Welcome to Gaia! ::

A lot of people like to say "babies go to Heaven" because it feels good to say that. It makes us feel good to believe that babies are innocent.

Which is really kind of stupid, when you think about it. I mean, that means we have to admit that our sins are our sins, not some flaw passed down by Adam. Most people want to pass the buck and blame others for their sins.

Besides, as my old teacher pointed out, babies are natural thieves and liars. You hold a baby (assuming you got one that can speak, at least a little), and he'll snatch the glasses off your face. Try to reclaim your glasses, what does he do? He screams "mine!"

But I digress. As far as I can tell, the Bible doesn't actually tell us about the fate of babies and children. The closest we get is when Jesus said "let the kids come to me, don't try to stop them, for the Kingdom of Heaven is for people like them" (DBP).

I figure that's one of those things that God reserves for Himself. He knows their fate. And He probably judges each differently; I mean, a 16-year-old retarded kid would probably be judged differently from a 10-year-old "normal" kid (assuming, for argument's sake, that they've not reached the point where they can be judged for their own faults). So I admit I don't know ... but I figure God knows, and that's quite enough for me.

But Super, I have to say one thing ... about babies "not knowing enough sins". I wasn't aware that there was a quota of sins we had to reach to deserve Hell. Oh, wait, I'm wrong, there is: one sin is sufficient.

I honestly believe that infants who die shortly after birth will go to heaven. I'm not exactly sure were in the bible but it says before you're even a baby in the womb, god has seen your face and used his own hands to create you. He loves you before you ever take your first breath of air! If a child dies before or shortly after birth, they dont have the time or ability to sin (I mean like a few minutes after being born, not a few months or something). Therefor, I believe that since they were created by God and loved by him before they even came to the world, surely they must go to heaven! Thats my opinion at least, others think differently than I, so I could be wrong. If a baby is a few days or a few months old (like I mentioned before) They could have come to know sin, and be judged for it if and when they leave this world. But babies that dont have time to congure thoughts or act on sin wont have any reason to be sent to hell when they die, I believe.

i do believe that babies will go to heaven when they die.."All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law."~Romans 2:12 (NIV)...right?...babies don't know Christ yet so they're apart from the law..but they haven't even sinned yet since, well, they're babies, they died, and they don't know anything...in other words they're still innocent...they don't know whtat they're doing...God is a just God so i don't think He will condemn them to hell, well as i view it...

but what i'm curious about is this..is that do babies immediately go to heaven when they die or their souls too, will await judgment day..(Revelation 20:12-13) well, just curious though.. smile

I just heard about a new book that I'm asking for for Christmas.
It's a NON FICTION book written by a father that tells a story for his young son. Supposedly the 4 year old child died in the hospital and was revived. At first he began to tell stories about the hospital that he could not have possibly known. He knew the nurse had come out and told his Father that it didn't look good and that they were trying to revive him. Some how he knew his Mother didn't hear that because she was in the cafeteria getting coffee. He then began to tell stories about people he had met in heaven including a great grandfather he had never met, St. Paul and Jesus. According to the interview I saw the Father said that the boy had never been exposed to any stories or anything that woud enable him to tell the indepth stories that he recounted. The Father is a Pastor so that will be taken into consideration as I read it to see if the child (in my opinion )has "supernatural knowledge" of things. or not. But it should be thought provoking reading if nothing else.

The book is called: Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back by Todd Burpo, Sonja Burpo, Colton Burpo, Lynn Vincent

It does sound interesting to me as well, especially since we were questioning whether babies go to heaven.

I dunno about that; I've read up to 2 Kings and didn't see an age of accountability. Though it could just be a traditional thing...

But on the other hand, about babies going to heaven: what i believe is that one has to be old enough to understand what you're doing to be judged and subsequently go to Hell. Yes, babies are thieves and liars at times, but they don't understand that what they're doing is wrong. They aren't developed enough to understand what they're doing.