Great. Ok, let's explore just the first question that Alabaster and Whitney answered "nowhere" to.
The question was:
Where is scripture is "age of reason" taught concerning baptism?
I ask now, if the scriptures don't clearing say, as you rightly agreed with, that baptism is only for persons old enough to reason that Christ is Lord, why do some Protestants adhere so tightly to the belief that "age of reason" is the only correct circumstance for baptism?
Dear A Christian,
Father James Early writes: "The Age of Accountability "A final barrier to my accepting the practice of infant baptism was my long-time adherence to the Baptist doctrine of the "age of accountability", the age at which a child supposedly becomes conscious of his sinfulness and the consequences of that sin. Historically, the Anabaptists and their later English followers (known simply as "Baptists") had set different minimum ages for baptism, including twenty, fifteen, and twelve. More recently, Baptists and other evangelicals have decided that rather than setting a uniform age below which no one can be baptized, each child should be interviewed individually to see if he or she is ready. This practice had always seemed completely proper to me. But ... I realized that the age of accountability doctrine was untenable for three reasons.
"First, the age of accountability doctrine is unscriptural. Deep down, I had always known this, but I had been afraid to admit it, either to myself or to others. Nowhere in the Bible do we read that a person of any age is too young to be a true believer in Christ, or to be baptized, or to receive Communion. In fact, Jesus seems to have taught just the opposite. Once when some children tried to come to Him, His disciples tried to stop them. As St. Mark tells us, however, "... when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to then, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God" (Mark 10:14), Granted, Jesus is not speaking of baptism here, but the principle taught here was understood to apply the baptism, Church membership, and receiving Communion.
"Rather than being based on specific biblical teaching, the age of accountability concept is grounded in reason and logic. Surprisingly enough, the source of this doctrine lies not in the Reformation, but within medieval Roman Catholicism. Around the turn of the first millennium, theologians began to prohibit small children from receiving the Eucharist because they were too young to understand what they were doing. Because of this, a child was in serious danger of "eat[ing] and drink[ing] in an unworthy manner" and "eat[ing] and drink[ing[ judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body" (1 Cor. 11:29). So, while the Eastern Church continued to both baptize and to give Communion to people of all ages, the Church in the Wet began to give Communion only to older children and adults. Denying Holy Communion to small children provided a logical antecedent to denying them as well. As Fr. Jordan observes, "If the Roman Church were justified in limiting reception of the Lord's Supper until one could understand what he was receiving, how could the Anabaptists be criticized for using the same logic as a rationale for excluding children from baptism?"
"A second flaw in the age of accountability doctrine is that it wrongly ties faith to an age limit. As we have seen earlier, the biblical concept of faith is more akin to childlike trust (cf. Matt. 18:3) than it is to mature, rational thought. And the ability and willingness to trust God is not necessarily greater in adults than in children. ..." [pages 86-88: From Baptist to Byzantium: How a Baptist Missionary Traveled Halfway Around the World To Find the Ancient Orthodox Faith. Fr. James Early. Salisbury, MA: Regina Orthodox Press, 2009. ].
God bless all who trust in Him, He Who from age to age remains the same. "From everlasting to everlasting, "Thou [Jesus Christ] art God" (Psalm of Moses, KJV, 90). In Erie PA Scott Harrington
