At what age should churches baptize children?

One of the most compelling (and vexing) issues surrounding baptism is the one concerning the age at which an individual is to be baptized. One of the biggest debates concerning this is paedo-baptism, the act of baptizing infants, and along with that is the decision for baptizing individuals who are mentally challenged. Without the mental capability of understanding the baptismal act or the basic tenets of Christianity, many believe that the individual is endangered and condemned to an eternal life without God. By extension, many are also concerned about children that do not survive to make that conscious decision and thus will not reside in heaven, since they were not able to receive the rite of baptism. When can a child understand sin let alone accept that Jesus, as the Lord and Savior, is the road to salvation?

First, this aptly titled ‘age of accountability’ (perhaps better viewed as the ‘age of understanding’) was not directly addressed anywhere in the Bible. While a bar mitzvah was given to boys at the age of thirteen, many still did not believe those children had a full grasp of good and evil, let alone their ability to perceive and understand salvation or how to attain it. Nevertheless, Jesus himself noted in Matt 19:14, ‘Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to me, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these’, alluding to their right to heaven despite their age. David also spoke of his condemned first child of Bathsheba as being in heaven in 2 Sam 12:23, ‘But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.’ Thus the age of acceptance into heaven is not an iron-clad rule where the child concerned, especially since he is not consciously aware of sin and its repercussions.

Furthermore, God is also a merciful God, and many believe that he would not be malicious in his grace. God will not hold those accountable who do not have the conscious, moral inclination towards sin or understand it. Infants, children and those not mentally capable would only be responsible for what consciousness God has allowed them, for God calls out to everyone, even children as stated by Jesus in Matt 11:25, ‘… "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.”’

Knowing this, to what effect do they know the presence of sin? First off, while carrying the imputed sin of mankind as noted by David in Psalm 51:5, the Jewish leaders did not believe that children were capable of knowing sin let alone making the conscious decision to sin. Nevertheless, even in the OT times the priesthood knew that children were capable of learning about God, sin and the Law as stated in Prov 8:32,33, ‘And now, my sons, listen to me; those who keep my ways are happy. Listen to instruction and be wise;’ and Prov 22:6, ‘Teach a youth about the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it.’ Teachers also looked at children as a ‘work in progress’ and saw that despite reaching the social status of adulthood, the elders knew the age of understanding depended on the individual child. Extending this philosophy into the NT period and up to today, the same can be said for baptism. Leave it up to the parents and the church officials to determine when the child is ready to take this step and formally join the church community.