In response to the release of a series of videos showing Planned Parenthood employees reportedly discussing the sale of baby parts obtained through abortion, evangelicals have expressed a range of views on the eternal destiny of children who die in infancy.<\/p>\n
Among Southern Baptists, most agree Scripture suggests aborted babies — along with others dying in infancy and individuals with severe mental disabilities — go to heaven. But pastors and theologians disagree on various related issues from the clarity of Scripture on children\u2019s salvation to whether infants bear guilt before God.<\/p>\n
Points of agreement include the evil of abortion and the goodness of God.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs tragic as this situation is,\u201d Connecticut pastor David Saylor said of infant deaths, \u201cit\u2019s not beyond the sovereign power of God to be in control of. We\u2019re not totally lost to our situation. We\u2019re still in the hands of God.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saylor, pastor of First Baptist Church in Manchester, Connecticut, told Baptist Press he doesn\u2019t think the Bible \u201cspecifically or directly\u201d explains the eternal destiny of infants who die in infancy or other persons mentally unable to understand the concepts of sin and faith. While Christians \u201ccan\u2019t be dogmatic about what God hasn\u2019t chosen to clearly reveal to us,\u201d Saylor believes \u201cGod may apply Christ\u2019s blood to those who are unable to accept by faith the gift of salvation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Infants are not innocent before God because they bear guilt that is imputed to all humans due to Adam\u2019s sin in the Garden of Eden, Saylor said, citing Psalm 51:5 and Romans 5:12-14. \u201cA baby just born or in the womb hasn\u2019t sinned personally yet, but he has a fallen nature and that\u2019s the issue God has to conquer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saylor\u2019s belief that God \u201cmay\u201d apply Christ\u2019s blood to infants is based on his notion of \u201cthe justice of God\u201d rather than a specific Scripture passage, he said. It is reasonable to speculate that if children \u201chaven\u2019t come to the point where they can have faith, then God may apply Christ\u2019s blood even without that faith,\u201d Saylor said.<\/p>\n
Doug Melton, pastor of Southern Hills Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, believes the Bible allows Christians to express greater certainty about the eternal destiny of babies who die in infancy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhenever we take the full context of Scripture,\u201d Melton told Baptist Press, \u201cI have a real hard time sitting in front of a mom and dad and saying to them, \u2018I don\u2019t know where your stillborn child is.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Infants who die in infancy go to heaven, Melton said. He based his view, first, on the Old Testament teaching that God only punished Israelites 20 and older when the nation rebelled against Him on the edge of the Promised Land. In contrast, God allowed younger people to enter the land after 40 years of wilderness wandering. Adolescents and children were not barred from the land presumably, Melton said, \u201cbecause they had not willfully rebelled against God.\u201d<\/p>\n
That account from Numbers 14, he said, is \u201ca type that\u2019s pointing ahead to the scriptural understanding of heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n
Second, Melton said Romans 1:20 suggests individuals unable to \u201cperceive\u201d God through observation of His creation \u201care not held accountable because they have not willfully rebelled.\u201d All humans inherit a sinful nature from Adam, Melton said, but Scripture only threatens punishment for personal sin.<\/p>\n
Despite infants\u2019 lack of moral culpability, Melton believes they are saved by Christ\u2019s atonement, though he does not \u201cfully understand\u201d how that salvation transaction works.<\/p>\n
Beliefs of \u2018most Southern Baptists\u2019<\/p>\n
In 2013, a Calvinism Advisory Committee appointed by Frank S. Page, president of the Southern Baptist Convention\u2019s Executive Committee, acknowledged disagreement among Southern Baptists on some issues related to infant salvation — such as whether all humans inherit Adam\u2019s guilt. But the committee noted in its report, \u201cMost Southern Baptists believe that those who die before they are capable of moral action go to heaven through the grace of God and the atonement of Christ, even as they differ as to why this is so.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among committee members to express their views on the death of infants is Steve Lemke, provost at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. In a 2010 article for Louisiana\u2019s Baptist Message newsjournal, Lemke argued \u201cchildren are not morally accountable until \u2018they are capable of moral action,\u2019\u201d referencing Article III of the Baptist Faith and Message.<\/p>\n
The section of the BF&M Lemke referenced states, \u201cAs soon as [humans] are capable of moral action, they become transgressors and are under condemnation.\u201d Both the 1925 and 1963 editions of the BF&M make similar statements.<\/p>\n
Baptists, Lemke wrote, typically \u201cdo not believe in inherited guilt.\u201d Drawing on the new covenant prophecies in Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 18 among other Scriptures, Lemke argued humans \u201care only accountable under the new covenant for our own sins.\u201d Therefore, \u201cBaptists have always believed that since infants are not yet capable of actual sin, they go to heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n
Calvinism Advisory Committee members R. Albert Mohler Jr. and Daniel Akin wrote in a 2009 article, \u201cWe are born marked by original sin, and thus we cannot claim that infants are born in a state of innocence.\u201d Yet \u201cwe are to be judged on the basis of our deeds committed \u2018in the body,\u2019\u201d presumably a reference to 2 Corinthians 5:10.<\/p>\n
Scripture \u201cdoes not teach that we will answer for Adam\u2019s sin,\u201d wrote Mohler and Akin, presidents of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary respectively. Therefore, \u201cheaven will be filled with those who never grew to maturity on earth.\u201d<\/p>\n
A historical perspective<\/p>\n
Historically, the questions of whether infants bear guilt and the eternal destiny of those dying in infancy have been debated. As Mohler and Akin noted, the fourth-century church father Gregory of Nyssa believed infants, along with all other humans, would have an opportunity after death to confess Christ as Savior. Another fourth-century Christian, Ambrose of Milan, believed baptized infants would go to heaven while unbaptized infants would not, though he said they received immunity from the pain of hell.<\/p>\n
The 17th-century Westminster Confession of Faith argued, \u201cElect infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated, and saved by Christ, through the Spirit … so also are all other elect persons who are uncapable [sic] of being outwardly called by the ministry of the Word.\u201d Particular Baptists\u2019 1689 Second London Confession echoed that assertion, along with its implied distinction between elect and non-elect infants.<\/p>\n
In the 18th century, John Wesley, the father of Methodism, dealt with the issue of infant guilt by arguing Christ\u2019s death removed original guilt from every human so that no one is eternally condemned for Adam\u2019s sin, according to an article by Leo Cox in the Bulletin of the Evangelical Theological Society. Wesley himself wrote that Adam\u2019s sin \u201cis imputed to all men.\u201d But \u201cthat any will be damned for this alone, I allow not, till you show me where it is written. Bring me plain proof from Scripture, and I submit; but till then, I utterly deny it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon said in an 1861 sermon, \u201cWe say, with regard to infants, Scripture saith but little, and, therefore, where Scripture is confessedly scant, it is for no man to determine dogmatically. But I think I speak for the entire body, or certainly with exceedingly few exceptions, and those unknown to me, when I say, we hold that all infants are elect of God and are therefore saved.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Stand together\u2019 on Scripture<\/p>\n
Among Baptists today, Wayne Robertson, pastor of Morningside Baptist Church in Valdosta, Ga., takes a position on infant salvation with echoes of several historical figures.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do understand that infants are a member of Adam\u2019s fallen race and are born with a sin nature,\u201d Robertson told BP in written comments. \u201cI believe the Scriptures teach that condemnation is based on the rejection of God\u2019s revelation whether general or specific and not based on ignorance of it. I hold the position that the unborn and infants have not comprehended general revelation nor have they been given special revelation and as a result, have not been declared \u2018without excuse\u2019 (Romans 1:18-20).<\/p>\n
\u201cTherefore, trusting the many Scriptures that tell us that Jesus expressed His love for children, such as Matthew 19:13-15, I believe that Christ\u2019s atonement covered the guilt of these infants,\u201d Robertson said.<\/p>\n
As Christians continue to discuss the eternal destiny of infants, Melton, of Southern Hills in Oklahoma City, urged charity among those who trust the authority of Scripture.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a whole lot of different interpretations of Scripture,\u201d Melton said, \u201cand I believe everyone is trying to stand together on what Scripture teaches.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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