The idea that infants are sinners is a false one.
Consider the following:
If infants are actual sinners from the moment of conception, as some argue, exactly which sins do they commit? Murder? Adultery? Lying? Theft? And, how do you know?
Consider, for example, Psalm 51:5, which is viewed by many to be the strongest “proof-text” for infant depravity.
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity; And in sin did my mother conceive me.
Several observations are in order:
1. This passage is Hebrew poetry, which allows considerable language license. No independent doctrinal conclusion should be drawn from literature of this nature.
Consider this passage. Job declared that he provided for widows “from [his] mother’s womb” (31:18). Is anyone so obtuse as to think that he was out and about doing benevolent work the first week of his life? The patriarch was affirming that early in life, as soon as he was old enough to understand his responsibility, he cared for the needy.
Similarly, David is acknowledging that early in life, relatively speaking, one yields to the commission of sin.
2. No interpretation can be assigned to any passage comprised of poetical or figurative language (including Ps. 51:5) which makes it contradict clear doctrinal statements elsewhere framed in prose. The Scriptures plainly teach that one commences to do evil from the time of his “youth,” not from the point of conception (cf. Gen. 8:21; Job 13:26; Jer. 32:30).
3. Children are referred to as “innocents” (Jer. 19:4; cf. 22:3).
4. They are held up as models for emulation (Mt. 18:3; 19:14; 1 Cor. 14:20), which would hardly be the case were they corrupt sinners.
5. Sin is specifically said not to be inherited (Ezek. 18:20); rather, it comes by learning (cf. Isa. 7:15).
6. If Psalm 51:5 teaches that one inherits sin from his mother, then Christ must have been sinful, because he had a human mother. Roman Catholic theologians have contrived a way of handling this problem; they concocted the doctrine of the “immaculate conception.”
Infants are in a safe condition with Christ. One sins of his own free will when he by his own desire and cognition violate the laws of God. I John 3:4, Romans 7:7.
Consider the following:
If infants are actual sinners from the moment of conception, as some argue, exactly which sins do they commit? Murder? Adultery? Lying? Theft? And, how do you know?
Consider, for example, Psalm 51:5, which is viewed by many to be the strongest “proof-text” for infant depravity.
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity; And in sin did my mother conceive me.
Several observations are in order:
1. This passage is Hebrew poetry, which allows considerable language license. No independent doctrinal conclusion should be drawn from literature of this nature.
Consider this passage. Job declared that he provided for widows “from [his] mother’s womb” (31:18). Is anyone so obtuse as to think that he was out and about doing benevolent work the first week of his life? The patriarch was affirming that early in life, as soon as he was old enough to understand his responsibility, he cared for the needy.
Similarly, David is acknowledging that early in life, relatively speaking, one yields to the commission of sin.
2. No interpretation can be assigned to any passage comprised of poetical or figurative language (including Ps. 51:5) which makes it contradict clear doctrinal statements elsewhere framed in prose. The Scriptures plainly teach that one commences to do evil from the time of his “youth,” not from the point of conception (cf. Gen. 8:21; Job 13:26; Jer. 32:30).
3. Children are referred to as “innocents” (Jer. 19:4; cf. 22:3).
4. They are held up as models for emulation (Mt. 18:3; 19:14; 1 Cor. 14:20), which would hardly be the case were they corrupt sinners.
5. Sin is specifically said not to be inherited (Ezek. 18:20); rather, it comes by learning (cf. Isa. 7:15).
6. If Psalm 51:5 teaches that one inherits sin from his mother, then Christ must have been sinful, because he had a human mother. Roman Catholic theologians have contrived a way of handling this problem; they concocted the doctrine of the “immaculate conception.”
Infants are in a safe condition with Christ. One sins of his own free will when he by his own desire and cognition violate the laws of God. I John 3:4, Romans 7:7.
