Do Babies/Young Children Go To Heaven

[foxy]

Rusty posed an interesting question regarding whether or not aborted babies go to Heaven.

I would expand on this adding miscarried babies, babies and young children who die from any cause be it natural, accidental or by murder.

[Justbec]

IF one believes in Heaven and God, why wouldn't they?

[foxy]

As far as acceptance into Heaven goes, it makes no difference on how the physical death came to be, the question being asked is really are babies/children covered under the atoning blood of Jesus?

In my interpretation of Scripture, children are like Adam & Eve before they sinned. That was when they didn't know right & wrong. They had childlike faith in God and consequently were able to enjoy His presence in the garden.

Years ago the Catholic Church taught unbaptised babies who died couldn't enter into the presence of God because they had original sin. Baptism as performed on adults exclusively in Biblical times was changed by the RCC to infant baptism to insure babies who died wouldn't be cut off and wind up in an alternative kingdom called "limbo."

The Catholic Church no longer teaches about "limbo" any more, but still practices infant Baptism. I believe there is enough evidence in Scripture to show only those of the age to understand right from wrong and accept Jesus as their savior should seek baptism. If this were not so, John the Baptist would have baptised infants and Jesus would have instructed His Diciples to do so as well.

Jesus told His disciples not to stop the little children from coming to Him for His blessing because the Kingdom of God is for those who are like those children. What sin has a baby committed? Until they are old enough to know right from wrong and choose rebellion like Adam & Eve, one can only conclude they are pure and under the blood of Christ.

[Justbec]

[romaniprincess]

Of course. They've done nothing wrong.

[apple]

Yes, the Bible teaches that we are all born sinners with sinful, selfish natures. Unless we are born again by the Spirit of God, we will never see the kingdom of God.

Before we were saved,“we were by nature deserving of wrath”(Ephesians 2:3). Note that we deserved God’s wrath not only because of our actions but because of our nature. That nature is what we inherited from Adam.


So no, fetuses don't go to heaven.

[foxy]

God demonstrated His desire for His fallen creation to be restored to fellowship with Himself as they once were in the time of innocence such was the period before the fall. His covenant to save mankind was recorded in the book of Genesis. Sinning against God's laws is the nature of man as you stated apple , which is why Jesus took the punishment for our sins upon Himself so we who have been ransomed by the Messiah may be sinless before God.

But what of the innocent little ones who have not committed sin yet? The judge of all will do right because it is His nature. Every "fetus" was known by God as they were being formed in their mother's womb. They are precious in His sight. God does not create evil, He creates people with free will who can choose good or evil. Until a person is old enough to consciously choose to sin, how could they be cut off from God? And, furthermore, if this is the case, then the penalty for those who chose to consign their own offspring to an eternity of being cut off from God would be unimaginable if God is a just judge.

[fuzzems]

There seems to be an" age of accountability"in the Bible.

Babies don't sin. They are born of the nature to sin. Those are 2 different but compatible concepts.

There is some notion of an" age of accountability" but that's not explicit. Jewish custom is age 13. There are passages indicating the innocence of children and that they go to Heaven

[foxy]

That is very true fuzzems . This is why Catholics, Protestants, Jews and Muslims wait until children "come of age" before performing rituals welcoming them into full fellowship in their churches, temples & mosques. If it was believed their children would not be accepted into God's Kingdom if they were to die prematurely they would not wait until puberty to initiate them fully.

[apple]

Feb 1, 2024 22:59:08 GMT -5 fuzzems said:

There seems to be an" age of accountability"in the Bible.

Babies don't sin. They are born of the nature to sin. Those are 2 different but compatible concepts.

There is some notion of an" age of accountability" but that's not explicit. Jewish custom is age 13. There are passages indicating the innocence of children and that they go to Heaven

The Roman Catholic view is that baptism is necessary for salvation and that it frees the recipient from original sin.

Ergo, children are born sinners. 

[foxy]

^ According to the RCC. I was raised Catholic. I left the RCC when I read the Bible for myself.

FYI, the RCC waits until children come of age too before Confirmation when they are supposed to be receiving the Holy Spirit by a laying on of hands by the officiate. Babies can't make a decision for Christ so when they are baptised all you get is a baby with a wet forehead. 

[apple]

Baptism is conferred upon infants to free them from original sin, to initiate them into the Church as Christians.

[foxy]

If water was all it takes to be absolved of "original sin" then John the Baptist did the job, no need for Christ to go to the cross. It takes understanding and obedience on the part of the one being baptised to receive absolution of their sins. Innocent babies cannot make a decision. Jesus never instructed the Disciples to "Christen babies." If it was so important He would have done so.

[raven]

I used to be Christian once upon a time. We were taught that until the "age of accountability" or if there was a severe mental issue that everyone goes to heaven. I have heard that number anywhere from 8-15.

Good article for those that might enjoy it.

www.gotquestions.org/age-of-accountability.html

[apple]

Feb 2, 2024 8:21:06 GMT -5 raven said:

I used to be Christian once upon a time. We were taught that until the "age of accountability" or if there was a severe mental issue that everyone goes to heaven. I have heard that number anywhere from 8-15.

Good article for those that might enjoy it.

www.gotquestions.org/age-of-accountability.html

It depends what particular religion you subscribe to.


The age of accountability was invented to get all babies into heaven, based on their innocence, because what preacher wants to give a funeral for a child and tell grieving parents the baby didn’t make it heaven? Only a monster would do that. No parent could stand the horrific thought of their child being lost for eternity, so there needed to be a solution. So since Scripture seemed to silent on this, man made this up.

Again, there is always a way to interpret scripture to get the desired result.

[foxy]

apple said "No parent could stand the horrific thought of their child being lost for eternity."

There is your answer right there. We are all God's children, made in His image. Jesus said God is our "Abba," meaning Father. We, who are imperfect by nature, don't condemn babies or the mentally disabled because we don't hold them accountable for things they have no control over. Love and mercy that we extend to our offspring are communicable attributes of God that reflect upon His Divine nature. If we who are imperfect give good things to our children, how much more would God give to them that ask of Him? Matt. 7:11

If as you said apple "...Only a monster would do that" then you are saying a minister is covering up for a God they believe to be a monstrous tyrant in order to spare the feelings of grief stricken parents.

To know the Son is to know the Father. Never did Jesus reject a child, but never did He baptise a child or baby either. If He knew their souls were in mortal danger, He who loved children surely would have done so and, as I said before, He would have stressed the importance of doing so to His Disciples.

Infant "Christening" did not begin until hundreds of years after 70AD (when John the Revelator who wrote the last chapter of the Bible died) which was when  pagan Rome  who had persecuted the early church, finally embraced Christianity and made it their state religion. So are we to assume all babies and children who died before the RCC changed the requirement for adult baptism to infant baptism were lost for eternity? Only through the power assumed by the Roman Catholic priests could babies and young children be redeemed and accepted by God? Why then didn't the Apostle Peter, who the RCC counted as the very first Pope, teach the importance of baptizing babies? Was he negligent? Did he not care for children? Did John forget to put such an important instruction to the churches in the final book of the Bible?

[foxy]

In my church history class at Bible College we had to choose a group from the Protestant Reformation and write a paper on their movement. I chose what the RCC called the "Anabaptists"(Re-Baptisers.) The term was actually meant to be derogatory because these groups, originating in Zurich, Switzerland in the early 16th century, had split from the Catholic church and believed infant baptism did not meet the requirements layed out in the Bible for conversion to Christianity.

Up until the first Bibles rolled off the Guttenberg Press, written in the common language of the people, the RCC clergy were the self proclaimed interpreters of Scripture. Once the common man was able to read and understand Scripture for themselves,  the Protestant Reformation began. The sects who the RCC and Lutherans came to call "Anabaptist" are the groups we know today as Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites, Church of the Brethren, and German Baptists. Largely due to their newfound understanding that believers needed to be old enough to acknowledge and turn away from sin and follow Jesus as their Lord & Savior, they baptised anyone of the age to do so, regardless of whether or not they had been baptised as infants in the RCC. This angered the Catholic Church to the point that they deemed these Christians as dangerous heretics. Many of them were hunted down, tortured to recant and if they did not, they were burned at the stake and martyred for daring to reject the authority of the RCC. If the torture and execution of people whose only fervent desire was to follow Jesus seems unChristian that's because it was. Conversion by the sword was not a teaching of Christ. In fact, the "Anabaptists" were pacifists who believed in sharing their goods and services with their brethren in Christ and not taking up arms to fight in military conflicts.

These people believed so firmly in the Biblical instructions for baptism, they were willing to suffer persecution and martyrdom for their beliefs. Pretty radical right?

[deyana]

I will stay out of this conversation, as I don't know much about the bible.

[Justice-N-Motion]

Jan 31, 2024 23:06:59 GMT -5 Justbec said:

IF one believes in Heaven and God, why wouldn't they?

Just throwing this out there for thought and discussion. Answer to your question: Why they wouldn't be is because a person's (babies) entrance into the kingdom does not rely on anyone else's belief. 

That said, babies do go to Heaven, IMO.

[Justice-N-Motion]

Feb 2, 2024 16:37:19 GMT -5 deyana said:

I will stay out of this conversation, as I don't know much about the bible.

For discussion purposes it would be a good book to read.