[ears_to_hear]

Response: All right, let’s explore them one at a time starting with Baptism—including Infant Baptism, which is always good for a debate. You will note in the Book of Acts that early Christians were Baptized after they repented and received Jesus. In Ch 16 Paul baptized the jailer and his entire family, as did Peter with the household of Cornelius who was the first Gentile Christian. We can assume that there were children in the family, thus infants were undoubtedly baptized. John 3:5 says that a man (pardon the male chauvinism) must be born again of the water and the spirit to enter the kingdom of heaven. The Catholic belief, based on Bible exegesis and Tradition is that water baptism removes original sin through the mystical combination of the water and the spirit.

Jesus explains what He meant right in the next verse....

Water is referring to the mothers "bag of water" not baptism...

Niccodemius asked how can a man go back into the womb and come out again (through the "bag of water")

This is what Jesus said to him

Jhn 3:4 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?

Jhn 3:5 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.

Notice how He points out the difference between being born through the mothers bag of water and being born again

Jhn 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; **( the mothers womb)** and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Traditionally in scripture the Holy Spirit is described as living water..

[annalex]

Water is referring to the mothers "bag of water" not baptism...

The "womb" is referred to explicitly in John 3. There would have been no need to invent the figure of water in order to refer to the womb, especially since water is firstly related to baptism. This is simply a counterscriptural myth about John 3.

The author's point, however, is that children baptism is compatible with scripture because baptism is an act of birth. What you think of John 3:5 has no bearing on that one way or another.