A Child Not Believing ‘Rightly’ Will Perish

Innocent ChildA Calvinist pastor from a church I used to attend put this comment up on Facebook:

“If a child doesn’t believe rightly in the true Jesus, he or she will perish eternally. In other words, right Christology is kind of important.”

The question that immediately popped into my mind was whether there’s an “age of accountability” before God sends a youngster to Hell? And, asking the next logical extension, would God send a ‘pre-born’ child which dies in the womb before physical birth to Hell because that child didn’t ‘believe rightly in the true Jesus’?
I commented and asked about a child’s age of accountability. Shortly thereafter, this pastor commented back saying,

“[Regarding] your question, it depends on each individual. [My wife] called on the Lord as an 8-year-old. I was 22. I know a man who was in his 60s. [My wife] and I labored to teach God’s word to our children beginning when they were toddlers.”

The question is about an age of accountability and a child’s inability to even know if they believe “in the true Jesus”. And the response is; “it depends on each individual.” Perhaps to a Calvinist, that makes sense. I understand that the Calvinist argument according to TULIP is that we’re all totally depraved and one’s ‘election’ unto salvation isn’t according to anything the individual has done – or has not done in the case of an aborted baby. As such, to the Calvinist, grace and mercy are meted out per God’s desire. Some get saved. But the reality is, most don’t. I simply cannot logically resolve the construct that Calvinists must therefore accept that God damns children who’re innocent of any sin? Seriously!? GOD KILLS KIDS FOR HIS GLORY!!?? Am I missing something? To my Calvinist friends who know I struggle with matters of faith – you want me to believe that God is holy, just and righteous. However, what is to be understood and what is implied in the nature and character of God that he, I presume from the foundation of the world, damns individuals who have not sinned and therefore aren’t needing Christ’s atonement?

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Author: Bob

Although having grown up in Tucson, AZ, I’m an upper Midwestern guy at heart having spent most of my adult life in Minnesota. I recently entered the "Buick stage" of life and have migrated to Florida. This blog is an attempt to explain the deconstruction of my Christian faith and better understand what I perceive as the discordant aspects of Christianity. Things which make life more enjoyable include rough-housing with the grandkids, strong black coffee, charcoal grilling, cutting wood on a table saw, playing chess, a good orthopedic surgeon and an occasional IPA. Please feel free to poke around and comment as you wish. I welcome cordial discussion and the insights of others with a different perspective and understanding.

2 thoughts on “A Child Not Believing ‘Rightly’ Will Perish”

  1. Calvinism is evil, and I simply don’t understand how the followers of this fake belief system cannot understand it. They represent the Biblical “god” in such an embarrassing, incorrect, and hateful way. They worship men and men’s foolishness. And to think they believe the Reformation is an act of God….I can’t think of a bigger oxymoron or lie.

  2. Actually, it is the non-Calvinist who has the biggest problem here. Without letting God be God, and the Holy Spirit “blowing where He wishes” (Jn. 3), the non-Calvinist has no scriptural means by which children are saved. There is no accountability doctrine that can be substantiated by the Bible. It is merely a made-up belief that soothes our minds. But Calvinists believe that God MAY regenerate that little baby in the womb according to His desire, and we know His judgments are always right. There is no way to escape the difficulty of the doctrine of original sin being unable to reconcile with an “age of accountability.” If that were true, then there would be two methods of salvation. Nope. There’s only one. You must be born from above – and that happens like the wind blows, and as the Spirit wills.

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