Original Sin And Infant Baptism

Q

I am not Catholic but have serious concerns on witnessing to a Catholic friend about the subject of Infant baptism and the Catholic teaching of babies go to hell when they die if they have not been baptized. I want to be bible based factual when I witness.

A

Catholics believe in the concept of original sin, that we’re all born with the sin of Adam. If that sin isn’t cleansed in infant baptism then if the baby dies it goes to hell.

This is not a Biblical concept. Matt. 18:10 says that each little one has a guardian angel who is always in the presence of the Father. This would not be true of a condemned one.

In Romans 7:9 Paul wrote that as a child below the age of accountability, he had eternal life. When he became accountable, he lost it. He went on to say that from that point on nothing he could do on his own could restore him to eternal life. Only the Lord’s substitutionary death could accomplish that.

Infant baptism is really a dedication ceremony. It doesn’t bring salvation or a cleansing from sin. It’s when parents dedicate their child to God, and is an adaptation of the Jewish circumcision without the shedding of blood.