Ben Cartwright, January 30, 2001
Well, this is the first article I�m writing for my web site, and I suppose this topic may seem fairly arbitrary as an introductory article. I guess I�d say this isn�t really meant to be an introduction to anything�this is just the first idea that I became interested in enough to write about in a format that I could post onto my web page. Hopefully, the articles will cover many topics and genres, and I do hope that eventually other authors will be willing to post things�however short or long, earth-shattering or seemingly mundane�to this site. All I ask is that they be thought-provoking.
Let�s cut to the chase. I chose the title for this article because I hoped it would evoke a response, which would presumably be to click on the link to the article itself. I also chose it because it contains many assumptions.
I don�t wish to get into it too much here, but over the last couple of years, I have come to reject the inerrancy of the Bible�something I believed very strongly up until then. I rejected it for many reasons (none of which can be resolved by quoting me the �right verse� or handing me the �right book,� in case you were wondering), and this article will cover one of the rather strange topics which comes about when studying the Bible and how the contradiction is glossed over.
The Bible teaches a doctrine which most people call �original sin.� This is the concept that people are born into sin and are therefore damned to hell not by their own sin, but by Adam�s �original� one. For some reason, when he sinned, he genetically passed this down to us so that it wasn�t so much our active participation in sin that gave us the status of �hellbound,� but our inherited sin. Now, the Bible makes it clear that we would have sinned on our own anyway, so for some people it is a moot point, but to me, it makes all the difference in the world. If it were our actual sin (i.e., rebellion against God) which caused us the problems, then we might at least have a chance to get through part of life without actually sinning (although I have heard several people purport that man is born sinning, and this is evidenced by the way that even infants are so �self-centered��they seem to be speaking of some depravity inherent in human nature from the beginning, yet, as we will see, they rarely carry this to its logical conclusion). But this is not the case. According to Romans (a book in the Bible), our sin is inherited in some strange genetic way from Adam.
Now, let�s get to the heart of the argument before I end up taking up more space than I intended. Most Christians believe, along with this idea of �original sin,� that all children go to heaven. They often say, �How could God send a child to hell?� Indeed. Strangely, it is precisely here that for some reason they are willing to abandon the specific texts and teachings of the Bible and opt for their own logical interpretation of what God�s actions ought to be like. I have even heard of a concept called the �age of accountability,� which apparently refers to the idea that people aren�t accountable for their actions until around age 13 or so. It makes sense in some ways, but it directly violates the teachings of the Bible. Nowhere in the Bible can this �age of accountability� be found. It is purely a way for people to get around the obvious implications of this doctrine of �original sin.� There is one obscure text in the Bible in which David says he knows where his son has gone when he dies or something, but it is certainly not clear that this is meant to be a universal statement that �all children go to heaven,� and if it is, it directly contradicts the teachings of Romans, which is also in the Bible.
Let�s take a quick diversion here and consider the implications of this idea that �all children go to heaven if they die.� We are taught that, compared to eternity, our time here on earth is like a grain of sand on a beach which stretches out to the horizon. We live here for a short time, after which we either go to heaven or hell forever, based on whatever decisions we made (or didn�t make) on earth (or, more accurately, whatever we decided to believe). We�re talking about forever here, you understand. Forever. Foreeeeeeeever. So basically, if our children die before they�re 13 (or so), they go to heaven. After that, it all depends on whether they have decided to believe the proper thing or not, which they may very well decide against. Well, it only makes sense that we should kill all the children!! Wouldn�t we rather have them in heaven for all eternity than to have the chance to make a stupid decision over the course of a relatively small amount of time and go to hell instead? Come on, people! [note: Ben is not advocating that we should actually kill children� he is instead demonstrating the logical extension of this belief, thereby explaining why it should not be believed. Please do not write Ben letters saying that you do not think all children should be killed. Thank you.]
Okay, back to the topic at hand. We have �original sin,� which is in direct contradiction to the idea that �all children go to heaven.� How are the two reconciled in the mind of a Christian? Good question. Only one of these doctrines is supported by the Bible, and that is �original sin.� Yet, most Christians believe both simultaneously. It is like voting for both Presidential candidates on the same ballot. It won�t work. Something has to give. Yet nothing does. Why? Because their beliefs are not examined in this way. Beliefs are handed down, and need not be coherent in order to be held. I think if the issue is forced, a Christian will agree that we are all born into sin, but when pressed as to what this means for children who die, will revert to some argument which is avoiding the question like, �So you think God sends babies to hell? Is that what you think?� (I don�t. I don�t even believe in hell anymore, but we�ll get to that in a different article.)
I think that if it were well thought out, one would realize that if there is a place like heaven, it probably isn�t full of �adults� and �children� anyway. It would have to be a soul/spirit (whatever) that exists on some other level than we now exist. Therefore, it wouldn�t be as if there would be all these babies being eternally tormented in hell. They would be full-grown adults being eternally tormented in hell, which I think is a much nicer thought. [note: Ben does not think either of these are nice thoughts]
The amazing thing to me is that when problems like these arise in the mind of a Christian, they are usually explained away in some meaningless way (e.g., �Some things we don�t get to know until we get to heaven,� or �His ways our higher than our ways�), and that is enough. That shouldn�t be enough, people! I, for one, will no longer receive my beliefs on a platter. If things don�t make sense, they should not be believed. It is not enough to believe something just because �it�s in the Bible.� This is well-proven by all the people who believe strongly that all children go to heaven, but say they believe that the Bible is the literal, infallible, inerrant word of God. Both cannot be believed, but both are. In some sense, neither is really believed in any meaningful way until the question is resolved adequately. If �God wouldn�t send children to hell,� then the Bible is not inerrant. If the Bible is inerrant, then God does send children to hell.
I will get much more into this issue in future articles, I imagine. This article was really just a teaser to get you thinking. I realize that it is not conclusive proof of anything, and it is not meant to be. I encourage all of you, though, to ask yourselves why you believe what you do, whether it is the infallibility of the Bible, or any other cherished belief. If you can�t think back to a time when it became clear to you that this was true, after which you decided to believe it, perhaps the belief should be examined. It is not enough to just believe something and wait for someone to disprove it to you. It is impossible to disprove a belief like this to someone. The real question is: can you prove that it should be believed? If you can�t prove why it should be believed, then maybe it shouldn�t.
Don�t be afraid to challenge tradition, and the beliefs imposed on you. Think of all those poor babies burning in hell!! Is that what you want?! Huh?!
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