infants can be saved by the “baptism of desire,” that is, if they desired baptism but were unable to obtain it before they died, they would go to heaven. This view was held in the ninth century by Hincmar of Rheims (d. 882).22 Martin Luther applied the idea of the baptism of desire to Christian parents, saying that their desire for their children’s baptism, even if not carried out, guarantees their offspring’s salvation. However, how can an infant desire baptism? And how does a parent’s mere desire