There are no less than two (Watchtower publications) examples where six year old toddlers have been baptized. What do you think?
Len
Baptizing toddlers while critical of infant baptism
by FatFreek 2005 20 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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NewChapter
Yep. Get them young---that way their emotional terrorism will work all their lives.
But it's different, you see, cuz they have the TRUTH and Jehovah's spirit to help them recognize true sheep.
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RayPublisher
Baptizing kids that young is creepy!
I have known of 8 yr olds but never any younger. Either way, when I was debating with the ex-wife about a year ago I said, "We condemn those that baptize infants. Yet isn't an 8 yr old still basically that?" She was speechless-there is no defense in this regard- it's just sick.
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Splash
The Official Baptism Countdown!
*** w04 8/15 p. 11 Mexico’s Indigenous Peoples Hear the Good News ***
I was baptized at age 15.
*** w00 4/15 p. 25 Fishing for Men in the Aegean Sea ***
After two months she became an unbaptized publisher, and in March 1998, she was baptized at the age of 14.
*** yb02 p. 110 Curaçao ***
He was baptized at the age of 13 and works very hard in the congregation, preparing well for all assignments. He is as determined as ever to serve at Bethel.
*** yb99 p. 59 Worldwide Report ***
Their son, 12 years of age, was observing something else: “In our family I noticed that my father and mother, as a result of the study, became nicer, and the atmosphere at home became more positive and relaxed.” The husband now appreciatively says: “Jehovah has been long-suffering with us. He did not want us to get destroyed, but he has led us to repentance.” In about seven months, the entire family got baptized.
*** g71 4/8 p. 23 Christian Togetherness in Brazil ***
In Goiânia, a girl eleven years old was among the seventy-seven baptized.
*** yb11 p. 54 Preaching and Teaching Earth Wide ***
Now ten years old, Persis is baptized and is serving as an auxiliary pioneer while in school. Her eight-year-old friend Aasy is already an unbaptized publisher.
*** w95 1/1 p. 24 “Out of the Mouth of Babes” ***
She was baptized while in the fourth grade (9-10 years old), and one of her friends with whom she had studied was baptized in the sixth grade (11-12 years old). Moreover, the mother and two older sisters of this Bible student also studied and were baptized.
*** yb02 p. 110 Curaçao ***
Renzo, now eight years old, was baptized at a circuit assembly in Bonaire.
*** yb11 p. 58 Preaching and Teaching Earth Wide ***
BAPTIZED AT SEVEN. Paola, who lives in western Mexico, is being raised by her grandparents.
*** w92 3/1 p. 27 Pursuing a Goal Set at Six Years of Age ***
In the summer of 1946, I was baptized at the international convention in Cleveland, Ohio. Although I was only six years of age, I was determined to fulfill my dedication to Jehovah.
Splash
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Ultimate Axiom
JWs are quite incapable of applying to themselves the “rules” by which they measure other religions, whether it be criticising doctrinal changes, false prophecies, sweeping wrongdoing under the carpet, or child baptism. Such rules do not apply to them because, as NewChapter said, they have the Truth!
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rocketman
Excellent post, Splash - it really shows how they have encouraged getting baptized at a progressively earlier age.
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Splash
Well this is the official stance:
*** w89 1/15 p.13 par.17 What Prevents You From Getting Baptized? ***
Clearly, baptism is a serious step. Baptizing an infant is wrong because a baby cannot understand, make a decision, and become a disciple. (Matthew 28:19, 20) Those baptized during Philip’s ministry in Samaria were “men and women,” not mere infants. (Acts 8:4-8, 12) Baptism is for those old enough to learn, believe, and exercise faith. (John 17:3; Acts 5:14; 18:8; Hebrews 11:6) In this regard, historian Augustus Neander wrote: “Faith and baptism were always connected with one another; and thus it is in the highest degree probable . . . that the practice of infant baptism was unknown [in the first century C.E.]. . . . That it first became recognised as an apostolic tradition in the course of the third century, is evidence rather against than for the admission of its apostolic origin.”—History of the Planting and Training of the Christian Church by the Apostles (New York, 1864), page 162.
*** w76 9/15 p. 576 Questions From Readers ***
But is the child able to make personal decisions, able to decide from his own mind and heart (not that of the parents) the course in life he wishes to take? Is he capable of comprehending and seeking a personal relationship with God, one that is not dependent upon his parents? Is he able to stand before a judicial body, accountable for any wrongdoing he may commit? If not, then such child is evidently not in position to be baptized
Splash
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FatFreek 2005
Hey Splash (no pun intended, I'm sure),
What good posts from you. I love that "official countdown", taking their own boasts of baptisms down to age 6 years old.
Len Miller
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BluesBrother
Splash posted it, I just wanted to flesh it out :
YB 2011 p58
"BAPTIZED AT SEVEN. Paola, who lives in western Mexico, is being raised by her grandparents. Her grandmother began studying the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses when Paola was five years old. Paola listened in, and the truth took root in her young heart. Although her grandmother did not progress, Paola began to attend the meetings by herself. She would ask her grandparents to help her get dressed and to help her cross the street to get to the Kingdom Hall.
As soon as she learned to read and write, Paola enrolled in the Theocratic Ministry School and became a publisher. Because of her love for Jehovah, she got baptized at the age of seven. When asked why she attends the meetings and preaches so zealously, even without her family’s support, Paola, who is now ten, answers: “I like the talks a lot because they encourage me to keep on studying the Bible and to stay out of trouble. And I preach because I want to teach people what Jehovah is going to do for them in the future and because the Bible can make them happy right now.”
That is disgusting... The other six yr old example I might just leave alone since it happened a long time ago, but this kid was committed to The Borg in c 2007/2008 . What when she gets to be a teen and goes through teen feelings and emotions? She only has to act as a teen to be thrown on the scrapheap by all those that know and love her.. It flies in the face of everything that I knew about baptism when I was a dub!
Len...That is a clever cartoon.......
