Baptism of minors - scriptural evidence?

by rose petal 8 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • rose petal
    rose petal

    Hi, I have done a search on previous posts, and couldn't find anything since 2002. Is there any scriptural evidence for baptising children early? How do the dub's justify this?

    My son takes his 7yo & 4yo to the meetings, against my daughter in law's wishes. She is afraid he will get them baptised. I said he won't be able to, not just yet. What about the questions? Are they dumbing them down?

    They used to brag about waiting until the person was an adult, able to make their own decision. What the hell happened?

    rose petal

  • Mrs Smith
    Mrs Smith

    bttt

  • rose petal
    rose petal

    What does btt mean?

  • bubble
    bubble

    Back to the top.

    It stops your thread sliding into oblivion.

  • Sad emo
    Sad emo

    I'm not sure whether JW's use the accounts in Acts where entire 'households' get baptised (eg the prison guard in Acts 16) some of mainstream Christianity interprets this to mean that children and babies were included although there's no reason to believe that was the case.

    otoh one has to bear in mind that in NT times you were also regarded as an adult at around age 12 too - so this could be a strong indicator that it's certainly ok to baptise what we would regard as minors - as long as they have declared a personal belief.

  • lisavegas420
    lisavegas420

    I have two replied to this.

    First, because I was babtized as a child, trying to please my parents, it has come with a great price, as they now have to shun me. I have a younger brother that has done, even by JW or worldy standards way worse stuff that I ever have, but because he wasn't baptized that don't have to shun him and can continue a relationship. Help him out and be family. Good for him.

    Second...when I was married to a man whose family was Catholic. They wanted to get my infant son baptized. I absolutely freaked out, (still being in a JW mindset) and thought it might cause him to be demonized or something. I was so against it. I got into hugh arguments with my husbands parents. One time I screamed at them, that if their god was going to send my son to hell or limbo because I refused to let him get baptized then he was a lame god. I felt justifed when their priest refused to baptize my son against my will.

    then later, I realized it wouldn't have made any differance in the world. It would have made my husbands parents happy, that's it. It would have made no differance in the life of my son. I also realized that I felt the same way about Jehovah God. It he was going to punish my children for what I did, then he's lame.

    That's all I got. Just sharing.

    lisa

  • rose petal
    rose petal

    btt = Back to the top.

    It stops your thread sliding into oblivion.

    OK, what does this mean - talk about jargon!

  • WTWizard
    WTWizard

    I have noticed that they showcase children that get baptized before they are 10. I remember when it was 12-14 when they were mature enough (still much too young). These days, it seems to be that children that reach 10 are being frightened into getting baptized. I have heard on this board a story where one child was afraid of getting destroyed unless they get baptized now.

    I even saw in the litter-ature stories of children as young as 6 getting baptized. The yearbooks and Experiences sections in the Puketower are favorite places for this. Then, there are those that go up on the platform during a$$emblies. They are 12 or 13 now, and they recite stories about getting baptized when they were 6 or 7. This elicits a lot of response from the audience, in the form of those staged applause sessions (I wonder if the actual experiences were real or fake, but they seem to inspire a lot of parents and hounders to force children to get baptized at 6).

    There is nowhere in the Scriptures that insinuates that children that young should get baptized. King Josiah becoming king of Israel at age 8 is often cited, but I doubt he was king without some kind of supervision from those old enough to run the place. Nor does this mean that most should be getting baptized at age 6. If anything, they should hold off until long past the age of 18. Jesus would have been qualified to get baptized at age 6 if anyone would have. But, even at age 12, he was not yet baptized. He was 30 when he was baptized, and he KNEW that he wanted it! This would indicate that a person should be at least 30 before getting baptized.

    Not only that, but Jesus spent time questioning those in authority. He was able to do this at age 12, even before thinking of baptism. Jesus was basically the master of the religion. He perfectly lived up to the Mosaic Law (if one believes the Bible literally), without the extras that the leaders added. And he was 30 before baptism. Go figure.

  • Trygon
    Trygon

    I got baptised before I could walk, lol. Never bothered me.

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