27]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A21&version=NRSVCE 1 Peter 3:21]. This is simply from reading the whole text of the New Testament alone ''[[sola scriptura]]''. Such a doctrine appears to be only a "tradition of men" outside of the Bible alone. They are unwilling to consign unbaptized infants to hell, yet "as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" Romans 5:12 (KJV), "Except a man ['''τις''' ''tis'' "anyone"] be born of water and ''of'' the Spirit, he [he or she] cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven" [http://biblehub.com/multi/john/3-5.htn John 3:5 (KJV amplified)]. They have a belief in the universal compassionate mercy of God for all mankind, yet it is coupled with a doctrinal rejection of the apostolic tradition of infant baptism received by mainstream Christianity, [[Catholic Church|Catholics]], [[Orthodox Church|Eastern and Oriental Orthodox]], and among [[Protestantism|Protestants]], several [[denomination]]s: [[Anglican Communion|Anglicans]], [[Lutheranism|Lutherans]], [[Presbyterian]]s, [[Congregationalism|Congregationalists]] and other [[Calvinism|Reformed]] denominations, [[Presbyterians]], [[Methodist]]s, some [[Church of the Nazarene|Nazarenes]], and the Moravian Church.

According to scripture the whole of mankind was defiled by the guilt of Adam and Eve ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+5%3A12&version=NRSVCE Romans 5:12]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Wisdom+2%3A23-24&version=NRSVCE Wisdom 2:23-24]) which broke off the intimate communion of their whole being with the Lord, severing them and the collective whole of the heritage of all their offspring from the spiritual life of God. Moreover, not only are we born as members of the whole community of the fallen race of man defiled by the terminal defect of this original sin—and for this reason every human being dies, even innocent babies in the womb—we also each of us as natural descendants of fallen man commit our own sins against God and our fellow human beings, against our own parents, children, friends, enemies, against truth, mercy and justice, and against ourselves whether we intend it or not ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+3%3A23&version=NRSVCE Romans 3:23]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+7%3A15&version=NRSVCE 7:15], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+7%3A19&version=NRSVCE 19]). Even little children have regrets about what they have done, and tiny babies display anger and stubbornness when they don't get what they want. As we mature in age and come to know the holiness of God we become even more aware of our inherent imperfection and our guilt before Him. Even [[Atheism and health|atheists]], against their will, struggle with feelings of guilt, knowing that they are not what they should be, even by their own personal standards.

Line 95: Line 96:

[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+10%3A1-2&version=NRSVCE Hebrews 10:1-2] clearly testifies that the sacrifices and washings of the Law of Moses can never make perfect the conscience of those who draw near to God, because even after offering sacrifices and cleansing their bodies according to the regulations and ordinances of the Torah blamelessly, without fault in their performance of them, they are still conscious of sin, for if they had actually been cleansed they would no longer have any consciousness of sin. But Christ through his blood in the washing of baptism with the word makes those who are members of his body sanctified, cleansed, without spot or wrinkle or any such defect, so that each one as members of the one body of Christ might be holy and without blemish, and this purity of a clean soul and clean conscience is the evidence of innocence in answer to the charge of guilt, "''the answer of a good conscience toward God''" (KJV).<ref>Catholic theologians answer that a terrified [[scrupulosity]] in the conscience is not a proof of not being cleansed of sin in the confessional, but rather an attack of the Accuser (''ha-Satan'' [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+12%3A10&version=RSVCE Revelation 12:10]) inciting a lack of trust in the mercy of God and the ministry of reconciliation entrusted to his Church ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+5%3A18-21&version=RSVCE 2 Corinthians 5:18-21]), tending toward the dangerous sin of [[despair]], which gives birth to a bitter hatred of God's justice, loss of love and charity toward God and man, and finally—if not overcome by prayer and humble submission to God—to death ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+1%3A13-15&version=RSVCE James 1:13-15]).</ref> On the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]] principle of ''[[sola scriptura]]'' itself, the belief that sin remains in the soul of every Christian cleansed and saved by the Lord contradicts the scriptures that say both that they are "in Christ", and that "in him is no sin".<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+6&version=NRSVCE Romans 6]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&3A12-26&version=NRSVCE 1 Corinthians 12:12-26]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+5&3A17&version=NRSVCE 2 Corinthians 5:17]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+3&3A28&version=NRSVCE Galatians 3:28]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+6&3A15&version=NRSVCE Galatians 6:15]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+1&3A1&version=NRSVCE Ephesians 1:1]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+1&3A11-14&version=NRSVCE Ephesians 1:11-14]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+2&3A10&version=NRSVCE Ephesians 2:10]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+1&3A1&version=NRSVCE Philippians 1:1]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+4&3A21&version=NRSVCE Philippians 4:21]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+1&3A2&version=NRSVCE Colossians 1:2]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+3&3A3&version=NRSVCE Colossians 3:3]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Thessalonians+2&3A14&version=NRSVCE 1 Thessalonians 2:14]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+6&3A26&version=NRSVCE '''Hebrews 6:26''' "''holy, blameless, unstained''"]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+3&3A5&version=NRSVCE '''1 John 3:5''' "''in him is no sin''"]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+5&3A20&version=NRSVCE 1 John 5:20].</ref>

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According to Catholic doctrine, baptism into Christ removes entirely from the individual soul the inherited defect of the original sin of the whole collective human race descended from Adam and the individually personal guilt of all sins personally committed before being baptized. Thus the effect of sin and its removal is not merely ''juridical'' as a legal decision exonerating the guilty by a decree of [[amnesty]]. In an absolute reality affecting the whole person, the removal of sin through the blood of Christ in baptism is instead ''[[Ontology|ontological]]'', affecting the very being of the individual soul, the "creature" itself, as the cure of a deadly disease is a real healing of the whole physical body, the image of which in the New Testament was the cleansing of leprosy by Christ and the apostles ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+9%3A2-8&version=NRSVCE Matthew 9:2-8]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+6%3A13&version=NRSVCE Mark 6:13]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+5%3A14-16&version=NRSVCE Acts 5:14-16]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+19%3A11&version=NRSVCE 19:11]). The defiling disease is removed.

+

According to Catholic doctrine, baptism into Christ removes entirely from the individual soul the inherited defect of the original sin of the whole collective human race descended from Adam and the individually personal guilt of all sins personally committed before being baptized. Thus the effect of sin and its removal is not merely ''juridical'' as a legal decision exonerating the guilty by a decree of [[amnesty]], expunging the record of the individual and thereby formally changing the official, outward social and legal standing of the citizen in the eyes of the whole community. In an absolute reality affecting the whole person, the removal of sin through the blood of Christ in baptism is instead ''[[Ontology|ontological]]'', affecting the very being of the individual soul, the "creature" itself, as the cure of a deadly disease is a real healing of the whole physical body, the image of which in the New Testament was the cleansing of leprosy by Christ and the apostles ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+9%3A2-8&version=NRSVCE Matthew 9:2-8]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+6%3A13&version=NRSVCE Mark 6:13]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+5%3A14-16&version=NRSVCE Acts 5:14-16]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+19%3A11&version=NRSVCE 19:11]). The defiling disease is removed.

−

:"Therefore if any man ''be'' in Christ, ''he is'' a '''new creature''': old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV, ''boldface emphasis added.) "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a '''new creature'''." (Galatians 6:15 KJV, ''boldface emphasis added'')

+

:"Therefore if any man ''be'' in Christ, ''he is'' a '''new creature''': old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV, ''boldface emphasis added''.) "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a '''new creature'''." (Galatians 6:15 KJV, ''boldface emphasis added'')

−

A legal declaration of amnesty cannot cure the physical being of the guilty carrier of a deadly disease, only the medicine of the practicing physician administered properly can do that. Sin is not merely covered up,<ref>[http://www.judev3.co.uk/1SinsCoveredOrGone.htm '''Sins - Covered or Gone?''' (judev3.co.uk)]. A modern [[analogy]] of the fact that "a legal declaration of amnesty cannot cure the physical being of the guilty carrier of a deadly disease" is the judgment of the court in the famous case of "Typhoid Mary". See [https://www.thoughtco.com/typhoid-mary-1779179 Biography of Typhoid Mary, Who Spread Typhoid in Early 1900s: The sad story of a woman responsible for several typhoid outbreaks (thoughtco.com)].</ref> as in the sacrifices of the old covenant, which cannot take away sins, as the author of [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+10%3A1-22&version=NRSVCE Hebrews 10:1-22] clearly says, but is in reality washed away, removed, according to [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/ephesians/5-26.htm Ephesians 5:25-27] and [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/hebrews/10-22.htm Hebrews 10:22] and [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/2_peter/1-9.htm 2 Peter 1:9]; see [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/acts/22-16.htm Acts 22:16]. All that remains is the leftover temporal damage caused by the disease of sin. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+6-8&version=NRSVCE Romans 6–8]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+4%3A16-5%3A4&version=NRSVCE 2 Corinthians 4:16–5:4]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+15%3A42-54&version=NRSVCE 1 Corinthians 15:42-54]. According to the doctrine of the Catholic Church, those leftover temporal defects afflicting reconciled sinners who have been forgiven in Christ, remaining defects which they have not yet in justice fully rectified and overcome by grace-filled virtue during life on earth, will be purged away afterward to fully cleanse them of all unrighteousness in preparation for their entrance into heaven. Included is the doctrine that not all sins are fatal, as in [http://biblehub.com/john/19-11.htm John 19:11] and [http://biblehub.com/1_john/5-17.htm 1 John 5:17].

+

A legal declaration of amnesty cannot cure the physical being of the guilty carrier of a deadly disease, only the medicine of the practicing physician administered properly can do that. Sin is not merely covered up,<ref>[http://www.judev3.co.uk/1SinsCoveredOrGone.htm '''Sins - Covered or Gone?''' (judev3.co.uk)]. A modern [[analogy]] of the fact that "a legal declaration of amnesty cannot cure the physical being of the guilty carrier of a deadly disease" is the judgment of the court in the famous case of "Typhoid Mary". See [https://www.thoughtco.com/typhoid-mary-1779179 Biography of Typhoid Mary, Who Spread Typhoid in Early 1900s: The sad story of a woman responsible for several typhoid outbreaks (thoughtco.com)].</ref> as in the sacrifices of the old covenant, which cannot take away sins, as the author of [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+10%3A1-22&version=NRSVCE Hebrews 10:1-22] clearly says, but is in reality washed away, removed, according to [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/ephesians/5-26.htm Ephesians 5:25-27] and [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/hebrews/10-22.htm Hebrews 10:22] and [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/2_peter/1-9.htm 2 Peter 1:9]; see [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/acts/22-16.htm Acts 22:16]. All that remains is the leftover temporal damage caused by the disease of sin. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+6-8&version=NRSVCE Romans 6–8]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+4%3A16-5%3A4&version=NRSVCE 2 Corinthians 4:16–5:4]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+15%3A42-54&version=NRSVCE 1 Corinthians 15:42-54]. According to the doctrine of the Catholic Church, those leftover temporal defects afflicting reconciled sinners who have been forgiven in Christ, the residual remaining non-permanent defects which they have not yet in justice fully rectified and overcome by grace-filled virtue during life on earth, will be purged away afterward to fully cleanse them of all unrighteousness in preparation for their entrance into heaven.<ref>A medical analogy often cited by Catholic and Orthodox theologians sees this period of life after the regeneration of baptism as similar to a time of physical rehabilitative therapy helping to restore some semblance of normalcy to someone who has been completely cured of a devastating disease of bone, tissue, or central nervous system, and who is not yet fully recovered, but actually can eventually be fully released to go home and live a totally normal life.</ref> Included is the doctrine that not all sins are fatal, as in [http://biblehub.com/john/19-11.htm John 19:11] and [http://biblehub.com/1_john/5-17.htm 1 John 5:17].

According to Catholic doctrine, baptized infants and babies who have died innocent of personal sin are saved and enter immediately into heaven. Those who die in the womb or who have not been baptized before death took them, are commended to God, who alone knows what they would have done if they had lived to hear the Gospel, and whether in their souls and hearts they were resisting or not resisting the saving grace of salvation poured out on all the world through Jesus Christ alone. Their salvation can be assured by what is called, "baptism of desire", God knowing whether or not in their souls they would have been personally willing to do his will, whatever it is; and therefore the grace of baptism by the blood of Christ is imputed to them by the mercy of God, "who is not willing that any should perish" 2 Peter 3:9. This "baptism of desire" is called an "extraordinary" means of salvation provided by God,<ref>Also "baptism of blood". See [https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/baptism-of-desire Baptism of Desire, Jimmy Akin (catholic.com)] See also [http://www.newadvent.org/summa/4068.htm#article2 Summa Theologica iii:'''68:2'''], [http://www.newadvent.org/summa/4066.htm#article2 cf iii:'''66:1-2'''] - ''in other words,'' Summa Theologica: Third Part (''Tertia Pars''): 68:2, (cf ''compare'') Third Part (''Tertia Pars'') 66:1-2 - The Catholic Encyclopedia Text of Summa Theologica: Part III: Question 68:2, and Part III: Question 66:1-2. (newadvent.org)</ref> baptism by water and the word being the ordinary means of salvation ordained by God through Christ by the Holy Spirit for all mankind, including baptism unto salvation of those the Gospel of Luke 18:15 calls '''βρέφη''' ''brephe'', "an unborn or a newborn child, infant, babe, child in arms", innocent children not yet able to walk.

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Foremost with their strong objection to infant baptism were the [[Anabaptists]], who were persecuted and condemned as [[Heresy|heretics]] by the majority of Christian believers, Catholic and Protestant.<ref>[https://thoughtsofalivingchristian.wordpress.com/2010/11/21/the-persecution-of-anabaptism-16th-century-catholic-lutheran-and-calvinist-perspectives-2/ The Persecution of Anabaptism: 16th Century Catholic, Lutheran and Calvinist Perspectives (thoughtsofalivingchristian.wordpress.com)] [https://themennonite.org/feature/the-birth-of-anabaptism The Birth of Anabaptism, Valerie G. Remple (themennonite.org)].</ref> Zwingli found their theologies to be contradictory, Luther found their entire organization confusing, Calvin labeled them as “poor fools”, “scatterbrains”, “ignoramuses” and “enemies of government”, and the Catholics associated them with the Devil, labeling them “messengers of the Antichrist”.

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The term Anabaptism "ana- (''again'') baptism" referred to being “rebaptized,” and it was a punishable offense. Since the establishment of the [[Byzantine Empire|~~Byzantime~~ Christian Empire]], rejection of infant baptism, and re-baptism of those who had been baptized as infants as a repudiation of infant baptism, was condemned as ''anathema'' by local synods of bishops and the subsequent affirmation of their discernment by the judgment of the ecumenical councils of the whole [[catholic]] church east and west.<ref>See [http://www.heretication.info/_heretics.html Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Christianity and its Persecution of Heretics. (heretification.info)]</ref> In response to their [[ecclesiastical]] anathemas against heretical rejection of the doctrine and practice of infant baptism, repudiation of the practice of infant baptism had been made a [[capital offense]] by the [[Government|civil authority]] of the Byzantine Christian Emperors. This relationship of mutual support between the institutional church and civil authorities formed a kind of “Christian” kingdom, ideally intended as a realization of the doctrine of [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+12-13&version=RSVCE Romans 12–13], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&version=RSVCE 1 Corinthians 12], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+13%3A17&version=RSVCE Hebrews 13:17] and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+2%3A13-3%3A17&version=RSVCE 1 Peter 2:13–3:17]. Thus, the Catholic Church’s spiritual authority was connected to civil authority. Through baptism, one became a part of the church and a citizen of the state. One’s baptismal record functioned as a kind of birth certificate. Christendom provided a way of understanding the world that seemed to bring it into a harmonious whole. The state handled civil life, and the church offered eternal life through counselling a prudent application of apostolic traditions of ethical and moral doctrinal practice, prayer, scripture and the sacraments. Each ruled their respective sphere and supported the other. Even Reform-minded leaders found it difficult to imagine a legitimate church refusing to baptize infants. Anabaptists stood alone in being willing to challenge the practice of infant baptism.

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The term Anabaptism "ana- (''again'') baptism" referred to being “rebaptized,” and it was a punishable offense. Since the establishment of the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine Christian Empire]], rejection of infant baptism, and re-baptism of those who had been baptized as infants as a repudiation of infant baptism, was condemned as ''anathema'' by local synods of bishops and the subsequent affirmation of their discernment by the judgment of the ecumenical councils of the whole [[catholic]] church east and west.<ref>See [http://www.heretication.info/_heretics.html Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Christianity and its Persecution of Heretics. (heretification.info)]</ref> In response to their [[ecclesiastical]] anathemas against heretical rejection of the doctrine and practice of infant baptism, repudiation of the practice of infant baptism had been made a [[capital offense]] by the [[Government|civil authority]] of the Byzantine Christian Emperors. This relationship of mutual support between the institutional church and civil authorities formed a kind of “Christian” kingdom, ideally intended as a realization of the doctrine of [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+12-13&version=RSVCE Romans 12–13], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&version=RSVCE 1 Corinthians 12], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+13%3A17&version=RSVCE Hebrews 13:17] and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+2%3A13-3%3A17&version=RSVCE 1 Peter 2:13–3:17]. Thus, the Catholic Church’s spiritual authority was connected to civil authority. Through baptism, one became a part of the church and a citizen of the state. One’s baptismal record functioned as a kind of birth certificate. Christendom provided a way of understanding the world that seemed to bring it into a harmonious whole. The state handled civil life, and the church offered eternal life through counselling a prudent application of apostolic traditions of ethical and moral doctrinal practice, prayer, scripture and the sacraments. Each ruled their respective sphere and supported the other. Even Reform-minded leaders found it difficult to imagine a legitimate church refusing to baptize infants. Anabaptists stood alone in being willing to challenge the practice of infant baptism.

The development of abuses of power and scandalous disregard of Christian moral principles by [[Corruption|corrupt]] individuals holding high office in government and church prompted many to question the legitimacy of the authority of both. And this prepared the ground for the [[Protestant Reformation]] and the response of the [[Counter Reformation]] of the [[Council of Trent]].<ref>[https://www.truthaccordingtoscripture.com/documents/death/froom/luther-conditionalism.php#.XZ-VZfJFzx8 '''Martin Luther's Views on Conditionalism and Soul Sleep''', by Leroy Edwin Froom (truthaccordingtoscripture.com)] Luther denied the immortality of the soul. This article also includes a discussion of the beginning history of the Anabaptists and their condemnation of infant baptism.</ref> By baptizing each other, Anabaptists denied the Catholic Church’s claim of spiritual authority and challenged its relationship to civil authority. They declared their true citizenship to be in the kingdom of heaven rather than to any kingdom or ruler of the world.<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+4%3A19-20&version=RSVCE Acts 4:19-20]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+18%3A36-37&version=RSVCE John 18:36-37].</ref> Anabaptists argued that their primary allegiance was always owed to Christ alone. This was a form of Christian [[anarchism]] rooted in [[secular]] [[antinomianism]] for the evident [[Motivation|purpose]] of destabilizing and overthrowing civil govenment.<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+13%3A1-10&version=RSVCE Romans 13:1-10]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+2%3A13-17&version=RSVCE 1 Peter 2:13-17]</ref> Their [[pacifism]] <ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+26%3A52&version=RSVCE Matthew 26:52]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+13%3A10&version=RSVCE Revelation 13:10].</ref> was viewed as giving passive [[Aid and abet|aid]] and comfort to the enemy forces of [[Islam]]ic [[terrorism]]. Civil and religious authorities throughout Europe moved quickly to quell what they viewed as a dangerous movement, similar to the modern governmental response to a [[clear and present danger]]. Wherever groups of Anabaptist believers emerged, in the Swiss and German regions of Europe and as far north as the Netherlands, they met with great opposition. Thousands were imprisoned and put to death as [[Treason|traitors to church and state]] by burning at the stake <ref>See [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+15%3A6&version=NRSVCE John 15:6] and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+13%3A1-5&version=NRSVCE Romans 13:1-5]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20%3A7-15&version=NRSVCE Revelation 20:7-15]. By calculation of the thousand-year span of the establishment on earth of the Catholic Christian Byzantine Empire and the [[Holy Roman Empire]] the Protestant Reformation and the rise of the Anabaptists was seen by Church and Government leaders as evidence that Satan had been loosed from his prison, and had "come out to deceive the nations which are at the four corners of the earth, that is, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle, their number is like the sand of the sea" ... "But fire came down from heaven and consumed them" Revelation 20:7-9. Both the Protestants and the Moslem armies were regarded as the satanic forces of God and Magog.</ref> or by being drowned in a local river. Drowning was considered a particularly appropriate death for Anabaptists. The authorities said they had sinned through the use of baptismal water, so by the water they would lose their lives.

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[[Baptist]] churches adopted the same Anabaptist views of the invalidity of infant baptism as a [[Paganism|pagan]] [[heresy]] and the absolute need for confessional credobaptism of youths and adults as true believers. Many other Protestant and independent churches also profess their opposition to the doctrine of infant baptism as diabolical and satanic; while others among them, Protestant and Independent, accept infant baptism as being supported by the Bible because the scriptures do not explicitly condemn the baptism of infants and young children, Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Congregationalists and other Reformed denominations, Presbyterians, Methodists, (some) Nazarenes, and the Moravian Church. Compare the [[Mennonite]]s.

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[[Baptist]] churches adopted the same Anabaptist views of both the invalidity of infant baptism as a [[Paganism|pagan]] [[heresy]] and the absolute need for confessional credobaptism of youths and adults as true believers. Many other Protestant and independent churches also profess their opposition to the doctrine of infant baptism as diabolical and satanic; while others among them, Protestant and Independent, accept infant baptism as being supported by the Bible because the scriptures do not explicitly condemn the baptism of infants and young children, Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Congregationalists and other Reformed denominations, Presbyterians, Methodists, (some) Nazarenes, and the Moravian Church. Compare the [[Mennonite]]s.

The doctrinal stand of the [[Southern Baptist Convention]] (SBC) is strongly opposed to Catholicism. In 1852, Robert Boyt C. Howell wrote a paper he delivered to the Southern Baptist Publication Society "The Evils of Infant Baptism" in which he set forth in nineteen chapters the following arguments against infant baptism: <ref>[http://www.reformedreader.org/history/howell/evilsofinfantbaptismtoc.htm The Evils of Infant Baptism, By Robert Boyt C. Howell, Charleston, SC: Southern Baptist Publication Society 1852.] </ref>

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==Faith and works==

===Romans 1:17; Romans 3:28 and John 3:5; John 20:21-23===

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"Regenerative baptism" has been condemned as a "work" that is done to merit salvation in contradiction of the doctrine of salvation ''[[sola fide]]''. Apologists for regenerative baptism respond that God, "not willing that any should perish", ordained baptism as a gift which bestows grace ''ex ~~opera~~ operato'' "from the work performed", not by man but by Christ working in the sacrament, for "''even'' baptism doth also now save us".<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A21&version=RSVCE 1 Peter 3:21]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A&version=RSVCE John 3:5].</ref> Nowhere in the New Testament is anyone seen baptizing himself in the name of the Lord. Always it is others who baptize those who are baptized. All Christian churches that practice any form of baptism accept by a universal consensus ''[[sensus fidelium]], [[sensus plenior]], [[sensus Christianorum]]'' that no one can be self-baptized but each one must be baptized by another. It is not a work performed by the baptized person in order to merit salvation. Human beings cannot save themselves.<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalms+49%3A7-9&version=RSVCE Psalm 49:7-9].</ref> According to Catholic doctrine Baptism is a sacramental gift of unmerited mercy bestowed by the Lord, and performed on behalf of the Lord, who is the one accomplishing the work of salvation,<ref>Compare [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+5%3A17-21&version=RSVCE 2 Corinthians 5:17-21].</ref> in which his blood alone works unmerited salvation in the soul of the one he himself baptizes through the faith ministry of his Church which is his body.<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12%3A4-28&version=RSVCE 1 Corinthians 12:4-28].</ref> This is '''[[Ontology|ontological]] salvation''', affecting the whole being of a person. According to apologists for ontological "regenerative baptism", faith in the promise of God, that man is truly born again by water and the Spirit, is exercised by the whole Church on behalf of the one baptized, through faith in the operation of the saving power of God by the washing of water with the word, that the one being baptized might be truly saved, cleansed of all unrighteousness, even if unconscious in an emergency, by "baptism which saves you now".<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A21&version=RSVCE 1 Peter 3:21]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+5%3A25-27&version=RSVCE Ephesians 5:25-27].</ref> The baptized person does not perform the baptism, and does not do the work of salvation in being born of water and the Spirit. It is Christ alone in his own body the Church which saves. "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of ''his'' good pleasure."<ref>[http://biblehub.com/philippians/2-13.htm Philippians 2:13].</ref> And God is "not willing that any should perish."<ref>[http://biblehub.com/2_peter/3-9.htm 2 Peter 3:9].</ref> Outside of Christ there is no salvation. Those he saves are his workmanship,<ref>[http://biblehub.com/ephesians/2-10.htm Ephesians 2:10].</ref> they are not their own work.<ref>Compare [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+6%3A19-20&version=RSVCE 1 Corinthians 6:19-20].</ref> The faith bestowed by the Holy Spirit of Christ in baptism <ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8%3A9-11&version=RSVCE Romans 8:9-11].</ref> is a gift which must be exercised to bear fruit in good works <ref> [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ephesians+2%3A8&version=RSVCE Ephesians 2:8]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+15%3A1-10&version=RSVCE John 15:1-10]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+5%3A15-19&version=RSVCE Romans 5:15-19].</ref> which God ordained to be done by those who are his workmanship.<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+2%3A10&version=RSVCE Ephesians 2:10]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+2%3A14-26&version=RSVCE James 2:14-26].</ref>{{cquote|And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with ''him'' through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; —Colossians 2:10-13 (KJV)}}

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"Regenerative baptism" has been condemned as a "work" that is done to merit salvation in contradiction of the doctrine of salvation ''[[sola fide]]''. Apologists for regenerative baptism respond that God, "not willing that any should perish", ordained baptism as a gift which bestows grace ''[[Ex opere operato and ex opere operantis|ex opere operato]]'' "from the work performed", not by man but by Christ working in the sacrament, for "''even'' baptism doth also now save us".<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A21&version=RSVCE 1 Peter 3:21]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A&version=RSVCE John 3:5].</ref> Nowhere in the New Testament is anyone seen baptizing himself in the name of the Lord. Always it is others who baptize those who are baptized. All Christian churches that practice any form of baptism accept by a universal consensus the ''[[sensus fidelium]], [[sensus plenior]], [[sensus Christianorum]]'' that no one can be self-baptized but each one must be baptized by another. It is not a work performed by the baptized person in order to merit salvation. Human beings cannot save themselves.<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalms+49%3A7-9&version=RSVCE Psalm 49:7-9].</ref> According to Catholic doctrine Baptism is a sacramental gift of unmerited mercy bestowed by the Lord, and performed on behalf of the Lord, who is the one accomplishing the work of salvation,<ref>Compare [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+5%3A17-21&version=RSVCE 2 Corinthians 5:17-21].</ref> in which his blood alone works unmerited salvation in the soul of the one he himself baptizes through the faith ministry of his Church which is his body.<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12%3A4-28&version=RSVCE 1 Corinthians 12:4-28].</ref> This is '''[[Ontology|ontological]] salvation''', affecting the whole being of a person. According to apologists for ontological "regenerative baptism", faith in the promise of God, that man is truly born again by water and the Spirit, is exercised by the whole Church on behalf of the one baptized, through faith in the operation of the saving power of God by the washing of water with the word, that the one being baptized might be truly saved, cleansed of all unrighteousness, even if the person, adult or infant, is unconscious and in immanent danger of death during an emergency, by "baptism which saves you now".<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A21&version=RSVCE 1 Peter 3:21]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+5%3A25-27&version=RSVCE Ephesians 5:25-27].</ref> The baptized person does not perform the baptism, and does not do the work of salvation in being born of water and the Spirit. It is Christ alone in his own body the Church which saves. "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of ''his'' good pleasure."<ref>[http://biblehub.com/philippians/2-13.htm Philippians 2:13].</ref> And God is "not willing that any should perish."<ref>[http://biblehub.com/2_peter/3-9.htm 2 Peter 3:9].</ref> Outside of Christ there is no salvation. Those he saves are his workmanship;<ref>[http://biblehub.com/ephesians/2-10.htm Ephesians 2:10].</ref> they are not their own work.<ref>Compare [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+6%3A19-20&version=RSVCE 1 Corinthians 6:19-20].</ref> The faith bestowed by the Holy Spirit of Christ in baptism <ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8%3A9-11&version=RSVCE Romans 8:9-11].</ref> is a gift which must be exercised to bear fruit in good works <ref> [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ephesians+2%3A8&version=RSVCE Ephesians 2:8]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+15%3A1-10&version=RSVCE John 15:1-10]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+5%3A15-19&version=RSVCE Romans 5:15-19].</ref> which God ordained to be done by those who are his workmanship.<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+2%3A10&version=RSVCE Ephesians 2:10]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+2%3A14-26&version=RSVCE James 2:14-26].</ref>{{cquote|10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: 11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: 12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with ''him'' through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; —Colossians 2:10-13 (KJV)}}

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"Believers' baptism" is set forth by Anabaptists and Baptist groups such as the Mennonites, as a testimony to an already existing saving faith in the atoning sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ offered once for all time for sins on the cross,<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+1%3A17&version=RSVCE Romans 1:17]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+3%3A22-26&version=RSVCE 3:22-26]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+5%3A8-11&version=RSVCE 5:8-11]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+1%3A20&version=RSVCE Colossians 1:20]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+2%3A18-23&version=RSVCE 2:18-23]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+1%3A3&version=RSVCE Hebrews 1:3]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+10%3A12&version=RSVCE 10:12].</ref> in accordance with the doctrine that man is justified by faith apart from works of the law, the law being the ritual ceremonial law of Moses. They utterly reject as [[superstition]] the doctrine that the ritual of water baptism saves by regeneration, and absolutely repudiate the doctrine that "baptism doth also now save us".<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A21&version=RSVCE 1 Peter 3:21]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+2%3A8-9&version=RSVCE Ephesians 2:8-9].</ref> According to the doctrine of credobaptism, without faith there is no salvation, for "without faith no one can please him",<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+11%3A6&version=RSVCE Hebrews 11:6]; see [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+6%3A11-12&version=RSVCE Hebrews 6:11-12]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+4%3A4&version=RSVCE Romans 4:4].</ref> and it is evident that the unborn, newborn, infant, baby, child in arms who cannot walk, cannot exercise faith in the Lord and believe in him for salvation before they have the capacity of intelligent choice to be able to recognize Jesus as Lord and choose by the unmerited power of the gift of God to have faith in him alone. Thus, according to the credobaptist doctrine, baptism does not save us, but a confession of faith working through love,<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+5%3A6&version=RSVCE Galatians 5:6]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+2%3A17&version=RSVCE James 2:17], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+2%3A22&version=RSVCE 22], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+2%3A24&version=RSVCE 24] [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+2%3A26&version=RSVCE and 26].</ref> and infants too young to understand are not capable of performing charitable works of love, "before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good".<ref>Compare [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+7%3A16&version=RSVCE Isaiah 7:16] and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Peter+3%3A9&version=RSVCE 2 Peter 3:9]. This passage in Isaiah seems to be the closest reference to what some believe to be a biblical teaching on "the age of innocence", of children "below the age of innocence" who will not be condemned to hell if they die before being baptized, being already saved by the blood of Christ because they are innocent of any sin, and do not have understanding to know how to choose the good and refuse evil.</ref> According to apologists for credobaptism, salvation is declarational only, a decision, solely by a sincere profession of belief in Christ.<ref>An act or a work of the will of the one confessing—a "works" salvation, of receiving, believing, cooperating, calling on the name of the Lord and professing, all active verbs indicating the working of the will.</ref>{{cquote|That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher.... So then faith ''cometh'' by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. —Romans 10:9-14, 17 (KJV)}}By the prompting of the inward witness of the Holy Spirit convicting the sinner of sin which merits only the wrath of God and the just judgment of condemnation to hell, the need for salvation in Christ is '''acknowledged''' and '''confessed'''. This is '''declarational salvation''', '''decisional salvation'''. By '''repentance''' for sin and '''confessing''' faith in Christ as merciful Lord and Savior and '''receiving''' him into their heart, by which the grace of salvation is not imposed but '''received''' ''ex opere operantis'' "by the act of the doer" in "opening the door of faith to the Lord that he might come in",<ref>Compare Revelation 3:20.</ref> the practice of decisional "believers' baptism" which follows upon a '''confession of faith in Christ''' ~~(a work)~~ is simply nothing more than a faithfully obedient symbolic act of witness to having already been saved by the received and exercised gift of repentance unto saving faith in the Lord, as a sign of being given to God, through '''professing''' faith in the single sacrifice of his Christ for sins which he offered once for all time,<ref>Hebrews 10:12; Jude 3.</ref> performed by the complete burial of full immersion in water in answer to Christ's command to be baptized, [http://biblehub.com/greek/907 '''βαπτίζω''' ''baptizo'' "immerse".] "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."<ref>[http://biblehub.com/john/3-16.htm John 3:16].</ref> The emphasis is on '''believing''', a work of the believer in active response to God's grace, and babies are incapable of belief. They cannot outwardly profess the gift of faith in Christ alone. Parents who believe in credobaptism alone raise their children in the Christian hope that one day they too, "knowing how to refuse the evil and choose the good",<ref>Compare [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+7%3A15-16&version=RSVCE Isaiah 7:15-16]</ref> will repent of their sinful state in Adam,<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+15%3A2122&version=RSVCE 1 Corinthians 15:22]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+5%3A12-19&version=RSVCE Romans 5:12-19].</ref> and choose Christ as their own personal Savior and Lord of their lives by declarational decisional salvation of publicly professing their faith in him, and be baptized in fulfillment of his word to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins ''ex opere operantis'', on the assurance of a faith based on the fundamental doctrinal principle of ''[[sola scriptura]]''. Some urge use of the [[sinner's prayer]] as a guarantee of genuine repentance of sin unto complete salvation by a sincere reciting of a formula of profession of faith in Christ. Many of these also believe that once one has truly accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, and explicitly said so from the heart with their lips,<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+10%3A9&version=RSVCE Romans 10:9]. This [[Analogy|strongly resembles]] the essential characteristic of a formulaic spell used by a [[magic|ritual magician]] which requires an exact recitation precisely performed with the complete intention of the heart and will to effect the intended result, or the automatic function of an applied calculation to an operation of [[Physics|physical science]]. The whole procedure has been ridiculed both by [[Atheism|Atheists]] and Protestant and Catholic apologists as regarding God as the automated "cosmic dispensing machine" which immediately dispenses the product as soon as the coin or card is properly inserted and the proper button has been activated. The proper "technique" is required of the person who repents and believes for salvation.</ref> they are eternally assured of a personal salvation which can never be rescinded, revoked or forfeited, forever. This too has been condemned as a kind of legalistic requirement of a work performed by the person in order to merit salvation, and as a departure from a simple, trusting faith for redemption and salvation; moreover, it has also been condemned as promoting [[Antinomianism]] and [[Licentiousness]].<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+6&version=RSVCE Romans chapter 6]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+2%3A6-10&version=RSVCE 2:6-10]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8%3A12-17&version=RSVCE 8:12-17]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+5%3A13-26&version=RSVCE Galatians 5:13-26]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Peter+2%3A1-3&version=RSVCE 2 Peter 2:1-3], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Peter+2%3A9-22&version=RSVCE 9-22]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jude+1%3A4-9&version=RSVCE Jude 4-19].</ref>

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"Believers' baptism" is set forth by Anabaptists and Baptist groups such as the Mennonites, as a testimony to an already existing saving faith in the atoning sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ offered once for all time for sins on the cross,<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+1%3A17&version=RSVCE Romans 1:17]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+3%3A22-26&version=RSVCE 3:22-26]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+5%3A8-11&version=RSVCE 5:8-11]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+1%3A20&version=RSVCE Colossians 1:20]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+2%3A18-23&version=RSVCE 2:18-23]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+1%3A3&version=RSVCE Hebrews 1:3]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+10%3A12&version=RSVCE 10:12].</ref> in accordance with the doctrine that man is justified by faith apart from works of the law, the law being the ritual ceremonial law of Moses. They utterly reject as [[superstition]] the doctrine that the ritual of water baptism saves by regeneration, and absolutely repudiate the doctrine that "baptism doth also now save us".<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A21&version=RSVCE 1 Peter 3:21]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+2%3A8-9&version=RSVCE Ephesians 2:8-9].</ref> According to the doctrine of credobaptism, without faith there is no salvation, for "without faith no one can please him",<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+11%3A6&version=RSVCE Hebrews 11:6]; see [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+6%3A11-12&version=RSVCE Hebrews 6:11-12]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+4%3A4&version=RSVCE Romans 4:4].</ref> and it is evident that the unborn, newborn, infant, baby, child in arms who cannot walk, cannot exercise faith in the Lord and believe in him for salvation before they have the capacity of intelligent choice to be able to recognize Jesus as Lord and choose by the unmerited power of the gift of God to have faith in him alone. Thus, according to the credobaptist doctrine, baptism does not save us, but a confession of faith working through love,<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+5%3A6&version=RSVCE Galatians 5:6]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+2%3A17&version=RSVCE James 2:17], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+2%3A22&version=RSVCE 22], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+2%3A24&version=RSVCE 24] [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+2%3A26&version=RSVCE and 26].</ref> and infants too young to understand are not capable of performing charitable works of love, "before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good".<ref>Compare [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+7%3A16&version=RSVCE Isaiah 7:16] and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Peter+3%3A9&version=RSVCE 2 Peter 3:9]. This passage in Isaiah seems to be the closest reference to what some believe to be a biblical teaching on "the age of innocence", of children "below the age of innocence" who will not be condemned to hell if they die before being baptized, being already saved by the blood of Christ because they are innocent of any sin, and do not have understanding to know how to choose the good and refuse evil.</ref> According to apologists for credobaptism, salvation is declarational only, a decision, solely by a sincere profession of belief in Christ personally made by the repentant sinner.<ref>An act or a work of the will of the one confessing—a "works" salvation, of ''receiving, believing, cooperating, calling on the name of the Lord'' and ''professing'', all active verbs indicating the working of the will, a work.</ref>{{cquote|9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher.... 17 So then faith ''cometh'' by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. —Romans 10:9-14, 17 (KJV)}}By the prompting of the inward witness of the Holy Spirit convicting the sinner of sin which merits only the wrath of God and the just judgment of condemnation to hell, the need for salvation in Christ is '''acknowledged''' and '''confessed'''. This is '''declarational salvation''', '''decisional salvation'''. According to the credobaptist doctrine, by their '''repentance''' for sin and '''confessing''' faith in Christ as merciful Lord and Savior and '''receiving''' him into their heart, by which the grace of salvation is not imposed but '''received''' ''ex opere operantis'' "by the act of the doer" in "opening the door of faith to the Lord that he might come in" <ref>Compare Revelation 3:20.</ref> (a work of the will), the practice of decisional "believers' baptism" which follows upon a '''confession of faith in Christ''' is simply nothing more than a faithfully obedient symbolic act of witness to having already been saved by the received and exercised gift of repentance unto saving faith in the Lord, as a sign of being given to God, through '''professing''' faith in the single sacrifice of his Christ for sins which he offered once for all time,<ref>Hebrews 10:12; Jude 3.</ref> performed by the complete burial of full immersion in water in answer to Christ's command to be baptized, [http://biblehub.com/greek/907 '''βαπτίζω''' ''baptizo'' "immerse".] "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."<ref>[http://biblehub.com/john/3-16.htm John 3:16].</ref> The emphasis is on '''believing''', a work of the believer in active response to God's grace, and babies are incapable of belief. They cannot outwardly profess the gift of faith in Christ alone. Parents who believe in credobaptism alone raise their children in the Christian hope that one day they too, "knowing how to refuse the evil and choose the good",<ref>Compare [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+7%3A15-16&version=RSVCE Isaiah 7:15-16]</ref> will repent of their sinful state in Adam,<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+15%3A2122&version=RSVCE 1 Corinthians 15:22]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+5%3A12-19&version=RSVCE Romans 5:12-19].</ref> and choose Christ as their own personal Savior and Lord of their lives by the declarational decisional salvation of publicly professing their faith in him, and be baptized in fulfillment of his word to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins ''ex opere operantis'', on the assurance of a faith based on the fundamental doctrinal principle of ''[[sola scriptura]]''. Some urge use of the [[sinner's prayer]] as a guarantee of genuine repentance of sin unto complete salvation by a sincere reciting of a formula of profession of sinfulness, of repentance, and of faith in Christ as personal Lord and Savior. Many of these also believe that once one has truly accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, and explicitly said so from the heart with their lips,<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+10%3A9&version=RSVCE Romans 10:9]. This [[Analogy|strongly resembles]] the essential characteristic of a formulaic spell used by a [[magic|ritual magician]] which requires an exact recitation precisely performed with the complete intention of the heart and will to effect the intended result, or the automatic function of an applied calculation to an operation of [[Physics|physical science]]. The whole procedure has been ridiculed both by [[Atheism|Atheists]] and Protestant and Catholic apologists as regarding God as the automated "cosmic dispensing machine" which immediately dispenses the product as soon as the coin or card is properly inserted and the proper button has been activated. The proper "technique" is required of the person who repents and believes for salvation.</ref> they are eternally assured of a personal salvation which can never be rescinded, revoked or forfeited, forever. This too has been condemned as a kind of legalistic requirement of a work performed by the person in order to merit salvation, and as a departure from a simple, trusting faith for redemption and salvation; moreover, it has also been condemned as promoting [[Antinomianism]] and [[Licentiousness]].<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+6&version=RSVCE Romans chapter 6]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+2%3A6-10&version=RSVCE 2:6-10]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8%3A12-17&version=RSVCE 8:12-17]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+5%3A13-26&version=RSVCE Galatians 5:13-26]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Peter+2%3A1-3&version=RSVCE 2 Peter 2:1-3], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Peter+2%3A9-22&version=RSVCE 9-22]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jude+1%3A4-9&version=RSVCE Jude 4-19].</ref>

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Among those who profess credobaptism, the parents of children who have reached the age of understanding worry if their children have not yet decided to accept Christ as their personal Lord and Savior in some form of public profession of faith before others.<ref>See [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+12%3A8-9&version=RSVCE Luke 12:8-9]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Timothy+2%3A11-13&version=RSVCE 2 Timothy 2:11-13].</ref> Among those who profess pedobaptism, the parents of children who have reached the age of understanding worry if their children fail to confirm the grace of their baptismal salvation of purification and consecration by water and the Spirit, through casually developing by degrees careless attitudes toward the danger of sin by not diligently living for Christ, by not confessing their serious sins and being cleansed by absolution in the name of the Lord, and by not accepting the power of the sacrament of Confirmation to bear responsibly vital witness for the Lord in the face of hostility toward Christianity. According to the Bible, it is possible for those who have been baptized to forget that they were cleansed from their sins ([http://biblehub.com/2_peter/1-9.htm 2 Peter 1:9]).

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Among those who profess credobaptism, the parents of children who have reached the age of understanding worry if their children have not yet decided to accept Christ as their personal Lord and Savior in some form of public profession of faith before others.<ref>See [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+12%3A8-9&version=RSVCE Luke 12:8-9]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Timothy+2%3A11-13&version=RSVCE 2 Timothy 2:11-13].</ref>

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Among those who profess pedobaptism, the parents of children who have reached the age of understanding worry if their children fail to confirm the grace of their baptismal salvation of purification and consecration by water and the Spirit shortly after they were born, through casually developing by degrees careless attitudes toward the danger of sin by not diligently living for Christ, by not confessing their serious sins and being cleansed by sacramental absolution in the name of the Lord, and by not accepting and cooperating with the power of the sacrament of Confirmation to strengthen them with the protection and assistance of the Holy Spirit to be able to bear responsibly vital witness for the Lord in the face of hostility toward Christianity. According to the Bible, it is possible for those who have been baptized to forget that they were cleansed from their sins ([http://biblehub.com/2_peter/1-9.htm 2 Peter 1:9]).

The [[Council of Trent]] made clear the Catholic position on the sacraments including infant baptism by condemning with ''[[anathema]]'' the proposition that ''the sacraments have no power to bestow grace and that faith alone suffices''.<ref>[http://www.clerus.org/bibliaclerusonline/en/dxa.htm The Council of Trent. Seventh Session. First Decree and Canons. On the Sacraments. <nowiki>[Denzinger EN 1583]</nowiki> (clerus.org)]</ref>

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If faith is an act of righteousness <ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+3%3A7&version=RSVCE 1 John 3:7]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+2%3A20-26&version=RSVCE James 2:20-26]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+4&version=RSVCE Romans chapter 4].</ref> exercised by the believer in obedience to Christ's command "have faith in God",<ref>[http://biblehub.com/mark/11-22.htm Mark 11:22].</ref> and obedience to his commandment "believe also in me",<ref>[http://biblehub.com/john/14-1.htm John 14:1]</ref> and if the "gift of repentance"<ref>[http://biblehub.com/acts/11-18.htm Acts 11:18]</ref> is exercised according to Peter's command to "Repent, and be baptized every one of you",<ref>[http://biblehub.com/acts/2-38.htm Acts 2:38]</ref> ~~and~~ "with the mouth confession is made unto salvation",<ref>[http://biblehub.com/romans/10-10.htm Romans 10:10b]</ref> then faith and repentance are also works, something which men do, even if only in their hearts,<ref>Compare the [[good thief]] on the cross, who only had faith in Jesus, but acted by explicitly professing his faith, an act that was followed by the promise of Christ, "Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise." Jesus did not say this to him before he made his act of faith. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Lluke+23%3A39-43&version=RSVCE Luke 23:39-43]. Proponents of credobaptism emphasize that this man was not baptized but was saved, demonstrating that faith not baptism saves. Catholic theology sees in this an evidence for "baptism of desire" in which the souls of those who are deprived of all opportunity to avail themselves of the ''ordinary'' means of entering the kingdom of God through salvation by water baptism commanded by Christ Jesus in John 3:5 are not deprived of salvation by ''extraordinary'' means provided by the Father through Christ, whose Spirit knows the hearts of men. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+2%3A12-16&version=RSVCE Romans 2:12-16]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+3%3A23&version=RSVCE 1 John 3:23]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+2%3A9-16&version=RSVCE 1 Corinthians 2:9-16]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+4%3A12-13&version=RSVCE Hebrews 4:12-13]. When critics object that if baptism is not necessary in some cases it should not be required because it obviously is not absolutely necessary to be saved, they are told that extraordinary circumstances are met with extraordinary means by the mercy of God when the ordinary means ordained for salvation are not possible, and that the ordinary means of salvation by baptism is commanded by Christ in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A3-5&version=RSVCE John 3:3-5] and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+28%3A19&version=RSVCE Matthew 28:19]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+16%3A16&version=RSVCE Mark 16:16]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+24%3A47&version=RSVCE Luke 24:47]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+2%3A2138-42&version=RSVCE Acts 2:38-42].</ref> and man is saved by the work of faith and repentance unto salvation. ~~But it~~ is not a work of man, but the work of God <ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+2%3A13&version=RSVCE Philippians 2:13].</ref> in all who do not resist him but cooperate with him in working out their own salvation with fear and trembling before him as Lord.<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+2%3A12-13&version=RSVCE Philippians 2:12-13]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+6%3A1&version=RSVCE 2 Corinthians 6:1]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Peter+1%3A11&version=RSVCE 2 Peter 1:3-11].</ref> "Therefore, brethren, be the more zealous to confirm your call and election, for if you do this you will never fall" 2 Peter 1:10.

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If faith is an act of righteousness <ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+3%3A7&version=RSVCE 1 John 3:7]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+2%3A20-26&version=RSVCE James 2:20-26]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+4&version=RSVCE Romans chapter 4].</ref> exercised by the believer in obedience to Christ's command "have faith in God",<ref>[http://biblehub.com/mark/11-22.htm Mark 11:22].</ref> and in obedience to his commandment "believe also in me",<ref>[http://biblehub.com/john/14-1.htm John 14:1]</ref> and if the "gift of repentance"<ref>[http://biblehub.com/acts/11-18.htm Acts 11:18]</ref> is exercised according to Peter's command to "Repent, and be baptized every one of you",<ref>[http://biblehub.com/acts/2-38.htm Acts 2:38]</ref> so that "with the mouth confession is made unto salvation",<ref>[http://biblehub.com/romans/10-10.htm Romans 10:10b]</ref> then faith and repentance are also works, something which men do, even if only in their hearts,<ref>Compare the [[good thief]] on the cross, who only had faith in Jesus, but acted by explicitly professing his faith, an act that was followed by the promise of Christ, "Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise." Jesus did not say this to him before he made his act of faith. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Lluke+23%3A39-43&version=RSVCE Luke 23:39-43]. Proponents of credobaptism emphasize that this man was not baptized but was saved, demonstrating that faith not baptism saves. Catholic theology sees in this an evidence for "baptism of desire" in which the souls of those who are deprived of all opportunity to avail themselves of the ''ordinary'' means of entering the kingdom of God through salvation by water baptism commanded by Christ Jesus in John 3:5 are not deprived of salvation by ''extraordinary'' means provided by the Father through Christ, whose Spirit knows the hearts of men. [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+2%3A12-16&version=RSVCE Romans 2:12-16]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+3%3A23&version=RSVCE 1 John 3:23]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+2%3A9-16&version=RSVCE 1 Corinthians 2:9-16]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+4%3A12-13&version=RSVCE Hebrews 4:12-13]. When critics object that if baptism is not necessary in some cases it should not be required because it obviously is not absolutely necessary to be saved, they are told that extraordinary circumstances are met with extraordinary means by the mercy of God when the ordinary means ordained for salvation are not possible, and that the ordinary means of salvation by baptism is commanded by Christ in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A3-5&version=RSVCE John 3:3-5] and [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+28%3A19&version=RSVCE Matthew 28:19]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+16%3A16&version=RSVCE Mark 16:16]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+24%3A47&version=RSVCE Luke 24:47]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+2%3A2138-42&version=RSVCE Acts 2:38-42].</ref> and man is saved by the work of faith and repentance unto salvation. It is not a work of man, but the work of God <ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+2%3A13&version=RSVCE Philippians 2:13].</ref> in all who do not resist him but cooperate with him in working out their own salvation with fear and trembling before him as Lord.<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+2%3A12-13&version=RSVCE Philippians 2:12-13]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+6%3A1&version=RSVCE 2 Corinthians 6:1]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Peter+1%3A11&version=RSVCE 2 Peter 1:3-11].</ref> "Therefore, brethren, be the more zealous to confirm your call and election, for if you do this you will never fall" 2 Peter 1:10.<ref>Compare Hebrews 6:4-8 and 1 John 1:9.</ref> Most Christians see in this and other similar passages of the New Testament a refutation of the doctrine that the human will is totally depraved and dead and utterly inert and unable to either resist or cooperate with the grace of God unto salvation.

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On the basis of this concurrence of belief in the enabling work of God in the souls of mankind, those theologians engaged in interfaith dialogue seek common ground for unity among Christians by means of clarification of meanings and definitions of terms that may differ superficially in speech but not differ at all in the substance of their genuine [[semantics|semantical content]], in a spirit of honest ecumenism, even while many remain cautious and alert against the danger of [[syncretism]] by any suggestion of compromise with the purity of the Gospel and the context of the whole of the teaching of the Bible. Sincere Christian believers are very careful of [[specious reasoning]] which appeals to [[Cafeteria Christianity#Proof texts|proof texts]] to promote a doctrine which deviates from the whole context of the Bible. They carefully search the whole of the scriptures to see if it is so, like the Beroeans of [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+17%3A10-12&version=RSVCE Acts 17:10-12].

+

On the basis of this concurrence of belief in the enabling work of God in the souls of mankind, those theologians engaged in interfaith dialogue seek common ground for unity among Christians by means of clarification of meanings and definitions of terms that may differ superficially in speech but not differ at all in the substance of their genuine [[semantics|semantical content]], in a spirit of honest ecumenism, even while many remain cautious and alert against the danger of [[syncretism]] by any suggestion of compromise with the purity of the Gospel as they understand it and the context of the whole of the teaching of the Bible, each of them granting the possibility of developing perhaps a more profound grasp of the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. Sincere Christian believers are very careful of [[specious reasoning]] which appeals to [[Cafeteria Christianity#Proof texts|proof texts]] to promote a doctrine which deviates from the whole of the total context of the Bible. They carefully search the whole of the scriptures to see if it is so, like the Beroeans of [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+17%3A10-12&version=RSVCE Acts 17:10-12].

==Where do unbaptized departed infants go?==

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Among believers in the necessity of [[baptism]] for [[salvation]] there is no universal consensus on the fate of dead infants who have not been baptized, the souls of those whom the New Testament Greek text of [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+18%3A15-16&version=RSVCE Luke 18:15-16] calls '''βρέφη''' ''brephe'', "an unborn or a newborn child, infant, babe, child in arms".<ref>See [http://biblehub.com/greek/1025.htm Strong's number ''1025'' '''βρέφη''' ''brephe'' "infant".] Compare the [http://biblehub.com/interlinear/luke/18-15.htm interlinear text of Luke 18:15]. Compare the [http://biblehub.com/luke/18-15.htm parallel versions of Luke 18:15]. </ref> There are three conflicting doctrines:

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Among believers in the necessity of [[baptism]] for [[salvation]] there is no universal consensus on the fate of dead infants who have not been baptized, the souls of those whom the New Testament Greek text of [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+18%3A15-16&version=RSVCE Luke 18:15-16] calls '''βρέφη''' ''brephe'', "an unborn or newborn child, infant, babe, child in arms".<ref>See [http://biblehub.com/greek/1025.htm Strong's number ''1025'' '''βρέφη''' ''brephe'' "infant".] Compare the [http://biblehub.com/interlinear/luke/18-15.htm interlinear text of Luke 18:15]. Compare the [http://biblehub.com/luke/18-15.htm parallel versions of Luke 18:15]. </ref> There are three conflicting doctrines:

*They go to [[Hell]].

*They go to [[Limbo]].

*They go to [[Heaven]].

===They go to Hell===

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This is based primarily on [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/mark/16-16.htm Mark 16:16] "'''He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.'''" (KJV) An unborn or a newborn child, infant, babe, child in arms, who does not and cannot understand, does not believe. And that little child shall most certainly be damned by dying because that child did not believe and was not baptized. "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and ''of'' the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." John 3:5. Therefore, according to a literalist "plain, simple and obvious" reading of the Bible ''[[sola scriptura]]'', unbaptized infants are damned.<ref>Compare [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+5%3A25-29&version=NRSVCE John 5:25-29.]</ref>

+

This is based primarily on [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/mark/16-16.htm Mark 16:16] "'''He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.'''" (KJV) An unborn or newborn child, infant, babe, child in arms, who does not and cannot understand, does not believe. And that little child shall most certainly be damned by dying because that child did not believe and was not baptized. "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and ''of'' the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." John 3:5. Therefore, according to a literalist "plain, simple and obvious" reading of the Bible ''[[sola scriptura]]'', unbaptized infants are damned.<ref>Compare [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+5%3A25-29&version=NRSVCE John 5:25-29.]</ref>

[[John Calvin]] in his ''[[Institutes of the Christian Religion]]'' <ref>[https://www.biblestudytools.com/history/calvin-institutes-christianity/ Institutes of the Christian Religion (biblestudytools.com)]</ref> states most clearly that only those [[Predestination|predestinate]] souls [[Eternal security (salvation)|elected irrevocably]] to the blessed glory of salvation by the irresistible grace of the Sovereign Will of God alone will attain heaven and stand in the presence of Almighty God. All others, men, women, children, babies, infants, the unborn in the womb, who die, are destined by their unregenerate wicked nature of total depravity for the ruin of hell apart from the presence of God, because "''Thou art'' of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity". [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/habakkuk/1-13.htm Habakkuk 1:13]{{cquote|Original sin, then, may be defined a hereditary corruption and depravity of our nature, extending to all the parts of the soul, which first makes us obnoxious to the wrath of God, and then produces in us works which in Scripture are termed works of the flesh. This corruption is repeatedly designated by Paul by the term sin (Gal. 5:19); while the works which proceed from it, such as adultery, fornication, theft, hatred, murder, revellings, he terms, in the same way, the fruits of sin, though in various passages of Scripture, and even by Paul himself, they are also termed sins. The two things, therefore, are to be distinctly observed--viz. that being thus perverted and corrupted in all the parts of our nature, we are, merely on account of such corruption, deservedly condemned by God, to whom nothing is acceptable but righteousness, innocence, and purity. This is not liability for another's fault. For when it is said, that the sin of Adam has made us obnoxious to the justice of God, the meaning is not, that we, who are in ourselves innocent and blameless, are bearing his guilt, but that since by his transgression we are all placed under the curse, he is said to have brought us under obligation. Through him, however, not only has punishment been derived, but pollution instilled, for which punishment is justly due. Hence Augustine, though he often terms it another's sin (that he may more clearly show how it comes to us by descent), at the same time asserts that it is each individual's own sin. And the Apostle most distinctly testifies, that "death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned," (Rom. 5:12); that is, are involved in original sin, and polluted by its stain. Hence, even infants bringing their condemnation with them from their mother's womb, suffer not for another's, but for their own defect. For although they have not yet produced the fruits of their own unrighteousness, they have the seed implanted in them. Nay, their whole nature is, as it were, a seed-bed of sin, and therefore cannot but be odious and abominable to God. Hence it follows, that it is properly deemed sinful in the sight of God; for there could be no condemnation without guilt. —''[[Institutes of the Christian Religion]]'', Book 2, Chapter 1, Section 5.8 Definition of original sin.<ref>[https://www.biblestudytools.com/history/calvin-institutes-christianity/book2/chapter-1.html Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 2, Chapter 1 (biblestudytools.com)]</ref>}}Thus, the [[ordinance]] of baptism avails nothing for those who are not already appointed unto salvation and do not believe, "and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed" [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/acts/13-48.htm Acts 13:48 (KJV)], "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ." [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/1_thessalonians/5-9.htm 1 Thessalonians 5:9 (KJV)]. [[Saint Paul]] says in his ''Epistle to the Romans'', chapter 9:{{cquote|18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will ''have mercy'', and whom he will he hardeneth. 19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? 20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed ''it'', Why hast thou made me thus? 21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonor? 22 ''What'' if God, willing to shew ''his'' wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, 24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? 25 As he saith also in [[Book of Hosea|Osee]], I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. 26 And it shall come to pass, ''that'' in the place where it was said, unto them, Ye ''are'' not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God. —Romans 9:18-26 (KJV)}}

===They go to Limbo===

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This is based primarily on [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/romans/2-15.htm Romans 2:15]; [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/1_john/3-21.htm 1 John 3:21]; [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/revelation/20-12.htm Revelation 20:12]. [[Middle Ages|Medieval]] Christian theologians, unable to reconcile the mercy and justice of a good and loving [[God the Father]], and the necessity of baptism according to [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/john/3-5.htm John 3:5], had recourse to the word of Jesus in [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/12:48.htm Luke 12:48] in which those who did not know or hear or understand [[the Gospel]], and had personally of themselves done nothing either good or bad, would receive a light punishment, that loss solely due to the defect of the [[original sin]] of [[Adam]], placing them on the very outer edge (Latin ''limbo'' "edge") of hell, the state of simply being deprived for all eternity of the [[beatific vision]] of God by the saved [[saint]]s in heaven, but also of being spared the torment of the wicked. Among Catholic theologians this uncertain doctrine of limbo has remained a philosophical and theological speculation only, and has never been approved as an official doctrine or dogma of the Catholic Church.

+

This is based primarily on [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/romans/2-15.htm Romans 2:15]; [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/1_john/3-21.htm 1 John 3:21]; [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/revelation/20-12.htm Revelation 20:12]. [[Middle Ages|Medieval]] Christian theologians, unable to reconcile the mercy and justice of a good and loving [[God the Father]], and the necessity of baptism according to [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/john/3-5.htm John 3:5], had recourse to the word of Jesus in [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/12:48.htm Luke 12:48] in which those who did not know or hear or understand [[the Gospel]], and had personally of themselves done nothing either good or bad, would receive a light punishment, that loss solely due to the defect of the [[original sin]] of [[Adam]], placing them on the very outer edge (Latin ''limbo'' "edge") of hell, the state of simply being deprived for all eternity of the [[beatific vision]] of God enjoyed forever by the saved [[saint]]s in heaven, but also of being spared the torment of the wicked. Among Catholic theologians this uncertain doctrine of limbo has remained a philosophical and theological speculation only, and has never been approved as an official doctrine or dogma of the Catholic Church.

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According to [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20%3A10&version=RSVCE Revelation 20:10], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20%3A14-15&version=RSVCE 14-15] everything in hell (Hades) and everything in it will finally and irrevocably suffer burning in the lake of fire.{{cquote|And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet ''are'', and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.<ref>Compare [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/revelation/14-11.htm Revelation 14:11] "''And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever; and they have no rest day nor night''".</ref>

+

According to [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20%3A10&version=RSVCE Revelation 20:10], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20%3A14-15&version=RSVCE 14-15] everything in hell (Hades) and everything in it will finally and irrevocably suffer burning in the lake of fire.{{cquote|10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet ''are'', and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.<ref>Compare [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/revelation/14-11.htm Revelation 14:11] "''And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever; and they have no rest day nor night''".</ref>

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And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. —Revelation 20:10 and 14-15 (KJV)}}This would certainly include all of the innocent unbaptized children speculatively relegated by some Medieval theologians to a proposed state of the lightest possible suffering on the very outer edge (''limbo'') of hell.<ref>Compare [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+10%3A14-15&version=RSVCE Matthew 10:14-15]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+11%3A22-24&version=RSVCE 11:22-24]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+10%3A12&version=RSVCE Luke 10:12]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+12%3A47-48&version=RSVCE 12:47-48].</ref> However, some point out that Revelation 20:13 says, "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works." Thus, none of the dead remained in hell when death and hell were cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, and according to [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20%3A15&version=RSVCE Revelation 20:15], only those not found written in the book of life were cast into the lake of fire.

+

14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. —Revelation 20:10 and 14-15 (KJV)}}This would certainly include all of the innocent unbaptized children speculatively relegated by some Medieval theologians to a proposed state of the lightest possible suffering on the very outer edge (''limbo'') of hell.<ref>Compare [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+10%3A14-15&version=RSVCE Matthew 10:14-15]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+11%3A22-24&version=RSVCE 11:22-24]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+10%3A12&version=RSVCE Luke 10:12]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+12%3A47-48&version=RSVCE 12:47-48].</ref> However, some point out that Revelation 20:13 says, "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works." Thus, none of the dead remained in hell when death and hell were cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, and according to [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20%3A15&version=RSVCE Revelation 20:15], only those not found written in the book of life were cast into the lake of fire.

According to the ''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]'' '''1261''', in an affirmation of the [[Council of Trent]] on the question of the fate of unbaptized infants:{{cquote|'''1261''' As regards ''children who have died without Baptism,'' the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. Indeed, the great mercy of God who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus' tenderness toward children which caused him to say: ″Let the children come to me, do not hinder them,″ [''Mk'' 10:14; cf. ''1 Tim.'' 2:4.] allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without Baptism. All the more urgent is the Church′s call not to prevent little children coming to Christ through the gift of holy Baptism.<ref>Catechism of the Catholic Church, Part Two: The Celebration of the Christian Mystery, Section Two: The Seven Sacraments of the Church, Chapter One: The Sacraments of Christian Initiation, Article 1: The Sacrament of Baptism, VI. The Necessity of Baptism, '''[http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p2s2c1a1.htm#1261 1261]''', Libreria Editrice Vaticana, English translation of the ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' for the United States of America copyright 1994, United States Catholic Conference, Inc.—Libreria Editrice Vaticana. English translation of the ''Catechism of the Catholic Church: Modifications from the Editio Typica'' copyright 1997, United States Catholic Conference, Inc.—Libreria Editrice Vaticana. page 321. ISBN 1-57455-109-4 </ref>}}

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According to the doctrine of [[Universalism]] all beings in hell and the lake of fire will eventually be fully and finally purified and cleansed, and all of those who have been damned, including Satan and the fallen angels will attain at last the joy of heavenly beatitude in the presence of a loving God, "who is not willing that any should perish".<ref>See [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/2_peter/3-9.htm multiple commentaries on 2 Peter 3:9]</ref> Not all universalists believe in hell, however, but they do believe in universal salvation.<ref>See the following articles:

*[https://www.wayoflife.org/database/fireoutofhell.html Taking the Fire Out of Hell, David Cloud, Way of Life Literature (wayoflife.org)]

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*[https://www.christianity.com/theology/other-religions-beliefs/what-is-universalism-and-is-it-compatible-with-christian-faith.html What Is Universalism? Is it Biblical and Should Christians Believe Universalist Philosophy? Universalism is the belief that ultimately everybody will be saved. There are several different stripes of Universalists. Russell Moore -Moore to the Point (christianity.com)]</ref> Among congregations of [[Unitarian Universalist]]s, most (not all) have child dedication ceremonies for infants and children.<ref>[https://www.uua.org/beliefs/what-we-do/celebrations/births Baptism / Child Dedication in Unitarian Universalism - Unitarian Universalist Association (uua.org)]</ref> According to Universalist teaching, neither baptism nor avoidance of sin is ultimately regarded in any way as absolutely necessary, since all will eventually be blessed. The individual is completely free to do whatever he or she decides to do.<ref>Compare [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+15%3A20-28&version=RSVCE 1 Corinthians 15:20-28]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+2%3A9-11&version=RSVCE Philippians 2:9-11].</ref> ~~This~~ doctrine has much in common with the teaching of [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]], [[Monism]] and [[Cosmic Humanism]].

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*[https://www.christianity.com/theology/other-religions-beliefs/what-is-universalism-and-is-it-compatible-with-christian-faith.html What Is Universalism? Is it Biblical and Should Christians Believe Universalist Philosophy? Universalism is the belief that ultimately everybody will be saved. There are several different stripes of Universalists. Russell Moore -Moore to the Point (christianity.com)]</ref> Among congregations of [[Unitarian Universalist]]s, most (not all) have child dedication ceremonies for infants and children.<ref>[https://www.uua.org/beliefs/what-we-do/celebrations/births Baptism / Child Dedication in Unitarian Universalism - Unitarian Universalist Association (uua.org)]</ref> According to Universalist teaching, neither baptism nor avoidance of sin is ultimately regarded in any way as absolutely necessary, since all will eventually be blessed. The individual is completely free to do whatever he or she decides to do.<ref>Compare [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+15%3A20-28&version=RSVCE 1 Corinthians 15:20-28]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+2%3A9-11&version=RSVCE Philippians 2:9-11].</ref> The wicked learn to their sorrow that they were in serious [[error]], but they also discover to their joy that what seems to be their punishment in full accordance with divine justice and mercy is a rehabilitation of corrective purification of love, to finally make them fit and clean and fully worthy of perfect communion with God.

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According to this teaching, at the moment of death, the character of the unbaptized soul of a dead infant is not irreformably forever fixed and permanent, destined to an eternity in hell, but is ultimately by the divine will of God infallibly and irrevocably destined finally to eternal life with God. The whole of this doctrine has much in common with the teaching of [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]], [[Monism]] and [[Cosmic Humanism]].

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Universalism was early condemned as ''anathema'' by the [[Ante-Nicene Fathers]] and the [[Ecumenical council]]s of the universal catholic orthodox Church of the East and the West as a pernicious heresy.

==[[Religious Society of Friends]] (Quakers)==

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*[https://classroom.synonym.com/the-quaker-view-on-baptism-12085718.html The Quaker View on Baptism, By Dell Markey (classroom.synonym.com)]

*[http://goinsidetogreetthelight.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Helen-Meads-Quaker-meaning-of-Light-_-JT-work_.pdf The Quaker Meaning of Light (and James Turrell's work), by Helen Meads goinsidetogreetthelight] pdf. —''The meaning of going inside to greet the Light.''

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Compare [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+1%3A27&version=RSVCE Colossians 1:27] and [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/colossians/1-27.htm multiple commentaries on Colossians 1:27]</ref>

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Compare [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+1%3A27&version=RSVCE Colossians 1:27] and [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/colossians/1-27.htm multiple commentaries on Colossians 1:27]</ref> The Bible is not the principle rule of faith and practice for Friends, but rather what each of them personally discerns to be the guidance of the inner light of God's living Presence.

==Discernment of Truth: Seekers, Converts, and Christian Apologetics==

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Independent seekers of truth who are not Christians, but are attracted to the person of the historical [[Jesus Christ|Jesus of Nazareth]], struggle with [[discernment]] of what is right in accordance with [[reason]] and their [[conscience]]. This is especially true for those persons with an unborn or newborn child, infant, babe, child in arms, a child not yet able to walk, faced with the question of the eternal soul and the [[Last Judgment]].

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Those who have recourse to [[Christian apologetics]] for help are offered arguments from scripture and tradition to help them decide. Those who are persuaded that Jesus is the Son of God and become converts to [[Christianity]] will rely on what seems to them to be the truth of the matter of infant baptism according to the various and differing apologists they read and hear, with whom they agree or disagree. Some of them may or may not be found to use [[specious reasoning]], which may or may not be exposed as fallacies by the arguments of other apologists discussing infant baptism. Some use [[polemic]]. Accordingly they will choose to become a Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant, Independent, non-denominational, or [[Cafeteria Christianity|"cafeteria Christian"]], and, on the basis of their own personal judgment, on their own personal authority, as being answerable solely to their own conscience alone, they decide for themselves what to believe about the matter. Any one of them can become closed-minded and firmly entrenched in their [[opinion]] because of [[Sloth (sin)|mental and spiritual sloth]]. There are those who seek to be more and more informed about the matter and sometimes change their minds. Then, after careful discernment and much "soul-searching" with prayer to God for guidance, they often move to a different [[church]] or [[denomination]] as being more in accord with [[truth]] and the [[Bible]], fully assured that they are doing what is right. Their friends and associates may strongly disagree, some even warning that they could possibly, or most certainly will, go to [[hell]] unless they [[Repentance|repent]] their decision. There are men of corrupt mind and counterfeit faith, deceivers and deceived,<ref>[http://biblehub.com/2_timothy/3-8.htm 2 Timothy 3:8]</ref> those who twist the scriptures to their own destruction.<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Peter+3%3A15-18&version=NRSVCE 2 Peter 3:15-18.]</ref> Credobaptists have become pedobaptists and pedobaptists have become credobaptists. Baptists have become Catholics and Orthodox, and Catholics and Orthodox have become Baptists.

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Those who have recourse to [[Christian apologetics]] for help are offered arguments from scripture and tradition to help them decide. Those who are persuaded that Jesus is the Son of God and become converts to [[Christianity]] will rely on what seems to them to be the truth of the matter of infant baptism according to the various and differing apologists they read and hear, with whom they agree or disagree. Some of them may or may not be found to use [[specious reasoning]], which may or may not be exposed as fallacies by the arguments of other apologists discussing infant baptism. Some use [[polemic]]. Accordingly they will choose to become a Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant, Independent, non-denominational, or a [[Cafeteria Christianity|"cafeteria Christian"]], and, on the basis of their own personal judgment, on their own personal authority, as being answerable solely to their own conscience alone, they decide for themselves what to believe about the matter. Any one of them can become closed-minded and firmly entrenched in their [[opinion]] because of [[Sloth (sin)|mental and spiritual sloth]]. There are those who seek to be more and more informed about the matter and sometimes change their minds. Then, after careful discernment and much "soul-searching" with prayer to God for guidance, they often move to a different [[church]] or [[denomination]] as being more in accord with [[truth]] and the [[Bible]], fully assured that they are doing what is right. Their friends and associates may strongly disagree, some even warning that they could possibly, or most certainly will, go to [[hell]] unless they [[Repentance|repent]] their decision. There are men of corrupt mind and counterfeit faith, deceivers and deceived,<ref>[http://biblehub.com/2_timothy/3-8.htm 2 Timothy 3:8]</ref> those who twist the scriptures to their own destruction.<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Peter+3%3A15-18&version=NRSVCE 2 Peter 3:15-18.]</ref> Credobaptists have become pedobaptists and pedobaptists have become credobaptists. Baptists have become Catholics and Orthodox, and Catholics and Orthodox have become Baptists.

Catholics rely on [[Petrine Primacy]], the authority of the [[Pope]] and the whole of Scripture and Tradition as the one deposit of the divine faith authentically interpreted by the Catholic [[Magisterium]], and they accept infant baptism.

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[[Cafeteria Christianity|Cafeteria Christians]] and [[Cafeteria Catholic]]s decide for themselves if infant baptism is right.

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Others decide for or against infant baptism based on the principle of ''[[sola spiritu]]'', relying solely on what they discern to be the will of the [[Holy Spirit]] and their own prayerful reading of the Bible apart from any other guidance or authority. They may or may not believe that an unborn baby has a soul.

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Others decide for or against infant baptism based on the principle of ''[[sola spiritu]]'', relying solely on what they discern to be the will of the [[Holy Spirit]] and their own prayerful reading of the Bible apart from any other guidance or authority. They may or may not believe that an unborn baby has a soul. They may or may not believe that baptism saves the soul of a newborn infant or a child of the "age of innocence".

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The word "''[[fetus]]''" is simply the Latin term for "little one", a baby unborn or just delivered, newborn, a little child. [[Pro-life]] nurses attending patients pregnant with unwanted babies ~~have been~~ summarily dismissed and banned for immediately baptizing [[Abortion|aborted babies]] in the delivery rooms of those hospitals and clinics whose policies ~~allow~~ the murder of babies and the removal of them from the wombs of their mothers as disposable garbage and "biological waste".

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== Baptism of aborted infants ==

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The word "''[[fetus]]''" is simply the Latin term for "little one", a baby unborn or just delivered, newborn, a little child. In the United States, during the sixties, seventies and eighties, [[Pro-life]] nurses attending patients pregnant with unwanted babies were sometimes summarily dismissed and banned for immediately baptizing [[Abortion|aborted babies]] in the delivery rooms of those hospitals and clinics whose boards of directors supported policies allowing the murder of babies, by procedures officially called "women's health care" but unofficially constituting deliberate infanticide, and the removal of them from the wombs of their mothers as disposable garbage and "biological waste", some of them still alive when they are ground up with those already dead, others tossed aside in the soiled utility room to die. Today many nurses who have discovered that they are participating in an abortion, and that the baby removed from the mother is still alive, baptize the still living baby, before it is assigned to die of total neglect, deliberately and according to policy, by the staff of the facility or clinic; and then they quit, and publicly denounce the practice. There have been doctors who believe in infant baptism who, after aborting the pregnancy, and finding that the baby has survived the procedure and is still living, will baptize the child before ordering the staff to allow it to die of total neglect, and will absolutely forbid anyone to care for it under threat of punitive [[litigation]] in reprisal against anyone who makes any attempt to do so without permission.

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== Conscience and the defense of Christian doctrine regarding infant baptism ==

[[Saint Peter]] counselled restraint and respect with courtesy regarding defense of Christian doctrine in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A15-16&version=KJV 1 Peter 3:15-16].

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According to the ''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]'' paragraph '''1776''' <ref>Catechism of the Catholic Church, Part Three: Life in Christ, Section One: Man's Vocation Life in the Spirit, Chapter One: The Dignity of the Human Person, Article 6: Moral Conscience, '''[http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p2s2c1a1.htm#1776 1776]'''</ref>{{cquote|Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in his heart at the right moment.... For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God.... His conscience is man's most secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths. [''GS'' 16.] <ref>"GS". The [[Second Vatican Council|Vatican II]] document Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World ''Gaudium et Spes'' 16.</ref>}}

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Jesus himself relied on the [[intuition]] and conscience of his hearers to discern the truth of doctrine:{{cquote|Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or ''whether'' I speak of myself. —John 7:16-17 (KJV) <ref>See [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/john/7-17.htm multiple commentaries on John 7:17]</ref>

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Jesus himself relied on the [[intuition]] and conscience of his hearers to discern the truth of doctrine:{{cquote|16 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. 17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or ''whether'' I speak of myself. —John 7:16-17 (KJV) <ref>See [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/john/7-17.htm multiple commentaries on John 7:17]</ref>

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Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. —Matthew 7:7-8 (KJV) <ref>See [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/matthew/7-8.htm multiple commentaries on Matthew 7:8]</ref>

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7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. —Matthew 7:7-8 (KJV) <ref>See [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/matthew/7-8.htm multiple commentaries on Matthew 7:8]</ref>

Judge not and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned; forgive, and ye shall be forgiven. —Luke 6:37 (KJV) <ref>See [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/6-37.htm multiple commentaries on Luke 6:37]</ref>}}

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Saint Paul ~~also~~ said{{cquote|Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God. —[http://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/4-5.htm 1 Corinthians 4:5 (KJV)]}}

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Saint Paul said{{cquote|Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God. —[http://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/4-5.htm 1 Corinthians 4:5 (KJV)]}}

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The Prophet Isaiah also said{{cquote|20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! 21 Woe unto ''them that are'' wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! —[http://biblehub.com/isaiah/5-20.htm Isaiah 5:20-21 (KJV)]}}

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And the angel of Revelation said to John{{cquote|He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. —[http://biblehub.com/revelation/22-11.htm Revelation 22:11 (RSVCE)]}}

==See also==

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