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@Tradesecret
i think it might be beneficial to tie the faith v works debate to the infant v no infant baptism debate.
why baptize a baby if he doesn't have faith? can that baptism save them? if you are catholic or of the 'works can add to our justification' circle, then the sacraments are holy and can impart an increase in justification. or, you could even go so far as to say the baptism, 'initially saves' the infant, as if that's God's way of doing so.
of course, if you dont follow the works part and say works are only the result of saving faith, what's the point of infant baptism, if the baby has no faith? i know even some protestants believe God might save babies, even though they technically aren't believers, but whether the baby was baptized doesn't seem to matter if faith or pure mercy is the only standard. maybe GOd saves the mentally ill like those with autism too, like he does infants... but maybe that doesn't mean the mentally ill nor infants need baptized. maybe the general rule is that someone seeking with faith should be baptized.
i think a protestant could say 'it's just good form to baptize babies', but i dont know why it would matter so much.
it's also important to note, that the bible says that households were baptized. that may imply that babies were baptized, but we really can't know for sure. that's what the catholics think, though.