📖 Biblical Definition
The debate over paedobaptism is an intramural Christian disagreement between those who see baptism as the New Covenant sign applied to believers and their children (as circumcision was in the Old Covenant) and those who restrict baptism to professing believers only. Paedobaptists argue from covenant continuity: God has always included the children of believers in the covenant community. Circumcision was given to Abraham and his household (Genesis 17:12), and baptism replaces circumcision as the covenant sign (Colossians 2:11-12). Peter's Pentecost sermon declares the promise is "for you and for your children" (Acts 2:39). Household baptisms in Acts may have included children (Acts 16:33). Credobaptists counter that every explicit baptism in the New Testament follows a profession of faith.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Webster does not include "paedobaptism" but defines BAPTISM.
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BAP'TISM, n. [Gr. baptisma.] The application of water to a person, as a sacrament or religious ceremony, by which he is initiated into the visible church of Christ. Note: Webster's definition is neutral on the subject — baptism initiates into the visible church. The question of whether infants should receive this initiation has divided Protestants since the Reformation.
📖 Key Scripture
• Acts 2:38-39 — "Repent and be baptized... For the promise is for you and for your children."
• Colossians 2:11-12 — "In him also you were circumcised... having been buried with him in baptism."
• Genesis 17:7-12 — "I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring... Every male among you shall be circumcised."
• Acts 16:33 — "He was baptized at once, he and all his family."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Infant baptism becomes either empty ritual or presumptive salvation.
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Both sides of the baptism debate corrupt it: paedobaptism reduced to family tradition without covenant theology, or credobaptism turned into individualistic decisionism without covenantal context. The corruption is treating baptism's covenant frame as optional, leaving the practice without its theological skeleton.
Usage
• "The paedobaptism debate is an intramural Christian discussion between those who emphasize covenant continuity and those who emphasize the New Testament pattern of belief before baptism."
• "Paedobaptism becomes dangerous when it is treated as automatic salvation — the sign without the reality it signifies is an empty shell."