2006-11-05 15:34:35 · 23 answers · asked by Quicksilver 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
If babies and innocent children die before they are babtized, Christians have stated they will go to hell. Some use a term 'limbo'
2006-11-05 15:51:46 · update #1
This is a Roman Catholic teaching which has changed over the years . They used to teach this more prominantly than they do now.
Christians do not believe it is possible for a person who is incapable of Hearing the Word, Believing the Word, Repenting of sin, Confessing the name of Jesus as Lord and Saviour, being immersed for the remission of sins, (and then walking faithfully) will go to hell. Hell (Tartarus) is reserved for willful sinners. Babies, innocents, or the mentally challenged cannot do these things. God would be unjust if He held them to these commands.
2006-11-05 16:01:43 · answer #1 · answered by DA R 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
God sends people to Hell that do not want to have anything to do with Him. If someone has a sincere interest in knowing God and begins to pursue God trying to know Him then somehow some way, God will reveal Himself to that person so that that person will not have to go to Hell. (Including the preColobian Indian folk or any other folk living in some remote jungle somewhere.) What if, just what if the flames and fire of Hell were all figurative. What if Hell was just some place where people were sent and that they suffer because at that point they realize that there is a God and that that God is the MAXIMUM of everything that could possibly be. There suffering of being left out could be compared to burning for eternity. The paragraph above is not proven doctrine but I have heard it speculated before in Christian circles.
2016-05-22 02:50:14 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No way.I believe that there is an 'age of accountability' and that anyone who can't make a personal decision for themself (eg babies,small children,mentally disabled) will be taken to heaven.
By the way,Some Caatholics used to believe that there was a place called limbo that unbaptised babies went to,but Pope Benedict recently stated that it was not part of their official doctrine.That teaching is not present in most mainstream protestant churches,and certainly not in my denomination.Most Christians don't believe that baptising a baby actually has any purpose.
2006-11-05 15:52:39 · answer #3 · answered by Serena 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My beliefs are the same as J Dub's.
Catholics' believe are everyone is born in sin and must be baptized prior to death--including babies. (I used to work L&D at a Catholic hospital.) Purgatory was for the people who had never heard of Christ and limbo was for babies rather than hell. I heard on NPR the present Pope is thinking of doing away with limbo & possibly purgatory. Prior to becoming Pope he was supposed to be a respected theologian. It will be interesting to see how he reconciles this delima.
2006-11-05 15:57:56 · answer #4 · answered by whozethere 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some believe that simply by the fact that the baby is human means they are doomed. Some find that until the child is of the age of "mind" meaning that they are old enough to understand such things that they can be saved by baptism. Still others believe that hell is not near so simple as a place where frail, tainted humans go.
2006-11-05 15:39:53 · answer #5 · answered by Rann 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Absolutely not.... I am Mormon and we believe until the age of 8, If a child dies they will go straight to Heaven. Any children(or adults for that matter ) over the age of 8 who have not heard the gospel of Jesus Christ will have that opportunity after this life here on Earth. A place we call spirit prison. Once they have accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ they will go to spirit paradise where they they will wait w/ many others for the final judgment
2006-11-05 15:41:29 · answer #6 · answered by J DUB 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No that belief the fiery hell is a lie from the devil who wants to slander God's Name and portray God as a vicious saddistic person! Have you ever seen someone tortured? Hopefully not!! Deliberate torture is sickening and abhorrent.What though of torture inflicted by God? Can you really imagine such a thing from a God of Love?
Yet this is exactly what is implied by the teaching of hellfire, an official doctrine of most religions.
Imagine for a moment, the following senario:
A person being roasted on a hot iron plate, in his agony he screams for mercy, but, nobody, listens. The torture goes on and on, hour by hour dasy by day--without any pause.
Whatever sin the person has commited, would not your heart go out to him? What of the person who ordered that torture, could he be a loving person? In no way! Love is mercyful and shows pity! A loving father may punish his children, but he would never torture them! Still, many religions teach that God tortures sinners , in eternal hellfire, this is claimed is devine judgement! If this is true, who created the place of eternal torment? And who is responsible for the excruciating agonies inflicted there? The answer would seem obvious. If such a place really existed ,then, God would have to be the creator of it.
Would a God of Love(1John4:8) Would a God of Love inflict such torture, that even humans with even with any measure of decency find revolting?
Hardly!
Even, so, Many believe that wicked sinners go to a fiery hell and be tormented forever! Would you think of this teaching as being logical? The human lifespan is mostly under 100 years, only few people would go very limited to go over the 100 mark!
Even if someone comitted extreme wickedness for his entire lifetime, would everlasting torment be a just punishment? No it would be greatly unjust to torment someone forever in torment for the limited sins a person can commit in a lifetime. Who can know and tell us about the truth about what happens when we die?Only God can reveal this information, and he has done in his written word in the Bible!
Here is what God's word the Bible says::All are going to one place, they all came from dust. Theyhey will return to the dust (to nonexistance.'(Ecclesiastes3:19,20)
there is no fiery hell talked of here. Humans retun to the dust---to nonexistance----when they die,
A person must be conscious to be tormented, Are the dead conscious?No "the living are conscious that they will die,"but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all."(Ecclesiastes9:5)It is not possible for the dead to experience the agonies of torment because they are not conscious of anything! So since God wouldn't even think of people going to a fiery hell of torture, he would also not even consider that babies should, go there, to be tortured forever,None of this would be logical. The only thing logical here would be, that, this lie, is being spread by God's and human's number one worst arch enemy satan the devil who is misleading the entire earth with his lies!(Revelation12:9)
2006-11-05 16:57:38 · answer #7 · answered by I speak Truth 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am a Christian Jehovah's Witness and we study the Bible more than any other religion I know of. Hell is not a place of torment. The dead are conscious of nothing at all. Jesus died so that all could be acquitted of their sins. God is loving and merciful and kind.
2006-11-05 16:34:32 · answer #8 · answered by Sparkle1 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No i don't. i can't speak for the rest of my family. But i dont think it "jives" with the nature of God's love to send someone to hell who never even had a chance to comprehend what sin and righteousness were. I think God gives them rest and then brings them to Himself.
2006-11-05 15:39:52 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. Babies and children that are not old enough to make a decision to follow Christ. Later
2006-11-05 15:36:47 · answer #10 · answered by mikegwelch 2 · 4⤊ 0⤋