Gavin Ortlund is one of my favorite Christian content creators. He is incredibly erudite and well-read in church history and theology. But even more importantly, I love the way he carries himself with an irenic spirit of humility and mutual respect.

Gavin recently released a phenomenal video on the history of infant baptism (paedobaptism) in the Christian church. Gavin is a Reformed Baptist and therefore believes that baptism is for professing believers (credobaptism).

I agree with him. But what impressed me most was how charitably Gavin engaged with those who support paedobaptism. He acknowledged the complexity of church history and treated those he disagreed with as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

Watching Gavin made me think of how different his tone is from that of the Book of Mormon’s denunciation of infant baptism in Moroni 8.

The Harshness of Moroni 8

Moroni 8 contains a letter from Mormon to his son Moroni condemning the practice of infant baptism. Its language, although pastorl at heart, is strikingly severe:

“Behold I say unto you that this thing shall be unto them a mockery, and the power of the redemption of Christ be taken from them. For behold, every little child is alive in Christ… And he that saith that little children need baptism denieth the mercies of Christ…” (Moroni 8:20)

It goes further, warning that anyone who even believes infants should be baptized is “in danger of death, hell, and an endless torment,” and that anyone who dies believing it “must go down to hell” (vv. 14, 21).

This harsh, polemical tone reflects 19th-century revivalist rhetoric—not the careful, pastoral spirit of early Christian discussion.

Early Christian Attitudes Toward Infant Baptism

The earliest centuries of the church saw a developing theology of baptism, including questions of timing and subjects. Some Christians baptized infants, while others delayed baptism until a profession of faith.

Importantly, the tone of these early debates was pastoral, reflective, and often tentative. The New Testament never explicitly teaches infant baptism, though some infer it from household baptisms in Acts. But it does not expressly condemn it either.

Early sources like the Didache assume believer’s baptism, while later voices like Origen and Cyprian advocated for infant baptism as an expression of God’s mercy and because they believed that Christ’s atonement was powerful enough to produce spiritual change and transformation even in babies. Infant baptism emerged as a pastoral response to real human suffering as parents were concerned that with the high infant mortality rates children would not be able to be baptized.

Even when they disagreed, early Christians did not treat infant baptism as apostasy or blasphemy. Tertullian, for example, advised delaying baptism—not because he doubted Christ’s mercy for children, but because he took the ordinance seriously and wanted candidates to approach it with full understanding.

In other words, the early church wrestled with baptism thoughtfully and compassionately. Neither side was motivated out a low view of Christ’s atonement, but out of a love for Christ and his mission.

The Reformation and 19th-Century Polemic

On the other hand, by the Reformation, baptism became a flashpoint. Infant baptism represented continuity with the medieval church, while rejecting it was viewed as radical. Anabaptists, who insisted on believer’s baptism, were sometimes executed by Catholics and Magisterial Protestants alike.

In Joseph Smith’s 19th-century context, the controversy still simmered. In many Baptist and restorationist circles, infant baptism was seen not merely as an error but as a corruption tied to the “Great Apostasy” and to Roman Catholic oppression. Sermons of the era often condemned the practice in fiery, eternal terms.

Moroni 8 mirrors this ethos exactly. It treats infant baptism not as a misunderstanding but as a damnable offense—a “mockery” that denies Christ. Its absolutist, hell-threatening tone is far closer to 19th-century frontier preaching than to the early church.

A Question of Voice

If the Book of Mormon is truly ancient, Moroni 8 should sound like early Christian discourse. Instead, it sounds like Joseph Smith’s own world—where baptism was a theological battlefield and harsh polemics were common.

Placed alongside the charity and nuance of both early Christian writers and modern voices like Gavin Ortlund, the difference is impossible to ignore.

And this raises a serious question: Why does Moroni 8 sound more like a 19th-century Baptist preacher railing against the Presbyterians than a 1st-century apostle writing in a persecuted church?

The spirit of Moroni 8 belongs not to the apostolic age, but to the fervent fires of 19th-century religious controversy.