Baptisms of Marisol Helen Wilson and Zane Alton Holloway from Daniel Foucachon on Vimeo.
I grew up in a church that did not believe in baptizing babies. I myself was not baptized until the age of 19. All three of my children were baptized as infants. Why? There are Scriptural arguments for both infant and adult baptism. The reason I do this is because I will raise my children as Christians until they prove otherwise and there are great blessings to being raised in such a manner. Can I impart faith to them? Not completely, but I can raise them in an environment that will either nurture faith or reveal their lack thereof. A Jew could be circumsized, but if he did not have faith, was he truly a child of God? And my own children, the offspring of two Christian parents, should they not be considered Christians? To raise a child in the household of two believing parents and to keep them from the benefits of the church because they have not been baptized, would be to raise them as foreigners and alienate them.
Only God truly knows who has faith and who does not. Just because someone prayed a prayer, inviting Jesus into their heart, does that make that person a true believer? And just because someone was dunked, sprinkled, or dipped in water, does that make them true believer? The answer to both is NO. True faith in it's purest essence is something only God knows and gives. But the act of baptism is an act of faith we as believers are called to take and it commences all the blessings of the church to those who are so initiated. I will not withhold all the blessings that are entailed by baptism from my children and treat them inconsistently, not being sure from day to day as to whether they believe or not.. I will assume they have faith, because I, their father, the head of their household, believes. As my family's representative, I will say that my children have faith until they prove otherwise and I will raise them in that faith.