y were bringing the little children to him for him to baptize
them," said the father. "What about that, Doctor? Doesn't it tell what
they brought the children for?"

Dorothy had turned to the passage and remarked: "Yes, it tells what they
brought the children for. They brought little children to Christ that he
might put his hands on them and pray. There is nothing there about
baptism. It looks plain that they did not bring them to be baptized,
because it simply says 'to put his hands on them and pray'."

"At any rate," said the Doctor, "it showed Christ's tenderness for
little children. The point is this: He said 'of such is the Kingdom of
Heaven'. Think of that. It is a remarkable statement about the little
ones."

"What did he mean by the words 'of such is the Kingdom of Heaven', and
what have they to do, Doctor, with baptism?"

"A great deal, my daughter. They mean that the little child has the
heavenly nature."

"I think that is a beautiful idea, but what has that to do with the
baptism of infants?"

"Why, this: If anybody is entitled to baptism, surely a little child
with its heavenly nature is. We may make mistakes in baptizing old
persons who claim the right of baptism, but never can we be mistaken in
the case of a little child."

"I can understand about the beautiful nature of a child before sin has
taken hold of its will," said Dorothy, "but why that little helpless one
should be baptized I cannot understand."

"I thought you were deciding all these questions by the Bible," said the
father. "What does the Book say about it, Doctor? Do you baptize them
because you think it is appropriate to baptize the sweet little ones or
because you think the Bible commands it?"

"It is from the Bible alone that we get the authority."

"Where is it commanded in the Bible, Doctor?" asked Dorothy.

"It is not definitely commanded, but it is implied in many ways. We
baptize grown people who profess to be born of the Spirit of God and to
be regenerated by his grace. How much more, therefore, should we baptize
an infant who does not need to be regenerated, because, according to
Christ's own words, it possesses the heavenly nature. It is often
claimed by our opponents that infants must not be baptized because faith
and repentance--in other words, regeneration--must come before baptism.
All right, I answer; the infant possesses those necessary qualifications
for baptism. It does not need regeneration. It already, accordi