pagan origin of infant baptism

NO! One ancient pandemic even helped to establish the Christian rite of baptism administered to little children and infantsa practice not attested in early Christian communities until the late second century.1. ", "Doctrine - Frequently Asked Questions - The Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod", "Why Does the Orthodox Presbyterian Church Baptize Infants? 2.2 (Turin: Einaudi, 1991), p. 710. . If you can not give, Please pray the Lord sends someone who can! If today the tone of the debate has somewhat dampened, it is due more to a certain fatigue than to a consensus. His opposition to it is founded on his view of the regenerating effect of baptism, and of the impossibility of having mortal sins forgiven in the church after baptism; this ordinance cannot be repeated, and washes out only the guilt contracted before its reception. Thus the term, ANABAPTISTSwhich meant RE-BAPTIZERS! Cyprian, and a council of sixty-six bishops held at Carthage in 253 under his lead, decided for the earlier time, yet without condemning the delay. (Much of the following was taken from the pamphlet written by the Late Dr. William Pettingill on INFANT BAPTISM). How does pouring or sprinkling illustrate the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ? Sometime during 165 C.E., under Emperor Marcus Aurelius (r. 161180), the Roman Empire was struck by the first documented devastating outbreak of an infectious disease.a Known as the Antonine Plague, it probably was the first appearance of smallpox in the Mediterranean and Europe. Thirty years later, with Irenaeus, the situation seems to have changed, and, after 20 more years, we learn from Tertullian that the practice of infant baptism was implemented unreservedly. Further south, among the MFIOTE people of Loango, when the child is three or four months old he is sprinkled with water in the presence of all the dwellers in the village, and is called by the name of an illustrious ancestor., (A)mong the tribes of th GABUN(:) When a birth has taken place, the fact is announced by a public crier. It was later shortened to Baptists. He wrote the book Il battesimo dei bambini (2010). These Bible Believing Christians were labeled slanderously as ANABAPTISTS because they rejected this idea of baptizing babies as pagan and not Scriptural. To illustrate this great number of those anabaptists slain, Anderson said if you lined 40 million people in a line, four abreast and four feet apart, and they marched by at normal marching pace, it would take 4 years and 4 months for this number of people to march by!!! A believer seeks baptism because the irreversible change has already occurred in his heart. However, this is not mandatory. In any case, there is no mention of infants in any of these three instances of household baptisms, and it is an argument from silence to say that there must have been small children. They that understand the weight of baptism will rather dread the receiving of it, than the delaying of it. [40], The Church has no dogmatic official teaching regarding the fate of infants who die without baptism, and theologians of the Church hold various views (in particular, many have asserted that they go to Limbo). Every time the topic is tackled, children are considered pure regardless. "[24][25] Three passages by Origen (185c. [109][110], Teachings of Christian denominations practicing infant baptism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and the Church of the East, Presbyterian, Congregational and Reformed Churches, Contrasts between infant and adult baptism, Denominations and religious groups opposed to infant baptism, "the Didache, the earliest surviving 'pastoral manual' of the Christian church" (, "Before the baptism let the baptizer fast, and the baptized, and whoever else can; but you shall order the baptized to fast one or two days before" (, Walker, W. (1919). One anabaptist pastor was taken, his body CUT open, and ears of corn stuffed inside, and hungry dogs not fed for 4 days turned loose to devour the mans entrails and corn inside. He then, In JAPAN the name is given to the child when it is a month old, water being at the same time sprinkled upon it., (A)mong the CHINESEto prevent a demon soul taking possession of the childs body in the absence of its own soul, the mother mixes the ash of banana-skin with water, and paints, The heathen TEUTONS had a baptismal rite long before Christian influences had reached them. pagan origin of infant baptism. Also normally made of white fabric, the outfit consists of a romper with a vest or other accessories. However, it more than likely was the greatest tragedy in church history because it resulted in the union of church and state and the establishment of a hierarchy which ultimately developed into the Roman Catholic system. Before the Massachusetts Bay Colony was twenty years old, the following was decreed by statute: If any person or persons within this jurisdiction shall either openly condemn or oppose the baptizing of infants, or go about secretly to seduce others from the approbation or use thereof, or shall purposely depart from the congregation at the administration of the ordinance after due time and means of conviction, every such person or persons shall be subject to banishment The fact that such Baptism was practiced 2000 years before it was even mentioned and practiced in Christianity is an established fact, and it can be traced right back to Babylon and Semiramis herself! These ANABAPTISTS were persecuted greatly because of this issue! These unusual religious manifestations probably began around 166.3. Infant baptism[1][2] (or paedobaptism) is the practice of baptising infants or young children. In many of these churches, the Sacred Mystery of Chrismation (Confirmation) is administered by the priest immediately after baptism. . [30], Based on their understanding of New Testament passages such as Colossians 2:1112, Christians who baptize infants believe that infant baptism is the New Testament counterpart to the Old Testament circumcision. The General Council of Trent, Seventh Session (1547) Canons on the Sacraments in General: (a) If anyone, shall say that the sacraments of the New Law were not all instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ, or that there are more or fewer than seven, namely baptism, confirmation, (b) If anyone shall say that the sacraments of the New Law are not necessary for, (c) If anyone. A History of the Christian Church. For they may either fail of their promise by death, or they may be mistaken by a childs proving of wicked disposition. Christians likely managed to face and overcome the epidemic with greater success than pagans. Lorraine Boettner, in his ROMAN CATHOLICISM, p190, declared, The Romish doctrine was so horrible and so unacceptable to the public that it was found necessary to invent a third realm, the Limbus Infantum later shortened to Limboa place where unbaptized infants are sent, in which they are excluded from heaven but in which they suffer no positive PAIN. IT IS THE TEACHING OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH THAT BABIES ARE BORN DEMON-POSSESSED AND NEED TO BE EXORCISED: DAttwater, A CATHOLIC DICTIONARY; N.Y.: MacMillan, 1956; p. 44: At the solemn baptism of a child, it is first exorcised, signed with the cross and salt is administeredthenanother exorcism., IN THE BOOK THE RITES OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH (approved by the national conference of Catholic Bishops, published by authority of Pope Paul VI), we find several PRAYERS OF EXORCISM AND ANOINTING BEFORE BAPTISM. (pp. The earliest explicit mention of infant baptism in the history of the church is from the African church father Tertullian, who lived from about AD 160 to about 220. [103] To confirm means to "make more sure" and the ordinance of confirmation stands as a witness of the individual becoming a member of the LDS Church and not just an acceptance of Jesus. The major principle is that baptism, as the sign and means of God's love that precedes any action on our part and that frees from original sin and communicates divine life, must not be delayed. The Catholic Church yet has to fully embrace that thinking. . Their marriage rites were not on the basis ours are. Augustine (died A.D. 430) taught that unbaptized babies suffer pain in HELL! If a person is trusting in baptism for salvation, he cannot be trusting in Him. The priest would say I want the title to that section of land. The pandemic generated a religious response in the highest echelons of Roman society. Infant baptism is an act of consecration, and looks to subsequent instruction and personal conversion, as a condition to full membership of the church. God is Exposing and Purging the Whore Of Babylon! As we look into the history of the church the issue of infant baptism has not been the problem it has been in recent centuries. [22] Due to its reference to Eleutherus as the current bishop of Rome, the work is usually dated c. If that child is old enough to realize that he cannot take his sin to heaven, and that he is lost and a sinner, than that child is old enough to be saved. . Having been taught all his life that this saved him, he naturally considers himself saved by the act of infant baptism. In the churches of Egypt infant baptism must have been practised from the first. However, smallpox tends to cause a high mortality among children, and Christians certainly were not exempt. No wonder the Book of Revelation declared in Revelation 17:6 that this great HARLOT false religion had become DRUNK with the BLOOD of the SaintsHistorian and Bible commentator Sir Robert Anderson estimated that thru out the middle ages OVER 40 MILLION people were murdered and martyred over this one doctrine of INFANT BAPTISM! Nimrod and the tower of Babel; The mother and child story; The roots of the trinity; Pagan Christian Celebrations and Rituals. p.95. All-Access Members: See the full article in the BAS Library. Marcus Aurelius restored temples and shrines, summoned priests, and called for every form of prayer to calm the divine anger that he believed was at the origin of the plague. ad Fidum. A: BAPTIZING BABIES WAS A PRACTICE OF PAGAN RELIGIONS! [20] However, inscriptions dating back to the 2nd century which refer to young children as "children of God" may indicate that Christians customarily baptised infants too. I was made a member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of God., (This is printed in the prayer book and can be read by anyone interested enough to look for it.). Sign up to receive our email newsletter and never miss an update. Just as the farmer would go down to the pigpen and pick out the pigs he wanted to keep and do away with the runts, so was the father the one who decided if the child was to be kept and allowed to live. The mother had no right at all to determine whether the child she bore was to live or not, that was le ft up to the FATHER. As stated earlier, little children who die in infancy are covered by the Blood of Christ and will go to heaven. At the same time, infant baptism and christening became a dominant trend, as Christian parents wanted to have their young children baptized. ENCYCLOPEDIA AMERICANA (1990): "Among the GREEKS AND ROMANS the newborn child was bathed and named, and recognized by the father as his own." Notice these quotations: Q: IF INFANT BAPTISM IS NOT TAUGHT IN THE BIBLE.WHERE DID IT COME FROM? Haer. Throughout the subapostolic period, there is no explicit reference to the baptism of children. because he believed it was wrong to baptize BABIES. The Trinity is a pagan concept; The Pagan Origins. Christ is not ONE way of salvation; He is the ONLY WAY salvation. III. As a seal, also, or confirming sign, baptism answers to circumcision. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. If the child was decided to be kept, the daddy would take it down to the pagan priest and the ceremony would be arranged. If there is satisfactory assurance, i.e., "any pledge giving a well-founded hope for the Christian upbringing of the children", then "the priest cannot refuse to celebrate the sacrament without delay, as in the case of children of Christian families". Catholic and Orthodox churches that do this do not sprinkle. (Adversus haereses 2.22.4). It includes infants, women, men, and teenagers, even though none of these groups is specifically named. It then responded to objections that baptism should follow faith, that the person baptized should consciously receive the grace of the sacrament, that the person should freely accept baptism, that infant baptism is unsuitable in a society marked by instability of values and conflicts of ideas, and that the practice is inimical to a missionary outlook on the part of the Church. At the time of his supposed vision of the sign of As we have said so many times, we believe all babies and children below the age of accountability am protected by the Lord respecting their eternal soul. Last edited on 22 February 2023, at 17:39, Learn how and when to remove these template messages, texts from within a religion or faith system, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Francoise-Athenais, Marquise de Montespan, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Covenant theology Wesleyan covenant theology, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "Catechism of the Catholic Church, How is the Sacrament of Baptism Celebrated? When Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official STATE RELIGION of Rome, one of the FIRST LAWS passed was the law decreeing infant baptism as the law of the land in 416 A.D. That simply meant that everybody within a certain age limit had to conform to it. [102], According to legal professor and former Irish president Mary McAleese, as outlined in her doctoral thesis, infant baptism amounts to "enforced membership of the Catholic Church", which violates fundamental rights of children. : Paedag. Categories . On the same ground he advises healthy adults, especially the unmarried, to postpone this sacrament until they shall be no longer in danger of forfeiting forever the grace of baptism by committing adultery, murder, apostasy, or any other of the seven crimes which he calls mortal sins. For more, see Francesco Arduini, Il battesimo dei bambini (Rome: Aracne Editrice, 2010). Comp. If these request that a child of theirs be baptized, there must be assurances that the child will be given the benefit of the Christian upbringing required by the sacrament. Consequently, from the earliest days, they were sharply persecuted and leaders were soon executed. Carroll from his TRAIL OF BLOOD no other doctrine that ever found its way into Christendom has caused so much BLOODSHED in this world as the doctrine of INFANT BAPTISM.. The ceremony took place immediately after birth, the father sprinkling the child, giving it a name, and consecrating it to the household god., (T)he LAPPSin heathen times, had a ceremony called, EPHESIANS 2:8-9. V. Opp. At the moment of baptism, the minister utters the words "I baptise you (or, 'The servant of God (name) is baptised') in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" (see Matthew 28:19). (1885). Such ceremonies are general in WEST AFRICA. NOWHERE in the Bible is there scripture that supports the pagan practice of Infant baptism. [17], The earliest extra-biblical directions for baptism,[18] which occur in the Didache (c. 100),[19] are taken to be about baptism of adults, since they require fasting by the person to be baptised. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.. M.: Dial. Hence confirmation came in as a supplement to infant baptism.. Historian J.M.Carroll declares, For 30 miles on the road leading out of Rome were stakes with gory heads of ANAPTISTS., INFANT BAPTISM BECAME THE LAW OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, Occasionally someone will say, Dont you think infant baptism is beautiful to look at? A.A.Davis replies, If you knew the history of that doctrine, where it came from and the bloodshed that it brought into the world, you would never watch another such service in your lifetime. (THE BAPTIST STORY, p67).