This individual had a personal choice to become a Christian. He/she chose to take on the responsibilities of being a follower of Christ. But in infant Baptism the choice is being made by the child’s parents who wish for their child to be a follower of Christ. Therefore the child is not being given the choice and is maybe being forced into practising out a faith that they are not really committed to. The child will obviously not understand how to be a Christian and therefore it will be up to its parents and community to teach it this. But what point is there in being made a Christian if you don’t even know what it involves or the responsibilities it entails? I personally didn’t understand my true mission as a follower of Christ until I was older. So for quite a long time, being a Christian to me, was a title rather than anything else and I do think this is the case for many infants today.
In the “1972 Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults”, it was issued that to be a true Christian in today’s society we need to have a mature adult faith. With Baptism come commitments and responsibilities. An infant shouldn’t be laden with these responsibilities until he/she learns how to be responsible, which I personally think happens when he/she is near adulthood. It may be argued that if Baptism was moved to an adult age then less people would make the commitment, but if we are taught and instructed on our faith and what exactly it entails then we could make the choice of whether we would be able to live up to these responsibilities rather than being made to live up to them, by the choice being made for us.
Jesus himself taught us what exactly is needed to be a follower of Christ.
“Whoever comes to me cannot be my disciple unless he loves me more than he loves his mother, father, brother, sister, wife and children and himself. Whoever comes after me and does not carry his own cross cannot be my disciple.”
Here Jesus is pointing out the commitments and responsibilities that we have when becoming a Christian, a follower of Christ. How can we possibly make an infant, who is totally oblivious to; what is happening; what it is to be a Christian; what a Christian even is, a follower of Christ in Baptism.
It is often said that infant Baptism symbolises God’s unconditional love. Love is a necessity in being a true Christian. If God’s love is unconditional then it should therefore be present throughout our lives even in childhood when we are learning how to be a Christian for later life. His love should be a guide for us to help us gather a fuller meaning into what being a Christian is, and how our love too, should always be unconditional. St Paul writes that nothing we can do can claim salvation but it is by god’s grace, through faith, that we are saved. But how are infants capable of faith if they don’t even know what it means to have faith or to even live it out?
We are told that we should look upon infant baptism as a community celebration. But Baptism in general is a community celebration whether it is performed on an infant or an adult. The community is welcoming a new Christian member. In infant baptism the community is hoping that the infant, one day, will accept Christ’s love for him/herself. If Baptism was to be performed on adults then the community could be reassured that the individual was accepting Christ’s love, as he/she would fully understand what it entails.
I don’t think infants should be baptised unless it is an extreme case, such as the child is near to death. I think infants should be taught and instructed on how to be a Christian until they fully understand its responsibilities and consequences and then have the choice of whether they are ready to take on such a role. Marriage, like Baptism is one of the seven sacraments. Marriage takes a lot of preparation and commitment and therefore I think Baptism should too!