A Christian Reformed Pastor asks: "At
what point does an infant/child become accountable? Very young children
are doing very terrible things. Regarding some of these problems,
isn't it enough to say 'Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?'
Or, the Lord knows his sheep; he will not miss or lose one?"
This questioner correctly discerns
that it is a good and necessary implication of Biblical Universalism*
that all who die before reaching the age of accountability are saved.
Report
30
Firstly
— We can consider what the Christian Reformed
Church has said regarding this matter. All page references are
to the Acts of Synod 1980:
"Some persons are consigned to everlasting condemnation before
they are born," was the complaint against the Canons of Dort
that was submitted to Synod 1977. In reply to this complaint Synod
1980 adopted a three-year study report as an "elucidation"
of the church's teaching regarding the doctrine of "reprobation,"
that is, the teaching concerning all who will be finally lost (P.
76).
This "elucidation"
recognizes that there is a vast difference between being worthy of
eternal condemnation and the actual implementation of that sentence.
The Bible repeatedly speaks of all persons having sinned in Adam and
consequently all are worthy of eternal death. However, when the Scriptures
describe those who will actually suffer eternal death, it INVARIABLY
speaks of that judgment being implemented only in response to the
individual, willful, persistent sin and unbelief on the part of the
person consigned to hell (PP. 516-517).
Those
Who Will Be Finally Lost
In this official "elucidation"
the cause or basis of condemnation (being sent to hell) is said to
be: man's "sin" (PP.516, 517); "sin and unbelief"
(seven times, PP.516, 517, 522, 548 [twice], 553, and 554); "God
consigns to destruction only on the basis of what that person does
and whatever evil actions that person performs" (P.521); "So
can we say that God rejects only those who reject him? Most emphatically
we can." (P.521); "Damnation is a response to the evil the
'reprobates' do" (P.522); "they themselves are the agents
of unbelief" (P.530).
The elucidation continues, "God
condemns to destruction only those who do, in fact, sin and exhibit
unbelief" (P.530); "Human beings are condemned only on the
basis of what they actually do in history." (P.530); "those
not selected have disqualified themselves through their sins"
(P.537); "the condition of the non-elect results from their unbelief"
(P.538); "condemnation, however, is to be found solely in the
persistent unbelief and sin of those so condemned" (P.553).
By means of the biblical truths cited
in the preceding two paragraphs the CRC responded with an emphatic
"NO!" to the complaint. From this "elucidation"
it necessarily follows that ALL WHO DIE IN INFANCY ARE SAVED. Dr.
Nicholas Wolterstorff (a member of the three-year study committee)
confirms that this is the correct reading of this official "elucidation"
as adopted by Synod 1980 (See Posting No. 11 entitled "Biblical
Universalism in the Christian Reformed Church").
The
So-called "Universalistic" Texts
Secondly —
We may not close our eyes to what the Bible says about this matter
in the so-called "universalistic" passages (e.g. John 12:32;
Rom. 5:18, 11:32; 1 Cor. 15:22; 2 Cor. 5:19; 1 Tim. 4:10; Titus 2:11,
Heb. 2:9; 1 John 2:2; etc.). It is beyond all reasonable doubt that,
whether read in English or Greek, these passages speak of a certain-to-be-realized
salvation as Calvinist have consistently maintained and they do so
in terms of all persons as Arminians have always affirmed.
These passages are not unclear or fuzzy.
Either we accept these passages as written without any exceptions
(Absolute Universalism); or, we accept them as written with the exceptions
that are necessarily imposed on them by the broader context of the
Scriptures as a whole (Biblical Universalism). No one has been able
to suggest a third way of accepting these passages as written (See
Posting #2).
The exceptions to these passages, that
is, those who will be lost (the reprobate) as described in the Scriptures
and as characterized in the "elucidation" adopted by the
Christian Reformed Church do not include any infants whether born
of believers or of unbelievers (See Posting #3).
The
Nature of God
Thirdly —
Most importantly, is the reason stated by Charles Spurgeon for believing
that all who die in infancy are saved. In a sermon entitled "Infant
Salvation," preached September 29, 1861 he said, "We ground
our conviction about infant salvation very much upon the goodness
of the nature of God." Again he said "We think that eternal
banishment of those dying in infancy would be utterly inconsistent
with the known character of our Lord Jesus Christ."
For anyone to say or to imply that
God may have created some infants for the sole purpose of casting
them into hell may well be guilty of contemptuous speech concerning
God. "If we had a god whose name was Moloch; if God were an arbitrary
tyrant, without benevolence or grace, we could imagine some infants
being cast into hell" (Spurgeon).
An
Unanswerable Question
"At what point does an infant/child become accountable?"
Others have also asked this question. The question baffles me. Surely
they do not expect an answer in terms of years or months. We have
no way of knowing the answer to this question and there is no need
for us to know.
God alone decides who has finally and
decisively refused "to have God in their knowledge." That
knowledge concerning other human beings, no matter what their age,
will not be ours until "the last day." "As for the
person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him.
For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. There is a
judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that
very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day" (John
12:47,48).
Genesis
18:25
"Regarding some of these problems, isn't it enough to say 'Shall
not the judge of all the earth do right?'" Such "pious agnosticism"
is appropriate only concerning matters about which the Scriptures
remain silent. This question from Gen. 18:25 is not an expression
of Abraham's willingness to acquiesce in silence, that is, to let
the matter at hand go unanswered. He posed the question in order to
urge God to answer.
We have no reason to think that God
is pleased with the claim or the implication that he may have created
some infants for the sole purpose of casting them into hell. It is
just as wrong to affirm that which the Bible denies as it is to deny
that which the Bible affirms.
- - - - -
- - - - - - - -
* BIBLICAL
UNIVERSALISM is the teaching that all persons are elect in Christ
except those who the Bible expressly declares will be finally lost,
namely, those who ultimately reject or remain indifferent to whatever
revelation God has given of himself to them whether in nature/conscience
or in gospel presentation.
Biblical Universalism is based upon these three biblical facts:
1) The so-called "universalistic" texts speak of a certain-to-be-realized
salvation as Calvinist have consistently maintained and they do so
in terms of all persons as Arminians have always affirmed (Posting
No. 2).
2) We must accept the so-called "universalistic" texts as written.
We may allow only those exceptions that are necessarily imposed upon
these passages from the broader context of the Scriptures as a whole
(Posting No. 3).
3) All persons, except Jesus Christ, are liable for and polluted by
the imputed sin of Adam (original sin). However, the Scriptures do
not teach or imply that anyone is consigned to eternal damnation solely
on the basis of their sin in Adam APART FROM actual, willful and persistent
sin on the part of the person so consigned (Posting No. 4).
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Neal Punt at: whenindoubt3@charter.net
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