Copied and paste is about all a person like you is good for ~ as time permits, I may take your copied and paste words from most likely EOC heretics little sister of RCC. I have little time to waste on folks who truly have no love for only the scriptures, but have a strong desire to include history, church father heretics, etc., ~ since I'm engaged in a debate @Jeremeiah 1 Five, which I think is more important than wasting time with someone like you who just wants to push his personal agenda/bias ~ not the very word of God, which is obvious after reading a few more posts of yours, especially this oneThank you for forwarding your understanding of infant baptism. Besides the archeological evidence that does support the Apostolic/Early Church practice of Infant Baptism, the following is also further proof of that Apostolic practice:
Bible Audience
First of all, many people fail to understand who the audience (target group) of the Bible is. The Bible is directed to those who can read or can cognitively listen and that demands a level of cognition that obviously infants do not possess. That's why if you want to learn about infant baptism, you must go to baptismal verses that actually refer to or that actually involve infants such as Acts 2:38-39 and 1 Corinthians 10:1-4.
Acts 2:38-39
“And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far off as many as the Lord our God shall call to Himself ” (Acts 2:38,39).
That’s the promise of the Holy Spirit for all children under the authority of their parents. That authority held until the child was at least 13 years of age at which point he or she was usually married off and no longer under their parents’ authority.
Baptism of Moses
Moses’ leading his people through the Red Sea is seen as an Old Testament foreshadowing of Christian baptism. The following New Testament passage clearly points to this: “For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them, and that rock was Christ.” (1 Corinthians 10:1-4) It is worthwhile to note that “all were baptized” through Moses’ leadership in crossing over the Red Sea. He did not leave the infants or children on the shores of Egypt to become prey to the angry armies of Pharaoh because they were not old enough to believe in the promise of the Old Covenant. Rather, entrusted to the arms of their parents’ faith, they were carried through the “baptism of Moses.”
Where is the Alternative to Infant Baptism?
If the baptism of infants was not acceptable during New Testament times, then when does Scripture mention the alternative – the baptism of the children of Christian parents once they have matured out of infancy? The Bible never gives one example of the baptism of a Christian child as an adult. It is important that Scripture also does not speak of an “age of accountability or reason” (which many pinpoint at 13 years) when a child’s capacity to believe the Gospel is developed enough so that he can receive baptism. Neither does the Bible state that every child is in a “suspended state of salvation” until they have reached this age, which one would have to believe if he held to the “age of accountability” theory.
Baptism is not just a metaphor
Baptism is not just a symbolic testimony of what God has done in the heart of an adult believer, but is in itself a dynamic means of actually effecting the power of the Gospel (the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ) in a life (Romans 6:4). Christian baptism is the means whereby we encounter and identify with Jesus Christ Himself. This is one of the reasons why Paul explains baptism as the manner in which we genuinely “put on” or “clothe” ourselves with Christ (Galatians 3:27).
History
There is no evidence that anyone being against infant baptism in the early Church on the grounds that you must first “believe” and be baptized. Tertulian (160 230 A.D.), was the only one who questioned infant baptism. The bulk of his objection, however, was due to his heresy that sin after baptism was unforgivable.
That proves that from Apostolic times all the way to Anabaptist times, there was no issue with infant baptism as a whole. If you want to side with the anti-Apostolic Anabaptists then be my guest.
Infant Baptism is not enough
Of course, Baptism in and of itself is not enough. It must be accompanied by genuine faith. No parents should be allowed to baptize their infant if they themselves have not made an expressed commitment to serve Jesus Christ and raise their child in accordance with God’s Word. As adults, we are called to accept the challenge of our baptism and live dedicated lives for Christ. If we do any less, we have rejected Christ and the gift of salvation He has made available to us since our birth.