Over whom is the mystery of baptism performed?
The sacred rite of baptism should be performed over all who turn "from darkness to light, from the power of satan to God" (Acts 26:18), who have renounced satan and his kingdom and are passing into the Kingdom of God, into the community of Christ, into His Church.
Is there any other means, or sacred rite, by which one could enter the Church?
No, because the Savior also said: "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). Therefore, it is clarified in Scripture that baptism is like the door through which one enters the Church; baptism is the sacred rite that joins one to the Church; thus it is said of those baptized on the day of Pentecost, that "about three thousand souls were added" (Acts 2:41). Therefore, of all Christians, the Apostle Paul said: "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body" (1 Cor. 12:13), "which is the church" (Col. 1:24).
Whom, then, can be received into the Church of Christ?
All who come to Christ—both adults and children. "The one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out," said the Savior (John 6:37).
Should children also be brought to Christ?
They should, and no one can prevent this. Even before His glorification, the Lord clarified this through the following circumstance. "Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, 'Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it'" (Mark 10:13-15).
Do sectarians allow children to come to Christ through baptism?
No, they do not, although the Savior clearly said that we should not hinder children from coming to Christ. All sectarians, with the exception of one or two Molokan sects, reject the Christian baptism of infants.
How do sectarians justify their insanely cruel attitude towards children?
The sectarians say that children will be saved even without baptism, because, they claim, the Savior said of children: "of such is the kingdom of God" (Mark 10:14).
Is such a justification of the sectarians correct?
No, it is not correct, because the Savior did not say that the Kingdom of God belongs to children, but spoke only of the qualities of children and, specifically, said that "of such" who are like children (i.e., who are guileless and trusting, like children) is the Kingdom of God. If sectarians think that children will enter the Kingdom of God without baptism, then they must also consider that adults should enter the Church without baptism, because the Savior said that adults must receive the Kingdom of God like children: "Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it" (Mark 10:15). If among sectarians children receive the Kingdom of God without baptism, then let adults also enter it without baptism; however, Baptists, Adventists, and Pashkovites reject Christian baptism, yet they bathe their adult followers in imitation of baptism.
Perhaps children are indeed pure and sinless without baptism?
No, all people are sinful, because "just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned" (Rom. 5:12).
But, perhaps, the Apostle says this about adults, while children, as having little understanding, are not considered sinners?
The Apostles made no exception for children. All Scripture affirms that children are also subject to sinful defilement. "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity," says the Psalmist, "and in sin my mother conceived me" (Ps. 51:5). And in the book of Job we read: "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one!" (Job 14:4).
If we consider that all children will be saved without baptism, then we must recognize that all pagan children are the most perfect beings. Yet the Apostle calls pagan, unbaptized children "unclean" (1 Cor. 7:14).
What do sectarians say when these texts, proving the sinfulness, the uncleanness of unbaptized children, are pointed out to them, and when the baptism of children is required of them?
Sectarians admit that pagan children are indeed unclean; but they consider their own children clean, and for their justification they cite the words of the Apostle Paul: "For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy" (1 Cor. 7:14).
Is such a justification of the sectarians well-founded?
No, it is not well-founded, for in the Apostle's words (1 Cor. 7:14) the thought is that every Christian mother will lead or try to lead her husband and children from pagan uncleanness to Christianity, and likewise a Christian husband will strive to lead his wife and children to Christianity.
If we understand that from the marriage of a Christian woman with a pagan, holy children will be born, i.e., children who are Christians by their very birth, even if they are not baptized, then we would have to admit that a pagan husband, since he is married to a Christian, also need not be baptized, because, after all, it is said: "the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife." Yet he is baptized.
Finally, if we consider that children of a Christian wife are holy by their very birth, then baptism should be completely abolished, since Scripture does not indicate the age at which holy children become sinful. Christ, however, did not teach thus; He said: "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5).
What basis do we have for the necessity of baptizing infants?
Scripture says that baptism replaced circumcision. "In Him (Christ)," says the Apostle Paul, "you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism" (Col. 2:11-12). And since circumcision was performed on eight-day-old infants (Gen. 17:12), then baptism, which replaced it, should also be performed on infants.
Do infants indeed receive those gracious promises that are granted in baptism?
Yes, they do, as the Apostle Peter declared to all the first hearers of his sermon, offering in baptism to receive forgiveness of sins. "For the promise," he says, "is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call" (Acts 2:39).
What do sectarians reply to such proofs of the necessity of infant baptism?
Sectarians say: infants cannot be baptized because baptism requires a confession of faith on the part of the one being baptized, according to the saying: "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned" (Mark 16:16). Infants cannot believe and confess their faith, therefore, the sectarians conclude, they cannot be baptized.
What is the error of the sectarians here?
The words they cite from the Gospel of Mark refer not to infants, but to adults, from whom conscious faith and consent to baptism can and must be required. If these words are applied to children, then it would mean that all children are necessarily condemned, since it is said: "he who does not believe will be condemned" (Mark 16:16); infants, due to their lack of understanding, are incapable of believing what the Church of Christ preaches; therefore, according to the sectarian understanding, they should be condemned.
In reality, according to Christian understanding, infants should be baptized according to the faith of those who bring them to Christ: according to the faith of parents and sponsors. Just as Christ blessed the children (Mark 10:16) according to the faith in Him of those who brought them, so the Savior grants infants the grace of baptism, according to the faith of their parents and sponsors.
If we agree with the sectarians that only those who can make a personal confession can be baptized, then perhaps we could not baptize the deaf and mute either. Should they really be deprived of the Kingdom of God? Of course not: the deaf and mute must be baptized.
Can the grace of God be given to some through the faith of others?
It can, and there are many examples of this in Scripture. By the faith of the centurion, his servant was healed (Matt. 8:6-13); by the faith of the Canaanite woman, her daughter was healed; the paralytic, let down through the roof, was healed by the faith of those who brought him (Mark 2:5); by the faith of the father, his demon-possessed son was healed (Mark 9:24-28); by the faith of the widow of Nain, her son was raised (Luke 7:13-15).
Was there ever a time in Christianity when infants were not baptized?
There was no such time. Many Fathers of the Church of the first centuries unanimously testify to this, and all Church writers unanimously call this custom apostolic.
That Christians always baptized infants is proven by the inscriptions on the tombs of Christian children in the Roman catacombs from the first centuries of Christianity. Such inscriptions on tombs have been preserved: "Here rests in peace Philip, a believing child;" and also: "Aurelius Melitus, a child, a believing Christian." It is clear that the children were baptized. This is further confirmed by inscriptions irrefutably proving that children were baptized and therefore called believers: in some inscriptions children are called: "believers from believing parents," i.e., Christians from Christian parents. Those who died before baptism are called "neophytes," i.e., newly converted. On one tomb there is an inscription about two brothers, one of whom is called "believing," i.e., baptized, and the other "neophyte," i.e., newly converted, but not yet having received baptism.
After such proofs, do sectarians recognize the necessity of infant baptism?
No, they do not, and they say that children are incapable of receiving the grace of God.
Is this true?
No, it is not true. Christ the Savior knew better than the sectarians whether children are capable of receiving the grace of His blessing, "and He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them" (Mark 10:16). Why then deprive them of the grace of God now? Let children also, like adults, put on Christ in holy baptism, according to what is written: "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Gal. 3:27). And that children are indeed capable of receiving the grace of God is evident from the following sacred examples. Of the prophet Jeremiah, God said: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations" (Jer. 1:5).
Also of John the Baptist, it was said that he "will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb" (Luke 1:15).
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