When Does A Child Go to Hell?
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 576 viewsNotes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
When Does a Child Go to Hell?
When Does a Child Go to Hell?
English Standard Version Chapter 21
Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept.
English Standard Version Chapter 21
Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept.
English Standard Version Chapter 21
Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept.
Genesis 21:16
When a child dies unexpectedly, it is such a tragedy for everyone involved. It is a profound event in the life of a parent. Many people will question God and blame God for the child’s death. Many wonder, is the child in Heaven or did the child end up in Hell because of Adam’s original sin? How do you respond to the parents who ask that question? Many Biblical scholars have struggled with this question over the years. What does Scripture tell us about this question? How Are We to Understand Death In A Child?
Religious and Theological Abstracts The Death of a Child
Clark, Robert. “The Death of a Child.” Journal of Religion and Health 1994, Vol. 33 (4), pp: 321–324. ISSN: 0022–4197
The death of a child is a profound event in the life of a parent. If parents are ever to recover some portion of their normalness, helper professions must be willing and able to help in the recovery process.
How Are We to Understand Death In A Child?
Everyone is upset at the death of a child. Everyone feels the death of a child to be especially tragic. We feel that the child has been cheated.
Biblical scholars have struggled with this question. Prior to Saint Augustine, most scholars appear to have ignored this question. But Saint Augustine gave us a definitive answer in the City of God, "even the infants, not personally in their own life, but according to the common origin of the human race, have all broken God's covenant in that one in whom all have sinned." 1 Theologian Stanley Grenz summarizes Augustine's very influential position in his book Theology for the Community of God:
through the service, albeit shakily, and then I stagger home and fall on my wife.
What is worse than the death of a child? For years I said that the greatest burden I’ve seen in
people is the burden of childlessness. People will do anything to have a child. Yet if they can’t have a child, can’t adopt a child, I’ve noticed that husband and wife don’t thereafter divorce. But when a child dies the parents divorce 90% of the time. In other words, the death of a child strains marriages beyond the breaking point more often than not. Then perhaps there is something worse than childlessness; namely, the death of a child. When David’s child died (the child he had had with Bathsheba), his servants were afraid to tell him lest the heartbroken king kill himself.
Lingering illness in a child; untimely death in a child; these are manifestations of evil. Evil is evil, and must never thought to be anything else.
[2] Everyone is upset at the death of a child. Everyone feels the death of a child to be especially tragic. We feel that the child has been cheated. We don’t feel this way about the elderly. When Maureen and I lived in rural New Brunswick we called one evening on Mr. and Mrs. Henry Palmer. Henry Palmer was dying. He was 98 years old. As he lay dying in the bedroom Mrs. Palmer sat in her rocking chair, that winter evening, close to the fire in the wood stove, rocking pensively, saying little. Maureen, assuming Mrs. Palmer to be upset, began to commiserate with her. Mrs. Palmer listened to Maureen for a while and then interjected, without interrupting her rocking, “Henry’s had a good life.” By our standards he’d had a difficult life: he’d had to spend a month at backbreaking labour every year just to cut enough firewood for the winter, among other things. Still, by Mrs. Palmer’s standards, Henry had had a good life. Where children are concerned, however, our standards or anybody else’s standards mean nothing: we feel the child has scarcely had any life.
[3] Lingering illness in a child; untimely death in a child; these are manifestations of evil. Evil is evil, and must never thought to be anything else. We must never pretend that evil is “good in disguise.” “Good in disguise” is still good; evil can never be good. We must never say that evil is
good on the way, or at least the potential for good. Of itself evil is never the potential for anything except more evil.
My aunt’s grandson (my cousin’s son) died at age seven. The little boy was born a normal child and developed normally until age two when he was diagnosed with a neurological disease. His condition deteriorated thereafter. His facial appearance changed -- became grotesque, in fact; his mobility decreased; and his intellectual capacity decreased. When I spoke with my aunt at the funeral parlour I said to her, “There’s no explanation for this.” (I didn’t mean there was no neurological explanation; of course there was a neurological explanation.) I meant, rather, “Given what you and I know of God, there’s no explanation for this.” My aunt told me later it was the most comforting thing anyone had said to her at the funeral parlour, for virtually everyone who spoke with her put forth an “explanation”; such as, “Maybe God wanted to teach the parents something.” What were the parents supposed to be taught by watching their son suffer and stiffen and stupefy for five years? “Maybe God was sparing the little boy something worse later in his life.” It would be difficult to imagine anything worse. These aren’t explanations; these are insults. As long as God is love, unimpeded love, there isn’t going to be an explanation for this.
We must always be careful and think 25 times before we conclude we’ve found the meaning (or even a meaning) to such a development. Think of the one million children who perished during the holocaust. Their parents (five million of them) were first gassed to death, whereupon their remains were burnt. The children, on the other hand, were never gassed; they were thrown live into the incinerators. If anyone claims to be aware of the meaning of this event I shall say, among other things, “Meaning for whom? for the barbequed children? for their parents? for their survivors? for their executioners? for the shallow pseudo-philosophers who think their question is worth the breath they spend to utter it?” What meaning could there ever be to such an event?
We can bring the same question to bear on any one child who is dying at this moment in the Hospital for Sick Children.
What did Jesus do when he learned of John’s death and the circumstances of John’s death? Did Jesus say, “We need a theodicy. We need a justification of the ways of God. We need an explanation of how John’s terrible death could occur in a world ruled by a God whose love is mighty. And if no explanation is forthcoming, then perhaps we can’t believe in God.” -- did Jesus say this? Jesus said no such thing. When John’s head was severed Jesus didn’t cry to heaven, “You expect me to trust you as my Father; but how can I believe you’re my Father, for what Father allows his child to be beheaded? In view of what happened to cousin John, I can’t be expected to think that I’m dear to you.” Jesus said no such thing. When he was informed of the grisly death of John, Jesus said, “It’s time I got to work.” Whereupon he began his public ministry, and began it knowing that what had befallen John would befall him too, and did it all with his trust
[4] In light of what I’ve just said I have to tell you how unhappy I’ve been with Harold Kushner’s older but still-bestselling book, When Bad Things Happen To Good People. I’m disappointed in the book for several reasons. In the first place there’s virtually no discussion of God’s love in Kushner’s discussion of God. In view of the fact that God is love, that God’s nature is to love, the book is woefully deficient right here. In the second place, because God’s love isn’t discussed, the rest of the book is skewed. Kushner writes, “Let me suggest that the bad things that happen to us in our lives do not have a meaning when they happen to us. [I’ve no problem with this.] They do not happen for any good reason which would cause us to accept them willingly. [No problem here either.] We can redeem these tragedies from senselessness by imposing meaning on them.” I object to this statement. We redeem them by imposing meaning on them? Any meaning that is imposed can only be arbitrary. An arbitrary meaning, something imposed, is just another form of “make-believe”, and no less “make-believe” for being adult “make-believe.” My cousin and his wife whose seven-year old son died of neurological disease; what meaning were they supposed to impose on the event? And why impose that meaning rather than another? And how would the imposition of such arbitrary meaning redeem the tragedy?
Harold Kushner’s book is yet another attempt at theodicy. Theodicy is the justification of God’s ways with humankind, the justification of God’s ways in the face of human suffering. All attempts at theodicy lefthandedly put God on trial, so to speak, and then develop arguments that acquit God, allowing us to believe in him after all, allowing us to believe that he really is kind and good despite so much that appears to contradict this. All theodicies assume that we know what should happen in the world; as long as there continues to happen what shouldn’t, God (we think) is on trial; we have to develop arguments and marshall evidence that will acquit him if we are to go on believing in him.
[5] All of which brings me to my next point; namely, our assumption that the questions we think to be obvious and obviously correct are the right questions. The question, for instance, “If God is all- good, he must want to rectify the dreadful state of affairs so often found in people’s lives; if God is
3
Think for a minute of the biblical era; think of John the Baptist. John and Jesus were cousins. Not only were they related by blood, they were related by vocation. John began his public ministry ahead of Jesus. John’s ministry ended abruptly when a wicked woman, angry at his denunciation of her sexual irregularities, had him slain. What did Jesus do when he learned of John’s death and the circumstances of John’s death? Did Jesus say, “We need a theodicy. We need a justification of the ways of God. We need an explanation of how John’s terrible death could occur in a world ruled by a God whose love is mighty. And if no explanation is forthcoming, then perhaps we can’t believe in God.” -- did Jesus say this? Jesus said no such thing. When John’s head was severed Jesus didn’t cry to heaven, “You expect me to trust you as my Father; but how can I believe you’re my Father, for what Father allows his child to be beheaded? In view of what happened to cousin John, I can’t be expected to think that I’m dear to you.” Jesus said no such thing. When he was informed of the grisly death of John, Jesus said, “It’s time I got to work.” Whereupon he began his public ministry, and began it knowing that what had befallen John would befall him too, and did it all with his trust
What did Jesus do when he learned of John’s death and the circumstances of John’s death? Did Jesus say, “We need a theodicy. We need a justification of the ways of God. We need an explanation of how John’s terrible death could occur in a world ruled by a God whose love is mighty. And if no explanation is forthcoming, then perhaps we can’t believe in God.” -- did Jesus say this? Jesus said no such thing. When John’s head was severed Jesus didn’t cry to heaven, “You expect me to trust you as my Father; but how can I believe you’re my Father, for what Father allows his child to be beheaded? In view of what happened to cousin John, I can’t be expected to think that I’m dear to you.” Jesus said no such thing. When he was informed of the grisly death of John, Jesus said, “It’s time I got to work.” Whereupon he began his public ministry, and began it knowing that what had befallen John would befall him too, and did it all with his trust
If you ask me why such things as leukaemia and mental illness happen I shall not attempt an answer. When tragedy befell John the Baptist Jesus didn’t say, “I can’t figure out why these things happen; therefore I can’t trust my Father.” Jesus knew that in a fallen world such things happen and will continue to happen until God’s patience, finally exhausted, ends the era of the fall and with it forecloses the day of grace. Jesus didn’t explain John’s wretched death; Jesus responded to the news of his cousin’s death by launching his public ministry.
in his Father unimpaired.
My point is this: that question which we suppose to be a perennial question, “How can we
continue to believe in a mighty, loving God when terrible things keep happening in our world?” -- wasn’t the most pressing question in the biblical era or the ancient church or the mediaeval church. It was shouted only in the 18th century Enlightenment, and was shouted by atheists. Having heard the atheists’ question, the church took it over thinking it to be the soul of profundity.
Susannah Wesley, mother of John and Charles, had 19 children. Ten of them survived. As the other nine died (eight of them in infancy), Susannah’s heart broke. Never think that she didn’t care; never think that her heart wasn’t as torn as anyone’s heart would be torn today. Read her diary the day after a domestic helper accidentally smothered Susannah’s three-week old baby. Infant death was as grievous to parents then as it is now. What was different, however, is this: even as Susannah pleaded with God for her babes while they died in her arms she never concluded that God wasn’t to be trusted or loved or obeyed or simply clung to; she never concluded that as a result of her heartbreak God could only be denounced and abandoned.
“Original sin is the punishment we all bear for Adam's sin. This punishment is ours in that we participated in that first sin, for we were all potentially present in Adam when he transgressed the divine prohibition. This blight is perpetuated through procreation and results in condemnation. Simply stated, all were potentially in Adam, all sinned in Adam, all inherit the punishment for Adam's sin, and thereby all are condemned.”2
Until the 18th century Enlightenment there was no expectation of living in a world other than a world riddled with accident, misfortune, sickness, disease, unrelievable suffering, untimely death. There was no expectation of anything else. It was recognized that the world, in its fallen state, is shot through with unfairness, injustice, inevitable inequities, unforeseeable tragedies. When John the Baptist was executed Jesus didn’t say, “If honouring God’s will entails that then I need a different Father.” Instead Jesus said, “I’ve got work to do and I’d better get started.” Susannah Wesley didn’t say, “If I bear children only to have half of them succumb to pneumonia and diphtheria, I should stop having them.” Instead she had twice as many. If today our expectation is so very different on account of the Enlightenment, then what did the Enlightenment cause us to expect?
[6] The Enlightenment brought us to expect that humankind can control, control entirely, the world
5
and everything about it. The Enlightenment brought us to expect that we are or can be in control of every last aspect of our existence. Specifically, the Enlightenment brought us to expect that the practice of medicine would smooth out our lives. And with the new expectation of physicians there arose as well a new agenda for physicians. Whereas physicians had always been expected to care for patients, now physicians were expected to cure patients. Until the Enlightenment physicians were expected to care: they were to alleviate pain wherever they could, they were expected to ease the patient in every way possible, and above all they were expected to ease the patient through death, which death everyone knew to be unavoidable in any case. But cure? No one expected physicians to cure, at least to cure very much. Nowadays physicians are expected to cure everything. I’m convinced that people unconsciously expect physicians to cure them of their mortality. When physicians can’t cure people of their vulnerability to death, blame for such failure is unconsciously transferred from medicine to God.
A minute ago I said that we creatures of modernity assume (arrogantly) that the questions we ask are the questions that people have asked in every era; our questions are perennial questions, and our answers are the only answers. It’s not so. If people today are asked how they’d prefer to die, they nearly always say, “Quickly. I want to die quickly. I’d like to slip away quietly in my sleep.” During the Middle Ages, however, no one wanted to die quickly; people dreaded sudden death. Why? Sudden death gave them insufficient time to make adequate spiritual preparation for death. What we regard as human expectations as old as humankind are actually very recent. What’s more, these recent expectations weren’t fostered as we reflected on the nature and purpose and way of God; they were fostered by atheists who, at the time of the Enlightenment, came to think that there was nothing humankind couldn’t control.
[7] Let’s come back to the situation of the young person afflicted with a lingering illness and about to die all too young. Why are we so very upset at this? I think we’re upset in that we feel the young person to have been cheated. The 85-year old who dies has had a life, a complete life (or at least
6
what we regard as complete.) The eight-year old, we feel, hasn’t; she’s been cheated. The elderly person’s life can be told by means of a story; the young person, on the other hand, has virtually no story to be told. I am 73 years old, and if I die tonight others will gather up my life in a story and tell the story. Hearers will identify me, the real “me”, with my story. But let’s be honest: they will regard “me” and my story as identical in that my story is fit to be told; my story is positive; my story is rich (supposedly.) No one would hesitate to tell my story. But if my story were one that couldn’t be told; if my story were bleak or disgraceful or incomprehensible, others would like to think that the real “me” was somehow better, somehow grander, than my shabby story.
The response we make to all such developments is an expression of our caring. (Not an expression of our curing; ultimately I can’t cure you, you can’t cure me, and medical practice can’t cure any of us, ultimately.) Such a response will be caring enough until that day when we see our Lord face-to-face, the sight of whose face will transfigure our face, for the sight of his face will be enough to wipe away every tear from every eye.
(Victor Shepherd Burlington March 2018)
It isn’t only the eight-year old child with leukaemia whose story seems to be sad and sorry and miserable. There are many, many adults whose stories are longer, to be sure, but no better. One Sunday, several years ago, a man wearing a clerical collar sat in the gallery of my church in Mississauga, accompanied by a lawyer-friend of mine. The man with the collar was an Anglican clergyman. He was also a plastic surgeon with a practice in one of the wealthiest areas of Toronto. He was at worship, that Sunday, as he awaited trial. He and his estranged wife had had an altercation, in the course of which his wife was struck, the result of which was that her skull was fractured. Several weeks after the service the attended in Mississauga the fellow was convicted and sent to jail (Kingston). Upon his release from jail the College of Physicians and Surgeons restored his licence, thus permitting him to do plastic surgery again. The Anglican Church, however, didn’t reinstate him as a clergyman. A year later the man committed suicide. What’s his story? Is it a grand story? Is it a story anyone would envy? Or is it a story better left untold?
Maureen and I were asleep on a Friday evening when the phone rang at midnight. The caller was a man I’ve looked out for for 20 years. He’s paranoid schizophrenic. I’ve followed him around to restaurants, hospitals, jails, and numerous shabby “digs.” Last autumn he was in Vancouver and got into a “discussion” (as he tells his story) with a motel clerk. The clerk phoned the police, and Eric spent the next three months in a provincial hospital. A week or two before Christmas I took him to Swiss Chalet for lunch. We had been seated for only a few seconds when he leapt out of his
7
In his Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin defined original sin as:
seat and shouted, “It’s bugged. It’s bugged. There’s a tape-recorder under my seat.” I took the shaken waitress aside, told her my friend was deranged, promised her I’d see that no harm befell her, and asked her to find us seats in an area that was free of tape-recorders.
A few months after this incident Eric phoned me again. In the afternoon he’d gone to a barber shop, only to have the barber “butcher” his hair. And why had the barber “butchered” his hair? Because the barber too is part of the conspiracy that is putting foreign substances in Eric’s drinking water and causing his urine to stink. Eric had come home; while making supper his sister had burnt the toast; Eric had decompensated and smashed the toaster. His sister had fled the house; the police had been called; Eric had refused to open the door to them – and was now in a great deal more trouble. Eric was phoning me at midnight. He wasn’t angry and he wasn’t violent: he was frightened, terribly frightened. He feared he was going to be sent back to a provincial hospital. He was diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic when he was a 20-year old university student, and remained psychoticuntilhediedlastyearofnaturalcauses. Hehadn’thadonetorment-freedayin60years. What’s Eric’s story? Do you want to hear all the details? Would anyone want his story (all of it) told at his funeral? Tell me: are Eric and Eric’s story identical?
The truth is, none of us is identical with our story. Our story isn’t big enough, comprehensive enough, grand enough. None of us has a story (whether tellable or untellable) that does justice to who we are truly in ourselves because of who we are truly before God. Our story is small and feeble and miserable and frustrated. Often our story, so far from reflecting who we truly are, contradicts who we truly are. Our story has to be taken up into a much bigger story.
a hereditary depravity and corruption of our nature, diffused into all parts of the soul, which first makes us liable to God's wrath, then also brings forth in us those works which Scripture calls "works of the flesh" (). And that is properly what Paul often calls sin.3
Then what’s the bigger story, grander story, for Eric? It’s the story of a man who once lived in a cemetery. () He was violent, anti-social, and an inveterate “streaker.” One day Jesus came upon him and asked, “What’s your name?” “My name?”, the fellow replied, “I’ve got lots of names. I’m your local nut-case; so why not call me ‘Peanut, Pistachio and Pecan’, ‘P-cubed’ for short?” Some time later the townspeople saw the same man seated, clothed and in his right mind. By God’s grace that gospel-story has been appointed to be Eric’s story, Eric’s true story. That story is
If you ask me why such things as leukaemia and mental illness happen I shall not attempt an answer. When tragedy befell John the Baptist Jesus didn’t say, “I can’t figure out why these things happen; therefore I can’t trust my Father.” Jesus knew that in a fallen world such things happen and will continue to happen until God’s patience, finally exhausted, ends the era of the fall and with it forecloses the day of grace. Jesus didn’t explain John’s wretched death; Jesus responded to the news of his cousin’s death by launching his public ministry.
Victor Shepherd Burlington March 2018
the final story into which Eric’s story is taken up and in which Eric’s story is transfigured.
And the eight-year old who has just died of leukaemia? Her story too is bigger, grander than most
people know. A distraught man cried to Jesus, “My daughter is sick unto death. Won’t you come with me?” Our Lord is delayed by a needy woman who is distressed herself. While he’s delayed, the daughter dies. Now all the relatives are beside themselves. Jesus declares, “The little girl isn’t dead; she’s asleep.” The relatives scorn him. Plainly she’s dead; anyone can see she’s dead. But you see, in the presence of Jesus Christ (only in the presence of him who is himself resurrection and life, only in his presence but assuredly in his presence) death is but sleep. The girl is awakened shortly -- as the eight-year old has been appointed to be awakened. This is the story into which the leukaemia patient’s story is taken up and in which it is transfigured.
Reconciling original sin and death of the innocent.JIM DENISON| MAY 22, 2013
The greatest miracle of the Incarnation is not that God visited us—as Creator, he has every right to enter his creation. All through the Hebrew Bible, we find God intervening in the affairs of our planet.
The greatest miracle of the Incarnation is that this Creator chose to come to us as a baby. The One who holds the universe in the palm of his hand () reduced his omnipotence into a miniscule fetus and was born as a helpless baby. Hands that held the universe were sheltered in a mother's arms. Christmas shows us what God thinks of babies.
[8] If you ask me why such things as leukaemia and mental illness happen I shall not attempt an answer. When tragedy befell John the Baptist Jesus didn’t say, “I can’t figure out why these things happen; therefore I can’t trust my Father.” Jesus knew that in a fallen world such things happen and will continue to happen until God’s patience, finally exhausted, ends the era of the fall and with it forecloses the day of grace. Jesus didn’t explain John’s wretched death; Jesus responded to the news of his cousin’s death by launching his public ministry.
As I write, our nation is grieving the horrific deaths of 10 children in a freak storm in Oklahoma. Seven were pulled from the wreckage of an elementary school. Watching the news coverage of the tornado, many of us are asking faith's hardest questions: Why did God allow such a tragedy? Why didn't he prevent it, or at least shelter these innocent, helpless children? What do we do now?
And the question we'll address here: What happened to the children when they died?
In my 35 years of ministry, I have stood beside parents as they gave doctors permission to withdraw life support from their babies. I have stood beside tiny coffins as parents placed their children's bodies in the ground. I am the father of two grown sons; every day since they were born, I have prayed for God to keep them safe.
When a child dies, part of us dies as well. And we ask: What happens to them? Assuming they were not old enough to understand the gospel and trust Christ as Lord and Savior, what is their eternal state now?
What does God think of children?
What does God think of children?
One day Jesus' disciples asked him, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" (). They assumed that Jesus would pick one of them—perhaps Peter, his lead apostle, or John. His answer must have shocked them:
He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." ().
A little later, "little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them" (). This was a typical practice of the day, something like baby dedication days in Baptist churches. When the disciples rebuked the parents who brought children, Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these" (). He placed his hands on them—hands that healed lepers and raised the dead, hands that formed each of us () and bore the nails of our sin, were laid on these infants in an act of divine acceptance and blessing.
The most normative picture of our relationship with God is that of children with their father. Jesus taught us to pray to "our Father in heaven" (). He told us that we have "one Father, and he is in heaven" (). As a result, Christians are his children: "To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" ().
What does God think of children? Jesus called them "greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Scripture describes Christians as the "children" of God. Could our Lord pay any higher compliments to children?
What, then, happens to them when they die? We'll consider three common answers, then conclude with my approach to this difficult issue.
Let me conclude by recalling Aaron, my cousin’s little boy who was diagnosed with a neurological disease at age two and who declined hideously for the next five years. Our Lord offers no explanation. (What help would an explanation provide?) Our Lord, rather, whose risen life is grander even than his life from Bethlehem to Golgotha; his risen life is that larger, grander story in which Aaron’s story is transfigured. Furthermore, our Lord is the occasion of a response: the response of Aaron’s friends and relatives and neighbours and congregation. The response we make to all such developments is an expression of our caring. (Not an expression of our curing; ultimately I can’t cure you, you can’t cure me, and medical practice can’t cure any of us, ultimately.) Such a response will be caring enough until that day when we see our Lord face-to-face, the sight of whose
If children are part of the "kingdom of heaven," why does the Bible teach that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (), children apparently included? David confessed, "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me" (). How can children be "sinful"? And how does the question impact their eternal state?
"Original sin" has been defined as "the dimension of sin with which we begin life, or the effect which the sin of Adam has upon us as a precondition of our lives." The key text is : "Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned." The sin of the "original" man, Adam, has somehow been transmitted to "all men." Why? How?
Augustine: Infants are sinners
Augustine: Infants are sinners
Prior to St. Augustine (354-430), Christian theologians apparently gave little attention to this question. For Augustine, is definitive. In City of God, he states that "even the infants, not personally in their own life, but according to the common origin of the human race, have all broken God's covenant in that one in whom all have sinned."
warns, "all the wicked of the earth you discard like dross." The "law brings wrath" () upon all of humanity, infants included. As a result, according to Augustine, "even the infants are, according to the true belief, born in sin, not actual but original, so that we confess they have need of grace for the remission of sins." This doctrine is essential to God's fairness in condemning infants along with the rest of humanity: "The soul of the infant, being guilty of no sin of neglect against itself, would perish unjustly, unless original sin rendered it obnoxious to punishment."
Theologian Stanley Grenz summarizes Augustine's very influential position in his bookTheology for the Community of God:
Original sin is the punishment we all bear for Adam's sin. This punishment is ours in that we participated in that first sin, for we were all potentially present in Adam when he transgressed the divine prohibition. This blight is perpetuated through procreation and results in condemnation. Simply stated, all were potentially in Adam, all sinned in Adam, all inherit the punishment for Adam's sin, and thereby all are condemned.
According to Augustine, the "carnal excitement" that accompanies procreation causes the child to be tainted with the sin of its parents, who were tainted by the sin of their parents, and so on back to Adam. He viewed infant baptism as essential for washing away this inherited sin. Later Catholic theologians such as St. Thomas Aquinas believed that an unbaptized child, if it died, would spend eternity in limbo. This is an "eternal state of natural joy," but not the greater joy of Heaven.
By contrast, followers of the theologian Pelagius (390-418) believed that humans are not tainted by the sin of Adam and are free to fulfill God's word and will. Pelagius was declared a heretic by the Council of Carthage in 418. The "semi-Pelagian" position teaches that humans inherit a propensity to sin from Adam, but are nonetheless able to choose against sin.
If Augustine's position is correct, unbaptized children who died in the tornado went to hell as condemned sinners. Why, then, does the Bible nowhere command us to baptize children? While circumcision was required for infant boys in the Old Testament (), there is no similar requirement for the baptism of infants in the New. In a day when infant mortality rates were high, we would expect Scripture to mandate this act if it is essential to a child's salvation.
To the contrary, there is not a single clear example of a child being baptized in the New Testament (Lydia's "members of her household" and the Philippian jailer's "family" come closest, though their ages are not specified; , ). Nor do we find a single biblical command that we baptize infants.
Calvin: Non-elect infants are condemned
Calvin: Non-elect infants are condemned
In his Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin defined original sin as:
a hereditary depravity and corruption of our nature, diffused into all parts of the soul, which first makes us liable to God's wrath, then also brings forth in us those works which Scripture calls "works of the flesh" (). And that is properly what Paul often calls sin.
Calvin argued strongly for Augustine's position. Citing , he said, "the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected." He believed that all people inherit Adam's sin and punishment, "since, therefore, the curse, which goes about through all the regions of the world, flowed hither and yon from Adam's guilt, it is not unreasonable if it spread to all his offspring." As a result, Adam "entangled and immersed his offspring in the same miseries" that he experienced.
Calvin agreed with Augustine that "we bear inborn defect from our mother's womb." Referencing , he claimed, "From his very conception [David] carries the confession of his own perversity. Since it is clear that this was not peculiar to David, it follows that the common lot of mankind is exemplified in him."13 He concludes: "All of us, who have descended from impure seed, are born infected with the contagion of sin. In fact, before we saw the light of this life we were soiled and spotted in God's sight."4
Jim Denison disagrees with those who support the views of Augustine and Calvin. He states, “Until children reach the maturity that enables them to love, worship, and obey God in Christ, they have not "sinned." While "the wages of sin is death" (), they have not earned such "wages." If they die in this state, they are with God in heaven. This unbroken relationship with the Lord makes them "greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (), so that "the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these" ().”5
I agree with Jim Denison’s view and from my reading of the Bible, believe his assertion is supported by Scripture.
Denison shares the following illustration: “One of the hardest days of my life was spent beside a couple in a neonatal ICU unit as they had to decide whether or not to continue life support for their 18-day-old daughter. As they agonized, they happened to look up at the tiny window in the room. They watched as a red helium balloon floated past that window and up into the sky. They sensed God's assurance that if they released their little girl, she would be in heaven with her Lord.
And so they did. And so she is.”6
Butt, a Christian apologetic, offers Biblical evidence in his article entitled Do Children Go To Hell When They Die?, supporting his claim that infants and children do not go to Hell. He argues the following, “The Bible nowhere teaches that babies go to hell if they die in infancy. Neither does it teach that babies inherit the sins of their parents. Although many skeptics have tried to portray God as an evil tyrant Who condemns innocent children to eternal destruction, their arguments are without merit or any semblance of biblical credence. In the words of Jesus Christ, “Let the little children come to me.” (Matthew 19:14)7
Deem, in his article, What Happens to Infants and Children When They Die, concludes the following: “Babies and young children who die go the heaven through the grace and righteous judgment of God. The Bible is clear that those who are not fully capable of making moral choices are declared to be innocent, and, therefore, worthy of heaven. The Bible does not mention any kind of "age of accountability," but bases accountability on the basis of the ability to make moral choices. Infant baptism, although it shows a commitment from the parent, is neither required nor efficacious in obtaining salvation for little ones. The salvation of babies and children is a gift of God, based upon His grace, and cannot be purchased through a work of a parent. If you have lost an infant or child, we pray that the Lord would comfort you with His grace, and that you would desire to join your child in heaven through a confession of faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. May God bless you.”
What Happens to Infants and Children When They Die,
I agree with the views of both Jim Denison and Richard Deem. Infants and children do not go to Hell who meet the conditions laid out by them. I believe their assertions are supported by Scripture.
Option 4: Children who die are with God
Advocates of the Augustine/Calvin position cite , which calls humanity "objects of wrath." This description would mean that we are all condemned, whatever our age or status relative to saving faith. However, if "objects of wrath" is translated "wrathful people," the phrase has no bearing on our question.
Calvin clearly broke with Augustine, however, with regard to election for infants. In the Reformer's mind, election takes precedence over inherited guilt. If a baby was part of the elect, he or she would be in heaven. If not, "we may rest assured that God would never have suffered any infants to be slain except those who were already damned and predestined for eternal death," as "there are babies a span long in hell."
Some Calvinists today believe that non-elect babies are in hell. Others believe that "covenant children" receive particular favor from God. Still others, such as Charles Spurgeon and Al Mohler, believe that all babies who die are in heaven.
Option 2: God judges children by "the light they had"
Option 2: God judges children by "the light they had"
Paul said of the Gentiles, "the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them" (). God has revealed himself not only to our hearts, but also in our world: "Since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse" ().
It seems logical to extend these assertions to children. They have God's law "written on their hearts" and can see his "invisible qualities" in their world. If they die before hearing (or being able to understand) the gospel, God would then judge them according to their response to what they do know of his word and will. In other words, he judges them by their character and conduct.
9
This same logic can be extended to the so-called "ignorant," the billions who have never heard the gospel. In this view, God judges them by their response to his law on their hearts and revelation in his creation.
However, Scripture teaches that "it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast" (). Works do not save us, whether they are done before or after we have received the gospel.
In addition, this option would seem to mitigate against evangelism and missions, since children and the "ignorant" could be "saved" through their works. If that is so, missions become unnecessary, and the sacrifices made by missionaries are wasted. In addition, sharing the gospel with obedient children and the "ignorant" risks their salvation since they might reject it and be condemned.
Option 3: God judges them by what they would have done
Option 3: God judges them by what they would have done
God is omniscient, knowing all things and all hearts (). He knew that Abraham would become a "great nation" () and that Pharaoh would reject his word (). Jesus knew that Judas would betray him () and that the other disciples would abandon him ().
If he knows our future actions, presumably he knows what children who die would have done had they lived. Specifically, he would know whether they would accept or reject his offer of salvation through Christ. If they die before receiving that offer, he would then judge them according to what they would have done if they had lived.
As with the second option, this same logic can be applied to the "ignorant," the billions who have never heard the gospel. However, evangelism and missions become even less relevant since no one needs to hear the gospel in order to be "saved" by its truth.
Option 4: Children who die are with God
Option 4: Children who die are with God
My belief is that children who die before they are able to understand and respond to the gospel are with God in heaven. The following assertions have led me to this position.
God judges us for our own sins
God judges us for our own sins
God told Jeremiah, "I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve" (, quoted by Paul in ). The Apostle warned that "for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil" ().
Paul seems clearly to assign judgment to actions:
All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous ().
also states, "The soul who sins is the one who will die." According to Scripture, we are not condemned for the sins of others (including those of Adam), but only for the sins we commit personally.
We are in God's "book of life" from conception
We are in God's "book of life" from conception
The Lord keeps a "book of life" in which are written the names of those who will be with him in heaven. Moses said to God: "Please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written." The Lord replied, "Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book" (, ).
God has written your name in this book, and must "blot it out" if you choose to reject his free salvation in Christ. If you die without Christ, God is forced to remove your name from his book of life and you'll be "thrown into the lake of fire" (). Scripture is clear: "Nothing impure will ever enter [heaven], nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life" ().
Conversely, Jesus said to his disciples, "Rejoice that your names are written in heaven" (). Paul addressed the Philippian Christians as "my fellow laborers, whose names are in the book of life" ().
In other words, at the moment of our conception our names are written in God's "book of life" and are removed only when we sin against him.
God judges us by our choices
God judges us by our choices
But what of ? This text states: "Just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous."
Each verse is separated by a comma; if the first phrase applies to everyone, so must the second. If Adam's trespass condemns us all, Jesus' "act of righteousness" must save us all. If Adam's disobedience makes us all sinners, Jesus' obedience must make us all righteous. In other words, universal guilt must mean universal salvation.
face will transfigure our face, for the sight of his face will be enough to wipe away every tear from
The same logic applies to , "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." This statement should be read in its context:
But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus ().
Just as "all have sinned," all "are justified freely by his grace." If the first is universally true, the second must be as well. Once again, on the basis of this text, universal guilt means universal salvation.
However, universalism is clearly rejected in Scripture: "If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire" (). If we are not to apply the second phrases universally, we are not to apply the first phrases universally, either.
Here's the key: In both cases, a choice is required. The "righteousness of God comes through faith in Christ Jesus" (). This conferred "righteousness" is the "justification that brings life for all men" () and comes to those who choose it. By the same token, "condemnation for all men" () comes to those who choose it. If justification requires a decision on our part, so must condemnation.
In closing, Martin Luther on the death of his daughter, illustrates a believer’s response to the death of a child:
The key is our response to the gospel
The key is our response to the gospel
The key to "justification that brings life for all men" () is our decision to receive such grace through faith (). The key to the "trespass" that leads to "condemnation for all men" is therefore our decision to reject such grace. This decision is the "unpardonable sin" () because it rejects God's pardon through Christ.
If children have not reached the maturity by which they can make this decision, they have not broken their relationship with God. Their names are in God's "book of life," and will be blotted out only if they sin against him ().
But what constitutes such sin?
“When Martin Luther’s daughter, Magdelena, was fourteen years old, she was taken sick and lay dying. Luther prayed, “O God, I love her so, but nevertheless, Thy will be done.”
Some point to moral decisions as the basis for a child's salvation. In Christian Theology, Millard Erickson writes:
If a child dies before he or she is capable of making genuine moral decisions, there is only innocence, and the child will experience the same type of future existence with the Lord as will those who have reached the age of moral responsibility and had their sins forgiven as a result of accepting the offer of salvation based upon Christ's atoning death.
every eye.
Victor Shepherd Burlington March 2018
I agree that such a child will be in heaven. However, I disagree that sin is the best defined as the capacity to make "genuine moral decisions."
Then he turned to his daughter and said, “Magdelena, would you rather be with me, or would you rather go and be with your Father in heaven?” And the girl said, “Father, as God wills.” Luther held her in his arms as she passed away, and as they laid her to rest, he said, “Oh my dear Magdelenachen, you will rise and shine like the stars in the sun. How strange to be so sorrowful and yet to know that all is at peace, that all is well.”
David, repenting of his immorality with Bathsheba, said to God, "Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight" (). Sin is vertical before it is horizontal; it is rejecting God's word and will above all else.
Ironically, Erickson agrees. "The essence of sin is simply failure to let God be God. It is placing something else, anything else, in the supreme place which is his," he writes. "This contention is supported by major texts in both the Old and New Testaments…. Proper recognition of God is primary. Idolatry in any form, not pride, is the essence of sin."
According to Jesus, the "first and greatest commandment" is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (). Sin is more than the refusal to make "genuine moral decisions"—it is the refusal to love, worship, and obey God.
Until children reach the maturity that enables them to love, worship, and obey God in Christ, they have not "sinned." While "the wages of sin is death" (), they have not earned such "wages." If they die in this state, they are with God in heaven. This unbroken relationship with the Lord makes them "greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (), so that "the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these" ().
It is this hope in the hour of death that the resurrection gives to us.”9
"No condemnation"
"No condemnation"
In the end, Erickson expresses well my position:
We all were involved in Adam's sin, and thus receive both the corrupted nature that was his after the fall, and the guilt and condemnation that attach to his sin. With this matter of guilt, however, just as with the imputation of Christ's righteousness, there must be some conscious and voluntary decision on our part. Until this is the case, there is only a conditional imputation of guilt. Thus, there is no condemnation until one reaches the age of responsibility.
David said of his deceased newborn son, "I shall go to him, but he will not return to me" (). He believed that his child was with the Lord, and that he would join him one day in heaven (). I would offer the same assurance to every believer who suffers the death of a child. Your child belonged to his or her Father and is now with him in eternal paradise.
One of the hardest days of my life was spent beside a couple in a neonatal ICU unit as they had to decide whether or not to continue life support for their 18-day-old daughter. As they agonized, they happened to look up at the tiny window in the room. They watched as a red helium balloon floated past that window and up into the sky. They sensed God's assurance that if they released their little girl, she would be in heaven with her Lord.
And so they did. And so she is.
📷📷
about the same age as us rode home with us from one of our children’s sporting events. This was the first time I realized I may have a real problem with believing. She was a good friend of my spouse’s, a member of our Church and very religious. I don’t remember how the subject came up but salvation was our subject of conversation. She stated that even though my father had been an honest, caring person who did nothing but good, he would not receive salvation. He could only go to Heaven if he accepted Christ as his Savior. I remember thinking that I wanted no part of a deity that sent my father to Hell under those circumstances. Why would a baby, or my father, or even me be sent to Hell just because we didn’t accept Christ as our Savior? What about the Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists? Again, what about me? This started me thinking that I probably was without belief. Or at least I didn’t understand it. It didn’t fit my logic (2003, emp. added).
about the same age as us rode home with us from one of our children’s sporting events. This was the first time I realized I may have a real problem with believing. She was a good friend of my spouse’s, a member of our Church and very religious. I don’t remember how the subject came up but salvation was our subject of conversation. She stated that even though my father had been an honest, caring person who did nothing but good, he would not receive salvation. He could only go to Heaven if he accepted Christ as his Savior. I remember thinking that I wanted no part of a deity that sent my father to Hell under those circumstances. Why would a baby, or my father, or even me be sent to Hell just because we didn’t accept Christ as our Savior? What about the Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists? Again, what about me? This started me thinking that I probably was without belief. Or at least I didn’t understand it. It didn’t fit my logic (2003, emp. added).
by Kyle Butt, M.Div.
One of the most often-used weapons in the skeptic’s arsenal is to seize statements from religious people that make God look like a cruel despot waiting to cast any and everyone into a torturous lake of eternal fire. However, this frequently lands the skeptic in a less-than-defensible position when the actual text of the Bible is consulted. Consider the following paragraph from Ronald Defenbaugh, a self-avowed atheist:
One evening, a friend about the same age as us rode home with us from one of our children’s sporting events. This was the first time I realized I may have a real problem with believing. She was a good friend of my spouse’s, a member of our Church and very religious. I don’t remember how the subject came up but salvation was our subject of conversation. She stated that even though my father had been an honest, caring person who did nothing but good, he would not receive salvation. He could only go to Heaven if he accepted Christ as his Savior. I remember thinking that I wanted no part of a deity that sent my father to Hell under those circumstances. Why would a baby, or my father, or even me be sent to Hell just because we didn’t accept Christ as our Savior? What about the Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists? Again, what about me? This started me thinking that I probably was without belief. Or at least I didn’t understand it. It didn’t fit my logic (2003, emp. added).
After hearing from his religious friend that his father would not be in heaven because of his failure to obey Jesus’ teachings, Mr. Defenbaugh quickly constructed a straw man by insinuating that the God of the Bible would have no problem sending babies to hell along with disobedient, reasonable adults.
Does the Bible teach that babies go to hell when they die? In order to answer this question, we must find a biblical example in which an infant died, and in which his or her eternal destination is recorded. To do such is not difficult. In , King David’s newborn son fell terminally ill. After seven days, the child died. In verses 22 and 23, the Bible records that David said: “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.” It is clear that David’s dead infant son would never return to this Earth, but David also said that one day, he would go to be with his son. Through inspiration, David documented that his own eternal destination was going to be “in the house of the Lord” (). Therefore, we can conclude that “the house of the Lord” would be the eternal destination of his infant son to whom David would one day go. King David was looking forward to the day when he would be able to meet his son in heaven. Absolutely nothing in this context gives any hint that the dead infant son’s soul would go to hell.
Furthermore, Jesus said in :
Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.
And in , Jesus remarked: “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.”
Therefore, we have been given a specific example in the Old Testament of an infant who died and would live forever in heaven. And Jesus Christ Himself, in the New Testament, stated that little children retain the qualities that make a person eligible to inherit the kingdom of God. We see, then, that infants and small children that die are in a safe state, and will live eternally in heaven.
With such clear statements from the Bible about the eternal destiny of dead infants and small children, why have religious people mistakenly taught that babies go to hell when they die? Due to the influential nature of John Calvin and his teachings, many people have taught that sin is “passed” from one generation to the next. It is believed by many religious people that children “inherit” the sins of their parents. Yet, the Bible pointedly and explicitly teaches that such is not the case. In , the Bible says: “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son.” Also, in , Moses pleaded with God to forgive the sins of the Israelites when he said: “Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written. And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book’ ” (). The Bible is plain in its teaching that babies do not inherit the sins of their parents. [One commonly misapplied scripture used to teach that infants inherit sin is , which has been dealt with in detail by Wayne Jackson (2000).]
The Bible nowhere teaches that babies go to hell if they die in infancy. Neither does it teach that babies inherit the sins of their parents. Although many skeptics have tried to portray God as an evil tyrant Who condemns innocent children to eternal destruction, their arguments are without merit or any semblance of biblical credence. In the words of Jesus Christ, “Let the little children come to me.”
Other verses also indicate that young children are not fully capable of making moral choices.10 So, the Bible says that babies and children are innocent, based upon their inability to fully understand the difference between good and evil.
Other verses also indicate that young children are not fully capable of making moral choices.10 So, the Bible says that babies and children are innocent, based upon their inability to fully understand the difference between good and evil.
Do all babies who die go to heaven? Or has God predestined some for heaven, while the rest go to hell? Does the Bible address this issue at all or do we just hope that they go to heaven to comfort ourselves?
Judgment for all
Judgment for all
First we must note that the Bible says God will judge all people,1 so this must include babies and young children. How does God judge between one baby and another? Does He judge by how much they cry or spit up? Since God is omniscient (all knowing),2 does He judge on the basis of what they would have done had they lived an entire life? This would seem to be a perplexing problem and the Bible does not describe anywhere how God would judge a baby. Or does it?
Babies are sinners
Babies are sinners
Making matters worse, is the fact that the Bible says all people are sinners.3 In fact, the Bible specifically states that people are sinners from their birth,4 so this obviously includes babies. The Bible also indicates that those who sin and don't accept Jesus as their Savior are judged5and sentenced to death6 - the so-called "second death," which is hell.7 So, do all babies and children who haven't accepted Jesus as Savior go to hell?
Babies are innocent
Babies are innocent
��📷The Bible makes it clear that people are condemned to hell on the basis of their sins8 and their rejection of Jesus Christ9 as the remedy for their sinful condition. However, infants and young children are incapable of fully understanding either their spiritual condition or God's requirements for salvation. Can God judge them even though they don't understand the basis of that judgment? The Bible does indicate that children are innocent, for example, when describing how some of the Israelites in the Valley of Benhinnom had become corrupt so as to sacrifice their own (innocent) children:
"Because they have forsaken Me and have made this an alien place and have burned sacrifices in it to other gods, that neither they nor their forefathers nor the kings of Judah had ever known, and because they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, a thing which I never commanded or spoke of, nor did it ever enter My mind; ()
The Bible also indicates that children are regarded as being innocent because of their lack of ability to discern between good and evil:
Moreover, your little ones who you said would become a prey, and your sons, who this day have no knowledge of good or evil, shall enter there, and I will give it to them and they shall possess it. ()
Other verses also indicate that young children are not fully capable of making moral choices.10 So, the Bible says that babies and children are innocent, based upon their inability to fully understand the difference between good and evil.
Do babies go to heaven?
Do babies go to heaven?
So, since babies and children are considered innocent, one would assume that they would be excluded from judgment and get a pass to heaven. However, does the Bible explicitly state what happens to them? A verse from Job says that they enter into rest:
"Or like a miscarriage which is discarded, I would not be, As infants that never saw light. There the wicked cease from raging, And there the weary are at rest. ()
Likewise, another verse suggests that a person who is not satisfied with their life is worse off than one who is miscarried.11 Although it does not explicitly state what happens to the miscarried, the implication would be that they went to heaven.
Children belong to God
Children belong to God
Both the Old and New Testaments indicate that God has a special relationship with children. In the book of Ezekiel, God was very upset with His people as they were sacrificing their children to idols. However, God calls them "My children":
"Moreover, you took your sons and daughters whom you had borne to Me and sacrificed them to idols to be devoured. Were your harlotries so small a matter? You slaughtered My children and offered them up to idols by causing them to pass through the fire." ()
Jesus indicated that people who enter heaven are like children, implying that children go to heaven.
And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." ()Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, "Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." ()
So, the Bible indicates quite clearly that children who die go to heaven. However, the question remains at what age an individual ceases to be a child.
Age of accountability?
Age of accountability?
So, we know that babies and children go to heaven when they die. However, we don't know what the cutoff is for those who die young. Is it 5, or 8,or 12 years old? The Bible makes no mention of any kind of "age of accountability." So, it is quite likely that there is no specific age at which an individual become accountable. Our three sons all accepted Jesus as their Savior around five years old. However, they had been exposed to the gospel message since birth, and had gone to Sunday School, Bible studies, vacation Bible schools, and Awana in their early years. We never asked them if they wanted to be Christians, but allowed them to ask the question on their own. Five years old is probably not the average age at which children are capable of understanding the gospel and responding to it. Having taught vacation Bible school and Sunday school for many years, I recognize that the average first grader is not taking in the information and processing it for how it applies to him. However, when the time comes, one can see the light come on. In one of the vacation Bible school assemblies, I recall a group of boys (probably around 10 years old) who were in attendance as a gospel presentation was being made. One of the boys suddenly said to the others, "Did you hear what she said?," in an excited voice. An alter call had been made, and he dashed up to the front. His friends were left sitting in the pew. So, I have seen many children at many different levels of spiritual and physical development, which must be the basis by which God determines if they are accountable. For those with mental disabilities, it is possible that they never become morally accountable. However, we can be assured that God judges all people, including children, fairly.12
Does it matter if they're baptized?
Does it matter if they're baptized?
Some denominations baptize their infants in the belief that such baptism prevents them from going to hell should they die before coming to faith in Christ. However, what about babies who are miscarried or die during childbirth? Are they condemned to hell? That is what the doctrine of infant baptism would imply. So, the doctrine of infant baptism changes salvation from one of grace to one of works, since infant baptism is a work of the parent, and not a work of God. As such, the practice of infant baptism displays a lack in trust of God as the bearer of salvation, so must be rejected as being an efficacious act. So, being baptized as an infant saves neither an infant nor an adult. Salvation is still a gift13 of God based upon the grace of God.14 Biblical baptism is the public confession of faith by an accountable individual.15 So, we reject infant baptism as being required for the salvation of babies and young children who die.
Conclusion ��
Conclusion ��
Babies and young children who die go the heaven through the grace and righteous judgment of God. The Bible is clear that those who are not fully capable of making moral choices are declared to be innocent, and, therefore, worthy of heaven. The Bible does not mention any kind of "age of accountability," but bases accountability on the basis of the ability to make moral choices. Infant baptism, although it shows a commitment from the parent, is neither required nor efficacious in obtaining salvation for little ones. The salvation of babies and children is a gift of God, based upon His grace, and cannot be purchased through a work of a parent. If you have lost an infant or child, we pray that the Lord would comfort you with His grace, and that you would desire to join your child in heaven through a confession of faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. May God bless you.
Related Pages ��
Related Pages ��
What Will Heaven be Like?It Isn't Fair That God Judges People Who are Born Into Buddhist, Hindu or Other Non-Christian HomesWhat will happen to the people who have never heard of Jesus Christ? 📷All Religions Lead to God? Can One Discern the True Religion? 📷100% Convinced vs. 100% CommittedWhy Would God Create a Person Who Would be Destined for Hell?Did Jesus Command Baptism in Order to be Saved? A commentary o-7
References ��
References ��
And He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity. ()
Before the LORD; for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with equity. ()
But, O LORD of hosts, who judges righteously, Who tries the feelings and the heart, Let me see Thy vengeance on them, For to Thee have I committed my cause. ()
But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who WILL RENDER TO EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; ()
see also , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , :7then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive and act and render to each according to all his ways, whose heart You know, for You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men, ()
'But I know your sitting down, And your going out and your coming in, And your raging against Me. ()
then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and render to each according to all his ways, whose heart You know for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men, ()
"For He looks to the ends of the earth And sees everything under the heavens. ()
Would not God find this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart. ()
"I know every bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine. ()
The LORD knows the thoughts of man, That they are a mere breath. ()
Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all. ()
"For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory. ()
Then the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and He said to me, "Say, 'Thus says the LORD, "So you think, house of Israel, for I know your thoughts. ()
We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him () in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. ()
"Now we know that You know all things, and have no need for anyone to question You; by this we believe that You came from God." ()
He *said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You." Jesus *said to him, "Tend My sheep. ()
And they prayed and said, "You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen ()"When they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin) and You are angry with them and deliver them to an enemy, so that they take them away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near; ()
For the choir director. A Psalm of David. The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good. ()
For the choir director; according to Mahalath. A Maskil of David. The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God," They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice; There is no one who does good. God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men To see if there is anyone who understands, Who seeks after God. Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one. ()
Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins. ()
All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. ()
For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. ()
"Indeed all Israel has transgressed Your law and turned aside, not obeying Your voice; so the curse has been poured out on us, along with the oath which is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against Him. ()
as it is written, "There is none righteous, not even one;" ()
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God ()
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned-- ()
If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. ()Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. ()
The wicked are estranged from the womb; These who speak lies go astray from birth. ()
The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, "I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done. ()
"You have not heard, you have not known. Even from long ago your ear has not been open, Because I knew that you would deal very treacherously; And you have been called a rebel from birth. ()"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." ()
"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. ()
"For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day." ()
Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. ()
He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. ()but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die." ()
"Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die. ()
"The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son's iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself. ()
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned-- ()
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. ()
Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. ()"But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." ()And I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds... And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (, )
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ()
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. ()
"But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." ()Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." ()
There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. ()"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken." ()If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many they be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things and he does not even have a proper burial, then I say, "Better the miscarriage than he, for it comes in futility and goes into obscurity; and its name is covered in obscurity. It never sees the sun and it never knows anything; it is better off than he. Even if the other man lives a thousand years twice and does not enjoy good things--do not all go to one place?" ()And He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity. ()
Before the LORD; for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with equity. ()
But, O LORD of hosts, who judges righteously, Who tries the feelings and the heart, Let me see Thy vengeance on them, For to Thee have I committed my cause. ()
But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who WILL RENDER TO EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; ()
see also , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , :7Salvation is a gift of God:for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; ()But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. ()For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. ()For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; ()The grace of God:"But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are." ()"But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God. ()being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; ()But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. ()For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. ()And the Law came in that the transgression might increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, ()that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. ()But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace. ()I thank my God always concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, ()But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. ()And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. ()"I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly." ()You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. ()In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, ()even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ()For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast. ()But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. ()and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. ()Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me His prisoner; but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, ()He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ()As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry, ()that being justified by His grace we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. ()But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE." ()Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ()You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. ()And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. ()Through Silvanus, our faithful brother (for so I regard him), I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it! ()Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; ()but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. ()See Did Jesus Command Baptism in Order to be Saved? A commentary on
Works Cited
Denison, Jim, “Christianity Today” Do All Children Go To Heaven, May 22, 2013, https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2013/may-web-only/do-all-children-go-to-heaven.html, (accessed May 5, 2018)
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Butt, Kyle, Apologetics Press, Do Children Go To Hell When They Die, 2003, http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=13&article=1201, (accessed May 5, 2018)
Deem, Richard, godandscience.org, What Happens to Infants and Children When They Die, http://www.godandscience.org/doctrine/babies_who_die.html, Last Modified October 27, 2009, (accessed May 5, 2018)
Michael P. Green. (2000). 1500 illustrations for biblical preaching (pp. 92–93). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
Green, Michael P. ,(2000), 1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (pp. 92–93). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.