[aruanan]

Calvin did twist The Doctor of Grace’s teaching, but sorry, infant baptism didn’t come from St Augustine, but St Paul.

Are you saying that because you know it or remember someone saying it?

Infant baptism is not mentioned by any of the Apostolic Fathers. It came about because of the growth of the idea of original sin as an ontological reality that was transmitted genetically that could be "cleansed" by baptism. Jesus described the relationship between children and sin in a quite different way.

Here are the three verses in the Pauline epistles that mention baptism at all. Where's the infant?

Romans 6:4
We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Ephesians 4:5
...one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

Colossians 2:12 ...having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.


A few from Augustine on the subject of infant baptism:

"If you wish to be a Catholic, do not believe, nor say, nor teach, that infants who die before baptism can obtain the remission of original sin." --On the Soul, Book III

""Whoever says that even infants are vivified in Christ when they depart this life without the participation of His Sacrament (Baptism), both opposes the Apostolic preaching and condemns the whole Church which hastens to baptize infants, because it unhesitatingly believes that otherwise they can not possibly be vivified in Christ."--Epistle 28.

"When children are presented to be given spiritual grace, it is not so much those holding them in their arms who present them—although, if these people are good Christians, they are included among those who present the children—as the whole company of saints and faithful Christians.... It is done by the whole of Mother Church which is in the saints, since it is as a whole that she gives birth to each and every one of them."--Epistle 98.

[topcat54]

Here is a fairly decent high level view of infant baptism. There are many other resources available that offer a biblical justification for the practice.

[Cronos]

I'm sorry, Aruanan, but infant baptism has been practised since apostolic times -- right from when entire households were baptised in Christ.

In the New Testament we read that Lydia was converted by Paul’s preaching and that "She was baptized, with her household" (Acts 16:15). The Philippian jailer whom Paul and Silas had converted to the faith was baptized that night along with his household. We are told that "the same hour of the night . . . he was baptized, with all his family" (Acts 16:33). And in his greetings to the Corinthians, Paul recalled that, "I did baptize also the household of Stephanas" (1 Cor. 1:16).

In all these cases, whole households or families were baptized. This means more than just the spouse; the children too were included. If this mean just the Philippian jailer and his wife, then we would read that "he and his wife were baptized," but we do not. The same applies to the other cases of household baptism in Scripture.

Also, note that infant baptism is simply accepted by all early Christians, no debates whereas we have a lot of discussions about other aspects that were disputed, which shows that infant baptism just plainly WAS right from the Apostolic times