A Few More (Quick) Thoughts on Baptizing Babies

1. There are quite a number of decisions that are made for babies by those entrusted with their care... In fact, some of these are the most immediately important decisions of life (i.e., to feed, to aid with breathing, to clothe or swaddle, etc.). Some of these, yes, happen to be religious in nature (i.e., to raise within or without a religious context, including --though certainly not limited to-- prayer, Scripture, church, or even the neglect of these).

2. In regards to decisions which must inevitably be made in behalf of a child, the fact is that the burden of responsible choice lies squarely on the shoulders of the child's parents --or others entrusted with their care-- alon

3. Until a child learns autonomy, he is in a very real way an inevitable beneficiary of his parents' choosing, whether for the good or the bad. If his parents move to another state or nation, he will gain the benefits or the detriments of said choice. If his parents are Taoists, he will, again, gain something that would inevitably have been not his were they not. Likewise, if they are Christians...

4. Religious circumcision having become sacramentally obsolete, baptism is most immediately and intimately tied to covenantal faith and divine grace.

5. In large part, we who inhabit the churches of American Evangelicalism tend to think of Christian baptism as being a sign (or, testament) to our "personal" faith in Jesus. We should take to heart the historical fact that the Church for the greater part of two millennia understood Christian baptism to be a sign (or, mark) of the grace of God on a person coming to faith. That being so, baptism was assumed to be available to and encouraged for anyone with the direct hope of coming to faith in Christ (i.e., a child being raised in a Christian home, a person being brought into the congregational life of a church, etc.).

Just some thoughts, here...