Q. Why do Catholics sprinkle babies, in other words, “baptize” babies?  A baby hasn’t sinned and baptism is for the remission of sins, so baptizing an innocent babe makes no sense. Basically speaking a person has to be aware of a sin before it is really a sin and babies aren’t aware of sins and cannot sin. Read Romans chapters 6 – 8.

Answer:  First, I’d like to clarifly a simple misnomer.  Catholics don’t sprinkle at baptism.  They pour water on the babies head or  immersion. (click here to learn more about immersion vs. “sprinkling”) 

Second, the enemy would have one believe that Catholics are condemning all innocent children and judging them to hell so they need baptism to avoid that. Remember that the enemy twists truth to deceive and it is his goal to cause rifts within the body of Christ because a house devided against itself cannot stand.  He seeks to destroy from within. In reading and seeking these answers, try to understand the history and reasoning behind why these acts are done and how they bring people to Jesus.

Infant Baptism has been practiced since apostolic times. Infants need to be baptized because through this Sacrament, they are freed from Original Sin and are welcomed into the community of the Church, where they have access to the fullness of the means of salvation. Their parents, god-parents, and the parish community commit themselves to their ongoing formation in faith and knowledge of the tradition of the Church. The Church and the parents would deny a child the priceless grace of becoming a child of God were they not to confer Baptism shortly after birth. However, the Church also teaches that the Baptism of an infant may be postponed if there is not a “founded hope” that the child will be brought up in the Catholic Faith (CIC, can. 868 S2). There are the children – born and unborn – who die without Baptism. The Church entrusts them to the mercy of God, who wills that all people be saved. We recall Christ’s tender welcome of children saying, “Let the children come to me and do not hinder them” (Mk 10:14). Because of this the church confidently hopes for the salvation of children who die without Baptism. (US Catholic Catechism for Adults)

Jn 3:5 Jesus replied: In all truth I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born through water and the Spirit. (no one means no one)

Lk 18:15

People even brought babies to him, for him to touch them; but when the disciples saw this they scolded them.

But Jesus called the children to him and said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.

In Mathew 8:5-10 The servant is healed because of the centurians faith, cannot a father or mothers faith do the same for their own child?

Acts 16:31 ‘Become a believer in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, and your household too.’

Acts 16:15 and 33 the whole household was baptized.

1 Cor 1:16 Yes, I did baptise the family of Stephanas, too.

St. Hippolytus of Rome (c. 215AD) “Baptize first the children; and if they can speak for themselves, let them do so. Otherwise, let their parents or other relatives speak for them” The Apostolic Tradition 21.
Origen (post 244AD): “the church received from the apostles the tradition of giving baptism also to infants” Commentary on Romans 5,9.
In 252 AD, the council of Carthage condemned the opinion that infants must wait until the eighth day after birth to be baptized, as was the case with circumcision. St. Cyprian of Carthage, Letter 64 (59), 2.

In conclusion, in truth, think about the old telephone line game you learned in school. The message is a lot clearer and closer to the truth the closer you are to the source.  The further down the line you are, the greater the chances that the message is skewed and distorted.  People put their own twist on things and before you know it, the message isn’t quite the same or it’s completely different.  So who do you think has it right? The direct desciples of the apostles such as Hippolytus, Origen that walked with Jesus or the Councel of Carthage 252AD or the local paster at a church that’s an off-shoot 2000+ years later?


Wouldn’t you rather baptize children or do you truly believe it is not scriptural and you are going against the will of God to bring your children to Him?

“Always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you”

1 Peter 3:15

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