Children in the kingdom of God:

the inclusion of little ones as a paradigm of the excluded in Matthew 19:13-15

Abstract

The three synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, report Jesus' encounter with the children. The central theme addresses the blessing of little ones, as heirs of the Kingdom of God. In this exegetical article we propose an analysis of the pericope of Matthew 19,13-15, dialoguing with the other parallel passages. The question arises: “Does the practice of paedobaptism in the Roman Catholic and Reformed (Presbyterian) traditions have its theological roots in Matthew 19:13-15? Although the text does not explicitly speak of infant baptism. This will occur in subsequent hermeneutic-theological reinterpretations, both in the Catholic and Reformed traditions, point in this direction. In this sense, as a secondary discussion, the baptism of children involves biblical and theological issues that will be presented throughout the article. The literature review dialogues with Catholic and Reformed texts, with emphasis on biblical scholars and official documents (Catechisms and Confessions) from both traditions, affirming the convenience of paedobaptism, founded in the practice of Churches since the first centuries of Christianity and maintained by churches originating from of the reform.