Babies in Hell??>
There is a religious argument which says: All have
sinned, sinners go to Hell, we are sinners by nature, God
judges sinners,
therefore babies go to Hell IF they have
not first trusted Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Does
God really send babies to
Hell?
The opposing argument is the ?age of accountability?
teaching, which says essentially that there is a certain
age at which
individuals become accountable for their
sins. Many set an arbitrary
chronological age, like twelve
years old, when you are old enough to marry, old
enough to
vote, or, they are not exactly sure at what age but they are sure
there is one.
But the real issue is not one of a certain amount of
birthdays, or other milestones, but it is one of
understanding. For instance,
would we put someone to death
who, although they broke the law and committed a
crime,
because of their mental inability to understand the consequences of what
they did, were simply not capable
of knowing the
consequences of their act? Would we execute
a person who simply did not
understand what a gun was or
what it did? Does God impute sin when the person is
incapable of the knowledge of sin? Let?s look at the bible
answer:
In Deuteronomy, the entire generation of Israelites
who were led out of bondage in ?>ml:namespace
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Isaiah 7:16 shows that a child must know the
difference between good and evil in order to be able to
refuse the evil and
choose the good. Romans 9:11 shows
that God made choice between two brothers
based on His
decision, ?neither having done any good or evil.? In Revelation
chapter 20 we see the wicked dead being judged at the
Great White Throne
?according to their works.? How could
an infant, a young child, or even an
unborn or aborted
child, be judged according to works when they have no
understanding of good or evil and could not have done any
work, good or
evil?
Redemption in the bible is based on understanding. Faith cometh by hearing. The hearing, in the context,
is not merely the hearing of noise, but hearing as in
understanding. When the
Law of Moses was read in Nehemiah
8:2 it was read before BOTH men and women and
ALL THAT
COULD HEAR WITH UNDERSTANDING.
Doctrine is essential to redemption, and that is true
whether under the Law or under Grace. Who shall He teach
knowledge and whom
shall he make to understand doctrine?
(Isaiah 28:9) Them that
are weaned from
the milk and drawn from the breast. For
precept must be upon precept, line upon line, here a
little, and there a
little. A person who cannot
hear with understanding is a person who
cannot exercise
faith. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by
the word of God. God does not send babies to
Hell.