Baptism

• The practice of infant baptism since the time of the early church was part of Augustine’s argument for original sin: it was clear that infants did not sin; they have inherited sin, otherwise baptism would be irrelevant.
• Baptism is a sacrament, which Augustine defined as ‘an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible grace.’ Baptismal water is used by God to save.
• Baptism therefore saves a baby from damnation (John 3:5) but there is, of course, still the need to grow in the Christian life.
• Augustine said that infant baptism is like the removal of a disease; one is left in a weakened condition; this weakness is remedied by Christian growth and other sacraments.
• Huldrych Zwingli (15th-16th c CE) was a Swiss reformer who believed that the Bible is the sole source of truth.
• Zwingli believed that the practice of infant baptism goes back to the Early Church (Acts 16:15;33).
• Zwingli rejected sacramental views: God alone saves, with or without water.
• Zwingli supported infant baptism on the grounds that it replaced circumcision as a sign of the covenant (Colossians 2:11-12), Christ welcomed children (Matthew 9:13-14), and that it is an occasion for parents to make pledges.
• 20th century theologian Karl Barth supported ‘believer’s baptism’: baptism only following a profession of faith – usually by full immersion (Acts 8:35-36).
• All of the baptisms described in the New Testament occur after a profession of faith.
• At the time of the reformation, those who practised believer’s baptism were called ‘Anabaptists’ (lit. ‘baptise again’).
• Rebaptism was condemned at the Council of Trent in 1547.
• As Anabaptists viewed infant baptism as unscriptural, they did not see themselves as baptising ‘again’.
• Barth stressed that it is the person of Jesus is the sacrament of God (the outward sign of an inward and invisible grace) – not any ritual of the church.
• Barth criticised the Church for always wanting to attain to more power than it has, for trying to mediate God’s grace.
• Baptism for Barth is symbolic representation of salvation having already taken place in a believer’s life. It is a human response to God.
• Churches which practice believer’s baptism today usually require a profession of faith prior to the act.
• Churches that practice infant baptism require promises from parents and others to raise the child in the faith until they ‘confirm’ their faith as adults.