No reference from the Bible. Infant Baptism is a man made doctrine. Acts 2:38 says: Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Repentance requires the ability to think about one's condition and enough awareness and maturity to understand what it means to "turn away" from sin and accept God's Word as the direction for our lives. One must have both faith and repentance before being baptized. Because a newborn child cannot have faith, in a biblical sense, and he cannot repent, he has no need of baptism "for the forgiveness of sins”. Baptizing a baby would serve no purpose.

You can't. infant baptisim was introduced by the Catholic Church for no apparent reason. there is no biblical basis for this act.

If you can find a copy of Wall's "Infant Baptism", you may find it very interesting. It was published over 400 years ago, and just about any scholarly work on the subject since makes mention of it. Wall (I'm sorry I don't recall his first name, I don't have anything in front of me at the moment) was a supporter of infant baptism--Presbyterian, I believe--who undertook to review everything available on the question in an effort to finally document the Biblical support for it. Wall, however, had a Baptist friend who served to "keep him honest" in a cordial sort of way, so that he would not find proof where none really existed. After studying every historical writing he could get his hands on, including some which no longer survive, the essence of his conclusion was that the Bible does not forbid it explicitly. His book is hard to find nowadays. The tepid support documented by one of their own best and brightest lessens the interest of pedobaptists in reprinting it, and the pedobaptist origin of the work keeps most credobaptists away from it. But I think his conclusion is sound. The Bible is simply silent on the subject. I for one am not inclined to build important doctrines on silence. The Biblical support for baptism of those who consciously believe holds sway. Even for those accounts of households being baptized, the presence of infants is not implied, and consistent with the rest of the Bible, we must conclude that all those involved individually confessed faith in Christ.

Infant baptism was brought in by the Catholic church to support their theory about "Limbo", supposedly a halfway house for separate souls [ unsupported by the Bible. But just this week, they changed their mind about limbo. Apparently they got it wrong. Trouble is, they have been teaching it for 400 years. As fact. - - -. LIMBO Limbo THE Catholic Church is set to axe the 700-year- old doctrine of limbo — believed by some to be the eternal destination of unbaptised babies. The decision follows a policy meeting of 30 Catholic theologians at the Vatican last month. Pope Benedict XVI doctrine the meeting to dispose of the invented in the Ages. The previous pope, John Paul II, asked the church’s theological com mission to consider the fate of unbaptised babies shortly before he died last year. The axed present Pope declared In 1984 that limbo had “never been a definitive truth of the faith”. Catholic sources said the limbo concept was likely to be replaced by a doctrine that children who die do so “in the hope of eternal salva tion”. THE SUNDAY TIMES, JANUARY 1, 2006 13

Infant baptism is a doctrine of man, not God.

I only know that at the time of John the Baptist and Christ , there is no reference whatsoever of children being baptized. They are still innocent until awareness. I know Mary and Joseph took the infant, Christ to the temple to do the sacrifices Jewish law called for. But no mention of anointing , baptizing,etc.

You can't. It's the way some churches to try and save the ones that have no choice in the matter. Faulty doctrine since it's not biblical.

very true. I was pointing that out I thought. they did do the required sacrifices at the birth of a child, just as Mary and Joseph did. the old covenant was still in effect .

Here is what Scripture says about Baptism. Enjoy! John DOCTRINE OF THE SEVEN BAPTISMS A. Baptism means identification or association. 1. This meaning began in Homer's time. Homer wrote of the giant Ulysses who took a piece of hot metal and rammed it into Cyclop's one eye, and called it "baptizing." Homer's Odyssey, book 9, used baptism for hot metal identified with water when a smith dipped a piece of hot iron into water. 2. Xenophon said that the Spartans baptized their spears by putting them into a bowl of blood. 3. Euripides used the word for a ship identified with the bottom of the sea when it sank. 4. So "baptize" in the classical Greek meant to identify one thing with another thing so that the characteristic of the original thing was changed into another characteristic by what was identified with it. Therefore, the interpretation of the word "baptism" is identification. 5. The Greek word BAPTIZO has been transliterated "to cleanse by washing, to immerse, to dip, to baptize" Jn 13:26. 6. The Greek word BAPTO means to identify, to intimately unite, to dip, Lk 16:24. In Rev 19:13 it is used to dye a piece of cloth. 7. The Greek word BAPTISMA is used of ritual identification, Mt 3:7, 21:25; Rom 6:4. 8. The Greek noun BAPTISMOS means cleaning, washing dishes; in Heb 6:2 it means "baptisms." 9. The Greek word BAPTISES refers to one who performs the ritual of baptism, Mt 3:1, 6:25, 11:11. B. There are two categories of identification in Scripture: 1. An actual identification is called a real baptism. 2. A representative identification is called a ritual baptism. It uses water. C. There are four real baptisms in the Bible, meaning there is an actual identification with something that has significance. 1. 1 Cor 10:1-2 presents the baptism of Moses, "For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea." This was a real identification in which Moses was identified with the open path through the Red Sea and the Jews were identified with Moses. Water was not involved here. Only Egyptian unbelievers were immersed in the water as a means of death. Identification with the mandates of true leadership is the concept here. Moses was identified with the cloud or Jesus Christ, and the people were identified with Moses. 2. The baptism of the Cross is found in Mt 20:22; Mk 10:38-39; Lk 12:50. This baptism is our Lord Jesus Christ being identified with our sins. This refers to the judicial imputation of personal sins to Jesus Christ on the cross. Jesus Christ was identified with our personal sins and judged for them, so that Christ became our Savior. As sinners, none of those to whom Christ spoke were qualified to be baptized with sin on the cross. 3. The baptism of the Holy Spirit occurs at salvation for Church Age believers only, 1 Cor 12:13, "For by means of one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit." a. This baptism is God the Holy Spirit identifying us with the Lord Jesus Christ forever. It is the means of forming the royal family and of breaking the back of the old sin nature as the ruler of human life. We are positionally changed. No water is involved in this baptism. We are identified with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection, Eph 4:5; Acts 1:5. The Holy Spirit enters us into union with Christ at the right hand of the Father, making us positionally higher than angels. b. Rom 6:3-5, "Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death [positional sanctification]? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into [His] death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life [experiential sanctification]. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, and not only this we shall also be [united with Him] in the likeness of His resurrection [ultimate sanctification]." c. Gal 3:26-28. d. The Greek prepositional phrase EN plus the locative of place of CHRISTOS meaning "in Christ" and the prepositional phrase EIS plus the accusative of CHRISTOS meaning "into Christ" both indicate positional sanctification. e. Characteristics of the baptism of the Spirit. (1) The baptism of the Spirit is not an experience. (2) The baptism of the Spirit is not emotional activity or ecstatics. (3) It is not speaking in tongues. (4) It is not related to human feeling. (5) It is not progressive, therefore, it cannot be improved. (6) It is not related to human merit or works. (7) It is obtained en toto at the moment of salvation through faith in Christ alone. (8) The baptism of the Spirit is eternal in nature and cannot be cancelled. (9) The baptism of the Spirit is known through perception of the mystery doctrine of the Church Age. Therefore, it cannot be applied in a state of ignorance. No one can sin in the sphere of positional truth. (10) The baptism of the Spirit is not a matter of the believer's volition. 4. The baptism of fire is the real identification of unbelieving Jews and Gentiles at the end of the Tribulation with fire in Hades, taught in Mt 3:11, "As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." Lk 3:16; Rev 19:11. The unbeliever is identified with fire forever. The Tribulational unbeliever is identified with the defeat of Satan. All unbelievers are removed from the earth for the start of the Millennium. D. There are three ritual baptisms. None are extant at the present time. They are representative identifications in which water is used as a training aid to represent some principle of doctrine. Water represents something else in a ritual baptism. The person going into the water must have knowledge of the meaning of the ritual. 1. The baptism of John is found in Mt 3:1-10; Jn 1:25-33. John lived in the ritual age of Israel. The water represented the kingdom of God. a. There had to be a ceremony never used before to identify a person with the kingdom of God because the King was present. The water represented the kingdom of God as John was preaching it. Putting a person in the water showed that he was identified with Messiah and that kingdom. It was an encouragement and means of relating doctrine to the fact the kingdom was being offered during the first Advent. The kingdom was postponed, but this did not change the significance of John's baptism. b. There was no spiritual advance in this baptism; only doctrine advances the believer. c. This baptism was never practiced after John's death. John and his ministry and his baptism were unique. d. In the water the person testified to his belief that the Messiah would go to the cross to die for his sins, recognizing that because he accepted Christ as Savior before He died and accepted Him as King, he was saved and identified in the Jewish kingdom forever. 2. The baptism of Jesus Christ was unique. John recognized Jesus Christ's impeccability and refused to baptize Him. Jesus told him the water represented something new, i.e., the Father's plan and will for the dispensation of the hypostatic union--to begin His public ministry and to go to the cross and receive the personal sins of mankind and be judged. So at the beginning of His earthly ministry, Christ identified Himself with the Father's will. a. In the water, Jesus was saying He would fulfill God's plan and live a perfect life under the greatest testing and then go to the Cross as a perfect person and receive the imputation of all personal sins, Mt 3:13-17. b. As He came out of the water, Jesus recognized that when He completed the plan of the Father by being judged for our sins and then dying physically, He would be resurrected, followed by His ascension and session. Coming up out of the water was a picture of His resurrection. 3. Christian water baptism is the ritual testimony of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. There had to be a testimony before the Canon was written to explain the baptism of the Spirit. From the beginning of the Church Age until the completion of the Canon, this baptism was necessary to teach the principle of the baptism of the Holy Spirit at salvation. But once the Canon was completed this ritual was no longer necessary, since the explanation for the baptism of the Spirit is now in writing. a. The purpose of Jesus Christ on the cross, His resurrection, ascension and session, and the beginning of a new Church Age had to be portrayed with ritual until the Canon was completed. b. Water baptism was used as a training aid for new, weak believers, just as certain temporary spiritual gifts were used to teach until the Canon was completed. c. In the water, the believer recognized that he was identified with Jesus Christ in His spiritual death, physical death, and burial, i.e., retroactive positional truth. Identification with His spiritual death meant rejection of good and evil. Identification with His physical death and burial meant separation from good and evil. d. Coming out of the water was recognition of being identified with Christ as He is now seated at the right hand of the Father, i.e., current positional truth. e. Paul tells the Corinthians he stopped using water baptism because it was a means of dividing believers, Acts 2:38, 8:36-38, 16:15,33; 1 Cor 1:11-17. So before Romans 6:3-4 and 1 Cor 12 were written to explain the baptism of the Spirit and identification with Christ in His death and resurrection, water baptism was used to represent what had happened at salvation to those who did not yet have the completed Canon. 

Explicitly, no where. Implicitly, if you look at Scripture as a whole, in a few places. If you look at Christian writings contemporary to the NT and in the first centuries after, it is clear that it was common practice to baptize infants. When there is mention made of entire households being baptised, this does not exclude newborns. Paul makes it clear that baptism is the beginning of us becoming a new creation in Christ, and an adopted child of God the Father. Jesus exclaimed that the Apostles should let all the children come on to Him. If you read the Didache written in the first twenty years after the death of Christ it explicitly says to bring first, to the water of baptism, the children who are not old enough to walk themselves, and then bring the small children who can walk for themselves. This may not be scripture, but it does shed light on the thoughts of the early Christians and its sentiments are echoed by the writings of other Christians of the first three centuries.

Infant baptism is neither explicity forbidden or explicity extolled in the bible. Scripture that implies infant baptism occurred and was permissible would include: Acts 16:33, 1 Cor 1:16, Acts 18:8 and 1 Corinthians 1:16 that speak of "entire households" being baptized with no mention of anyone being exluded based on age. It is reasonable to assume an average household contained children. Circumcision was performed on 8-day old babies and St. Paul speaks about how baptism has replaced circumcision as a way of "putting off the sinful nature" in Col 2:11-12. Also, if infant baptism was a man-made doctrine invented by the Catholic Church centuries after the apostles, why is there mention of it as the norm in liturgical instruction manuals like the Didache written around 70AD?