Does the Bible discuss the baptism of infants (or children young enough to not make the choice themselves)? If not, where did the tradition of baptizing infants come from
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In Acts 10, Peter apparently baptizes the entire household of Cornelius. The baptism of infants was also practiced from the very beginning of the Church's history.
I'll let those with a far better knowledge of church history answer the larger question of "how did we get here".
The Bible does not specifically describe the baptism of infants, only adults. We do see examples, however, of infants and children being specifically included in the community of believers. We see children being dedicated to the Lord (as Jesus himself was). Jesus himself specifically invited children to be a part of the community of believers (e.g. Matthew 19:13-15).
Those who practice infant baptism often use this greater example as a justification for the practice. However, even those who practice infant baptism note that this is a promise made by the parents, not the child. At some future time, the baptized child must take on the promise for him/herself.
Unless they don't see a promise inherent in baptism at all. In the Eastern tradition all sacraments of initiation are done in infancy, and a person is expected to work the rest out themselves.
The Bible mentions families being baptized together. It is reasonable to infer the baptizing of infants/those below an age of reason (not that ancient societies tended to have a conception of childhood or legal personhood that advanced).
For Catholics and Orthodox, the answer comes from Tradition - we have records in the Church Fathers encouraging baptism of infants in the first few centuries after Christ. We've literally been doing it that way for 2000 years and see no reason not to.
The biggest thing for us is that sacraments work regardless of the state of the person they're performed on. It doesn't matter whether the person knows what's going on or not - we had a little girl in our parish who had severe mental disabilities and may not have understood anything about religion, but we regularly gave her the sacraments anyway. The even shorter answer is "sometimes babies die."
The notion that all Christian traditions must revolve around the Bible ignores that the Hebrew Bible is relating to the customs, histories, and writings of a group of tribal peoples of Palestine and the Christian Bible is written in shoddy marketplace Greek. Hardly the foundation from which to derive all sources of Divine Revelation in the sense that the Evangelical/Fundamentalist Protestants do. That's why the Catholics and Orthodox quite sensibly embrace Tradition.
Infant Baptism arose from the idea that children died in carload lots in ancient times and since baptism cleansed of sin, people wanted each child baptized so that if they died before becoming a Confirmed member of the Church they would be accepted into Heaven.
I believe you are correct; to elaborate a bit, while some Christians suspected that unbaptized infants would go to heaven, they believed they'd be much better off baptized anyway; one analogy was that the unbaptized would be "blind" to some of the delights of heaven, while the baptized would "see" everything there. This is all tied into "baptism as illumination" which is a prominent theme throughout the life of the Church from the beginning.
Right. Those born into the Faith tended to be baptized early on, those who converted tended to get around the baptism cleanses of sin by being baptized on their deathbed, like the Emperor Constantine.
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The Bible does not specifically describe the baptism of infants, only adults. We do see examples, however, of infants and children being specifically included in the community of believers. We see children being dedicated to the Lord (as Jesus himself was). Jesus himself specifically invited children to be a part of the community of believers (e.g. Matthew 19:13-15).
Those who practice infant baptism often use this greater example as a justification for the practice. However, even those who practice infant baptism note that this is a promise made by the parents, not the child. At some future time, the baptized child must take on the promise for him/herself.
Reply
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For Catholics and Orthodox, the answer comes from Tradition - we have records in the Church Fathers encouraging baptism of infants in the first few centuries after Christ. We've literally been doing it that way for 2000 years and see no reason not to.
The biggest thing for us is that sacraments work regardless of the state of the person they're performed on. It doesn't matter whether the person knows what's going on or not - we had a little girl in our parish who had severe mental disabilities and may not have understood anything about religion, but we regularly gave her the sacraments anyway. The even shorter answer is "sometimes babies die."
Reply
Infant Baptism arose from the idea that children died in carload lots in ancient times and since baptism cleansed of sin, people wanted each child baptized so that if they died before becoming a Confirmed member of the Church they would be accepted into Heaven.
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