Encore Post: From the early days of the Church, she has baptized the infants and young children of believers. When the first Christians were baptized, their children, families and whole households were included. (Acts 2:37-40, Acts 16:15, Acts 16:33, Acts 18:8, 1 Corinthians 1:16) Beginning at the latest, in the 4th Century (300-400 AD), the majority of Christians were baptized shortly after they were born. Even today, most Christians are baptized during their childhood.
The Anabaptist movement of the 16th Century (1500-1600 AD) was the first Christian tradition to challenge infant baptism. Martin Luther pointed out that the first point to make when defending baptizing children begins here. Jesus promised that he would build his Church and the gates of hell would not defeat it. (Matthew 16:18) If infant baptism was not valid, he argued, the Church would not exist in their day and Jesus would be a false prophet. Since the Church does exist, had prospered and done the will of God to preach the Gospel, infant baptism must be valid.
As previous posts have covered, there is much more to the challenge to infant baptism by Evangelicals. Mostly in has to do with a completely different way of viewing the sacrament. Over the next few posts, I’ll consider the other reasons why Lutherans believe God wants us to baptize infants. If you want to get a head start, please review the posts linked below.
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