The Bible Nerd

Thank you Jesus, we are finally done with the Bible Urban Legend / Bible nerd questions!  Since I devoted so much time to those questions, I thought I should devote some time to a few “real” Bible questions.  I have already covered some issues that would have made the top 10 (God’s sovereignty and man’s free will, spiritual warfare, etc…), but there are tons of deep matters left.  I was thinking about avoiding some of these topics altogether out of the same basic instinct that says, “Don’t stick your foot in a bear trap.”  Unfortunately for you, I have never had much common sense with this kind of thing, so I will “boldly go where no intelligent Bible teacher should go”.  I will attempt to tread somewhat lightly and be as inductive as I can with presenting multiple views.  This isn’t being a “waffler” or a “ride the fence” kind of guy, but you must always decide for yourself what you believe.

“Real” Bible question #10:  the age of accountability (also related – infant baptism).  The more provocative title is, “Are babies born condemned to hell?”, but that sounds way too mean, so we will couch this as the age God holds people accountable for their sins.  As the doctrine of original sin developed, Christians in the early church had to wrestle with the ramifications of their views.  Those, like Augustine, who believed that original sin means that everyone is born condemned, struggled to explain to themselves and others how God could send young “innocents” to hell.  Several doctrines and practices sprung up from this including infant baptism, covenant theology, and the age of accountability teaching.

Infant baptism taught that babies could be baptized shortly after birth and that act would “cover” their sins until they could make their own decision for Christ.  How that actually works and the Scriptures to back it vary, although many of them explain how God’s grace works through the act of baptism.  Most stop short of saying that the infant is saved by the act of baptism, instead using it as a symbol of what God is extending to the infant.  I can find no Scriptural basis for this practice though.  You won’t find any commands in the epistles, nor stories in the narratives.  Only if you stretch Acts 16:15, and guess that there were infants who were baptized in Lydia’s “household”, could you come up with an example (very stretchy).  We see only adults baptized, and in Romans 6, Paul gives a symbolism which would only be understood by someone who has the ability to make the choice for Jesus.

Covenant theology states that the faith of the parents creates a “covenant” bond to God for the whole family.  The children are covered then by this covenant grace until they are old enough to make a decision on their own, or until they leave the “family”, meaning the household.  1 Corinthians 7:14 says, “For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. ”  The terms Paul uses for the children are “unclean” and “holy”, not “saved” or “justified”.  For Paul, with a Jewish background and mindset, “clean” and “holy” have to do with a Levitical concept of clean and unclean from Leviticus 11 – 15.  This is not salvation discussed here, but ceremonial cleanliness.  Paul is speaking of believing spouses staying with unbelieving spouses for the sake of the children having a Christian authority and witness in the house (opening the way for them to be “clean” or “holy”, not necessitating it).

The age of accountability is a belief partially rooted in Jewish tradition (Bar Mitzveh) and backed by Isaiah 7.  Isaiah 7:14-16 states, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.  He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.”  In this passage predicting the Messiah Jesus, a time element is introduced to predict an event which will happen prior, the destruction of two enemy kings of Israel.  Though this does discuss a child’s ability to discern good from evil, it doesn’t address the issue of salvation or condemnation at all.  It doesn’t say that the child is not accountable before it knows how to discern good and evil.  (Not to mention the nightmare argument over whether this is speaking of Jesus or Isaiah’s son!)

So, if it seems that the age of accountability, covenant theology, and infant baptism are all on shaky ground, what can we say to comfort those who have had infants or children die?  I can propose two answers that have brought me comfort and seem to have merit.  First, though we may not have Scriptures to explain this, we do know God’s character and nature.  Passages that speak of God’s love for children and the helpless like James and Deuteronomy lead me to believe that God’s mercy would cover those not “old” or “aware” enough to make a logical/faith based decision for Christ.

Second, the principle of Ezekiel 18 is strong and needs to be considered when looking at Romans 5 and the doctrine of original sin.  God judges the individual and the corporate group, but the eternal judgment of heaven or hell seems to only expressed on an individual basis. If we say that infants are born condemned to hell, I know that we have reformed theology behind us solidly, but I am not sure we have the entirety of Scripture behind us on this.  We have to bring that doctrine together with the doctrine of God’s judgment as clearly expressed on an individual basis there in Ezekiel.  If an infant hasn’t sinned, can it be condemned?  Of course, that brings us to the question of how old is a child when it sins.  Having four children, I know it is a young age, and so it still leaves a wide gap until they are 13 years old (the supposed age of accountability).

Bible question #10, is there an age of accountability, has to be answered with a “no” from concrete Scriptural evidence, but gets a “yes” from me based on Ezekiel 18 and the character and nature of God.  That is the best I can offer for now.  As I shared in the posts on suffering, my wife and I lost our first baby, so this question is not merely an academic one for me.  Coming up next, Top “Real” Bible Question #9: Does the Bible support the death penalty?  I can feel the heat rising already in this highly contentious issue.  Remember, Jesus loves you…. and He loves me too.