Dictionary of Theology

The practice of baptizing infant children of believing parents. In the Catholic Church infant baptism washes away original sin and is regenerative. In Reformed circles, infant baptism is not regenerative but covenantal and validated through the believing parent(s). There are no explicit accounts of infant baptism in the Bible. However, it cannot be completely excluded as a possibility given that entire households were baptized Acts 16:15, 33; 18:8.