So Why Does it Seem that Traditional Church Communities do not Celebrate Infant Baptisms as an Overcoming of Sin and Death?

I have only attended two infant baptisms in a handful of years in traditional Christian communities. The first was at a Roman Catholic Church and the second at an Episcopal Church. Both experiences were very similar but both were very revealing about what we believe and what we say.

At the Roman Catholic service, the priest told the congregation how there is no evidence in the Bible that infant baptism exists and furthermore that the purpose of infant baptism was introduction into the community. While it is certainly true that there is no evidence of infant baptism in the scriptures, there is no official doctrinaire statement that baptism in Roman Catholicism is about entrance or introduction into the community as a primary meaning of the sacrament. It certainly sounds great and certainly it is the effect of baptism, but the notion of original sin was simply bumped out of the ceremony.

 

 

In the second infant baptism, the church leader giving the sermon was more specific and expressed to the family whose infant was being baptized that no infant has done anything wrong to invite God’s judgment. Such an interpretation clearly challenges the traditional understanding of the 39 articles in Episcopal circles. And it depends upon whether you see these as doctrines or guidelines or something in between.

In both, the theme was clear: there was a palpable discomfort in talking about original sin or the effects of sin in the world. What was present were cute little infants dressed in their flowing white dresses, smiling faces beaming at the infant, and a general atmosphere of happiness. And why shouldn’t there be happiness? But was it based on the introduction of an infant into a religious community, or was there pure joy that these infants, separated from God, are now joined in salvation. Is there a true understanding and happiness that what was once lost (even if for 6 months of life) is now found? I don’t think so. And I think we understand this instinctually. Certainly, there are more opportunities to celebrate an individual’s salvation who comes to such a place after a long and painful journey. We see this in the story of the prodigal son. It is a story that has all the Aristotelian elements drama that are necessary to hold our attention. Someone raised in the church…not so much. Their salvation seems cultural, not radical. And so the narrative for these little ones has to be different in scope and essence.