And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them.
All Commentaries on Luke 18:15 Go To Luke 18
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
The other doctrine that your brotherhood claims they preach, that little children can attain the reward of eternal life without the grace of baptism, is very foolish. “Unless they eat of the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, they will not have life in them.” It seems to me that those who claim this for them without regeneration want to nullify baptism, since they teach that these children have what they believe is not to be bestowed on them in baptism even by themselves. If they do not want anything to stand in their way, let them confess that there is no need of rebirth and that the sacred stream of regeneration has no effect. The Lord proclaims this in the Gospel to disarm the vicious doctrine of proud people by the swift reasoning of truth. He says, “Allow the little children, and do not forbid them to come to me.”
