If, per the Protestant doctrine, salvation can't be inherited, but must be freely chosen, then inevitably one might ask, "What about babies?"
Catholics solve the problem by baptizing their infants, thus assuring that the child will be granted status in heaven no matter when they die. Protestants however reject that notion, but from there they part ways.
Arminian theology teaches something called "The Age of Accountability," the period when a person becomes mature enough in God's eyes to accept salvation. That age is different for everyone, but, according to the doctrine, once you've passed that age, you don't have any more excuse. Live just one more day and don't ask Jesus into your heart, and it's off to Hell with you.
Calvinism, on the other hand, takes a more literal view. There's no mention of the Age of Accountability in the Bible; ergo, there is no such thing. All that matter is if the person freely accepts salvation. If you don't ask for forgiveness--even if you can't--then you go to Hell. That means that the mentally incapacitated, the infants, even the fetuses that spontaneously abort without the woman even realizing she was pregnant--all of them are carted off to the Lake of Fire, because they died in their sins. They were corrupt due to their sinful nature received at conception, and their corruption has disqualified them from any mercy in God's sight.
Like it or not, according to Calvinist K. B. Napier, babies are screaming in Hell, and that's a good thing:
Calvinism is a monstrous doctrine.
Catholics solve the problem by baptizing their infants, thus assuring that the child will be granted status in heaven no matter when they die. Protestants however reject that notion, but from there they part ways.
Arminian theology teaches something called "The Age of Accountability," the period when a person becomes mature enough in God's eyes to accept salvation. That age is different for everyone, but, according to the doctrine, once you've passed that age, you don't have any more excuse. Live just one more day and don't ask Jesus into your heart, and it's off to Hell with you.
Calvinism, on the other hand, takes a more literal view. There's no mention of the Age of Accountability in the Bible; ergo, there is no such thing. All that matter is if the person freely accepts salvation. If you don't ask for forgiveness--even if you can't--then you go to Hell. That means that the mentally incapacitated, the infants, even the fetuses that spontaneously abort without the woman even realizing she was pregnant--all of them are carted off to the Lake of Fire, because they died in their sins. They were corrupt due to their sinful nature received at conception, and their corruption has disqualified them from any mercy in God's sight.
Like it or not, according to Calvinist K. B. Napier, babies are screaming in Hell, and that's a good thing:
Election says that God foreordained before the world was made (in eternity) those who would be saved. All others are foreordained to destruction, whether they are in the womb or out of it, and at any age. We might not like it, and we cannot reconcile it with our heart’s desire, but it is nevertheless a fact of God’s word.
Calvinism is a monstrous doctrine.
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1 comment:
It's indeed interesting how badly certain doctrines fall down on this point, but I prefer not to harp on it because the (despicable) religion I was raised in has concocted a more or less unobjectionable answer (if taken in isolation of course), despite being fundamentally racist, misogynistic, and homophobic (in no particular order).
The LD$ Church preaches that those who didn't get a fair chance to accept the gospel in this life will be given a second chance in the afterlife (with the inescapable conclusion being that, if there is an afterlife, there will still be door-to-door Mormons, oh fucking shit...)
In any case, since we're making it all up anyway, they've basically plugged that hole. That's why I prefer not to focus on it. "Woo hoo, you came up with a way to tweak your sadistic doctrine to allow anybody to become equally sadistic, whether they've heard of your fucked-up sadist plan or not. Um..... Congratulations???
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