If all people are BORN sinful, then babies go to hell, right?

Question

They have no chance of getting rid of that sin because they can't accept Jesus as their savior, so if they die or are aborted, they must go to hell, right? Acts 4:12 says that Jesus is the ONLY name by which anyone may obtain salvation, and if infants can't possibly know that name, then what choice do they have?

The "age of accountability" is nowhere mentioned or hinted at in the Bible. Even Christians can stand only so much of God's unfairness before they have to invent rules to get around it, and this is one good example. Unable to tolerate the notion of a God who would send babies to hell for not being saved, they came up with the idea that a child must reach a certain age before being held accountable for its own salvation, or lack thereof.

I'm just wondering where everyone is getting the notion that children have to be 12 years old (or some other age) before God holds them accountable for there sins. Where does the Bible say this/ If the Bible doesn't say it, then you must be getting the information from some other source. How do you know that source is accurate? And if babies do automatically go to heaven, then surely abortion is the best thing that could happen to them, right? Why let them grow up to be sinners and go to hell, if you can ensure that they'll always be with Sweet Jesus right from the start?

Answer 1

All people are born sinless. All babies are innocent.

Answer 2

If I were an attorney, I'd say "assumes facts not in evidence".

The idea that babies would "burn in hell" isn't consistent with the picture of a loving God that wants to save all of us from the natural consequence of our existence (death). I can think of dozens of possible scenarios that don't cast such a negative light on God...here's a few...

Babies (and others) that die before having a chance to learn the name of Jesus are sent to some kind of primary school for souls where they will learn his name and be given the opportunity to accept his offer of salvation.

Babies (and perhaps even others) that die before having a chance to accept Jesus are given another earthly body so they can try again.

God judges the uninformed by their works using the original law. The original law is based on the choice to commit sinful acts. A baby wouldn't have the opportunity to commit any sins through his or her own will and thus would be judged righteous under the law

I don't know which, if any of these is the case, but why choose to believe the worst? You or I (or anyone) can't possibly understand what it means to die or what existence beyond that could be like (assuming there is any existence beyond death for anyone that dies without knowing God).

Answer 3

Let me address each of your points:

If all people are BORN sinful, then babies go to hell, right?
- I think you are close. Since the fall of Adam, mankind has not deserved heaven at all. Where is the only other place they can go? Catholics have historically given babies a destination of limbo if they died. The Reformation took away the possibility of avoiding hell through a sufficiently holy life, and in my opinion they now match with what the Bible said about Israel being the remnant and an explanation for floods and taking of firstborn, and threats of further destruction. Even Israel did not have a "pass" with the rite of circumcision. God loved Jacob but hated Esau before there were born, even though they were both circumcised. It should be clear enough that everyone deserves hell, including babies, when they die. Do they go there? This would have to be up to God, but circumcision put God's mark on his people in the Old Testament, and I believe that baptism of infants puts God's mark on his people, no matter what age, in the New Testament. Hopefully you'll notice that Christian households with Christian babies, are different than atheist households that seek their own pleasures in life and pay no attention to God's laws.

They have no chance of getting rid of that sin because they can't accept Jesus as their savior, so if they die or are aborted, they must go to hell, right?
- You are partially correct in that they do not deserve heaven. No one does. That's why I believe that baptism, marking God's own out for salvation, puts entire households under God's authority, and even though He can accept or reject those baptisms in the same manner that he could accept or reject circumcision in the Old Testament, households that train their children up in the way they should go, will instill a faith that they will not depart from later on in life. As for the rest of the babies of the world, it doesn't take much reading in the Old Testament to find some pretty scary verses that either incriminate God or incriminate Man for his separation from the fellowship with the Almighty.

Acts 4:12 says that Jesus is the ONLY name by which anyone may obtain salvation, and if infants can't possibly know that name, then what choice do they have?
- This must point right back to a covenant, then, and I believe that Paul's letter to the Hebrews outlined baptism in a way that they would not have misunderstood regarding infants. There would have been no question about their inclusion as part of the family of God.

This isn't a radical belief, by the way, it's just that people don't know much about the Reformation and the tenets of baptism because of "squeaky wheels" in recent history from fundamentalists that point to "credo baptism" for the believer with a caveat for infants and those below the age of reason. I don't go along with this. Reformed and Presbyterian beliefs are often drowned out here, but it doesn't mean that they are not valid. There is no "magic" in baptism, only the broadest of guidelines under the life and freedom that we now have in Christ. To give specific formulas for age of reason, laying back or bowing forward, whether it's done in "living waters" or a baptistry, pouring, sprinkling, or immersion, etc. etc. is to me a throwback to the Old Testament days of exact laws and "Church police" that we no longer need. We take the guidelines and we follow reasonable procedures that would show the mark of the kingdom that we receive from our Lord.

Answer 4

you are right to an extent, Jesus is the only name that people are liable to receive salvation, but if they are not introduced to Him in any way, then they cannot Be held accountable... Babies are without sin! Why would someone sin free go to Hell? They wouldn't! It is the parent's responsibility to give their child back to Christ soon as they are born being that the child is not accountable... now when they reach the time of accountable its up to them to receive Christ for themselves. That's like special need people never grow up to understand, so when they misbehave/sin, they don't understand the difference between good and evil, so they can't be held accountable. when God creates man, He breathes into them the breath of life, right? everyman has a soul...only a sinful soul doesn't reach Heaven. That's why Catholics and various other religion go through the motion of christening to assure that their child's soul has been given back to God until the day that they can receive them on their own...That is why it very important to pray over your children because you are accountable for their actions until they understand Jesus for themselves, or sin for themselves. That's why the Bible say s to train up a child in the way he should go!

Through prayer all things are possible...Email me if you need further understanding! (smile)

Answer 5

1 Corinthians 7:12-15 (King James Version)

12But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.

13And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.

14For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.


15But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.

God in all His divinity is just. He will not hold someone accountable for something cannot help. A baby is helpless. Also we cannot negate the fact that God knows all things and he is fully capable of knowing what that child would have become in the future and whom he would have chosen to serve.

When a child is Christened, he is dedicated to Jesus Christ. When walks away form this covenant, he walks away from God.

God Bless

Answer 6

Is eternal torment of the wicked compatible with God’s personality?

Jer. 7:31: “They [apostate Judeans] have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, in order to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, a thing that I had not commanded and that had not come up into my heart.” (If it never came into God’s heart, surely he does not have and use such a thing on a larger scale.)

Illustration: What would you think of a parent who held his child’s hand over a fire to punish the child for wrongdoing? “God is love.” (1 John 4:8) Would he do what no right-minded human parent would do? Certainly not!

The word “hell” is found in many Bible translations. In the same verses other translations read “the grave,” “the world of the dead,” and so forth. Other Bibles simply transliterate the original-language words that are sometimes rendered “hell”; that is, they express them with the letters of our alphabet but leave the words untranslated. What are those words? The Hebrew she’ohl′ and its Greek equivalent hai′des, which refer, not to an individual burial place, but to the common grave of dead mankind; also the Greek ge′en‧na, which is used as a symbol of eternal destruction. However, both in Christendom and in many non-Christian religions it is taught that hell is a place inhabited by demons and where the wicked, after death, are punished (and some believe that this is with torment).

Answer 7

No. The age of accountibility of sins is 12. Children are not held accountable for their sins. Babies go straight to Heaven.

Answer 8

All men are born of a sinful nature, not necessarily full of sin. You have to know what you are doing is wrong for it to be a sin by definition. What sin actually means is to deliberately miss the mark, so if you have no concept of what the mark is then you can not, by definition, commit a sin. That is why, even though it is not directly stated but rather implied, an age of accountability does exist.

Answer 9

We are all to be given a chance to choose. Even the aborted and those that die at Young ages and those that were incapable to make that choice during life because of a mental handicap. These are considered innocents and go to heaven to wait for the 1000 yr reign of Christ on earth. Then they will get there chance to live and make their choice.

Answer 10

I believe it is the uniform testimony of Scripture that those who are not capable of making a decision to receive Jesus Christ, and who have died, are now with Christ in heaven, resting in His tender arms, enjoying the sweetness of His love. There are numerous factors supporting this viewpoint.
It is highly revealing that in all the descriptions of Hell in the Bible, we NEVER read of infants or little children there. Only adults capable of making decisions are seen there. Nor do we read of infants and little children standing before the Great White Throne judgement, which is the judgement of the wicked dead and the precursor to the lake of fire (Rev 20:11-15). The complete silence of Scripture regarding the presence of infants in eternal torment militates against their being there.
Jesus and the children. As we examine instances in which Christ encountered children during His earthly ministry, it would seem that children have a special place in His kingdom. Jesus even said, "Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Mat 18:3) He also said, "Whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me (verse 5). I don't think there is any way someone could read through Matthew 18 and conclude that it is within the realm of possibility that Jesus could damn such little ones to hell!

Christ's death is presented as sufficient for all of mankind. First John 2:2 says Jesus "is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world." This verse is clear that Jesus' death was sufficient for all sins, not just the sins of those who specifically have come to Him in faith. The fact that Christ's death was sufficient for all sin would allow the possibility of God applying that payment to those who were never capable of believing.

Answer 11

Depends on the 'group' of christians you ask. I've often wondered this as well.

Not only babys, but what about people whom have never heard about christianity? Or people that truly have mental illness and commit crimes not knowing what they are doing?

Some will tell you the whole lot will go straight to hell, while others will tell you different. Thats what makes christianity so bizarre. All of these different 'denominations' united under the banner of christianity yet hardly ever do their beliefs coincide.