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Journal StalinsNotDead's Journal: [Religious Questions] baptism & miscarriages 13

Journal by StalinsNotDead

I preface this with the statement that I have a limited amount of knowledge in these regards. And I do not mean this to be inflammatory, it's just information gathering.

Some Christian Sects* believe in infant baptism. And at some point (they may have updated it) they believed that unbaptized people went to Hell/Purgatory/Not Heaven.

What about miscarriages/abortions? (and I do realize that most people who subscribe to infant baptism are also likely to be staunchly anti-abortion)

Is there some sort of pre-natal baptism-like ritual, or does the soul get acquired after the exit from the womb? Or does it get a free pass because although born with original sin, it didn't really have an opportunity to engage in sinful behavior?

How about posthumous baptisms (for Mormons)? How does that work for miscarriages/abortions? Does the entity receiving the baptism need a name?

*Please don't argue the semantics of Catholics/Mormons/Jehovah's Witness/Seventh Day Adventists/Branch Davidians not being "real" Christians. I use the term in a secular manner to imply faiths that claim to follow the teachings of Jesus in whatever manner they see fit.

This discussion was created by StalinsNotDead (764374) for no Foes, but now has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

[Religious Questions] baptism & miscarriages More

[Religious Questions] baptism & miscarriages

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  • This will be met with some opposition, but that's fine - this is my understanding of baptism.

    Baptism is symbolic of the washing away of sin. That is, when you make an outward profession of being baptized, you are making a public statement like "Look, I am a new person and am turning over a new leaf." It's more complicated than that but you get the idea. In this context, babies really do not know what all that means and as such a baptism is a warm fuzzy for parents but otherwise is meaningless. There will

    • In most Christian sects, this is true, but in Catholicism, nothing is 'symbolic' (like, when the bread and wine are blessed, you aren't eating and drinking symbols... you are eating and drinking flesh and blood).


      And, since I don't want to reply twice, I wanted to give the url for my catechism quote from my other post, here (usually I just pull out the big'ol book, but its at home, so I found it on the net):
      http://www.christusrex.org/www1/CDHN/baptism.html # NECESSITY [christusrex.org]
  • Straight from the Catholic Catechism:
    1261 As regards children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. Indeed, the great mercy of God who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus' tenderness toward children which caused him to say: "Let the children come to me, do not hinder them,"[63] allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without Baptism. All the more urgent is the Church's
    • The only part of the bible that actually refers to babies going to heaven is in the OT. When David's adultered offspring is killed as his punishment for having what's his name ( i wanna say Uther Pendragon but that's a different story ) killed so he wouldn't know that he (David) had been sleeping with his wife.

      David's quote goes something like this: "I will someday join him but he can no longer come to me"
    • My understanding is that sin, origional or otherwise, does not attach until birth. Therefore, a child who was miscarried or aborted has no sins in need of forgiveness.

      Also, as "origional sin" is a tendancy, and not an actual act to which blame attaches, it doesn't actually need to be "forgiven".

      403-405 tend to support this interpretation, but I may be wrong, I'm away from my primary sources... I seem to recall seeing something a lot more direct once upon a time.

      I only speak to the RC sect, as that is the on
  • From my own researches into various religions, I understand that Catholics believe that everyone is born with the "Original Sin" of Adam and Eve. SO Baptism cleanses the infant of that.

    More Protestant faiths I believe use baptism as Gecko writes: it is a cleaning of the slate as youa ccept Jesus as your savior.

    The Mormon Baptism of the dead is a bit more complicated. Basically the Mormons (Technically Church of Latter Day Saints and usually abbreviated LDS) believe that from the second rising of Jesus

    • Pretty close. ;)

      The official name of the church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and baptisms can be done under priesthood authority by males of age 16 or older (the title of the office is "priest"; one has to be 18 to receive the office of "elder").

      The question at hand is actually moot, as Mormons believe that children under the age of eight are not accountable for their actions and thus do not require baptism until they have reached that age. (As a Mormon with a child that died at 5 mo
      • Its been a ahile since I sat in on the Lessons my wife got from the Edlers;-) She converted a couple years ago (though she's currently inactive). I know of a couple others on the dot that are either currently Mormon or used to be, but I had no idea you were.

        I am also sorry for your loss. Even with your faith, that must have been very rough.

  • It is unknown what happens with children who are aborted or miscarried. As the bible does not talk specifically about the topic anywhere, there are hints in various passages.

    1st that I can think of is David and after his child is born David says he will at some point go to the child, though the child will not come to him.

    2nd is when Christ tells the disciples not to prevent the children from coming to himself.

    Myself, if I had to venture a guess, would have to say those children are probably saved by God, w
    • So, what are your opinions on anabaptism (rebaptism as an adult).

      They were heavily persecuted way back when because of their practice of adult baptism and other heretical beliefs (The Amish, Mennonites, and Hutterites are of anabaptist origin). But they believed only a cognitive adult could make the decision as to whether or not they were willing to give their life to God and commemorate the event through baptism.

      Would you want your child to, once he is able to make moral decisions, to get baptized as an ad
      • My call on baptism is that is is a "only need once" activity. And need I am not convinced of by any means, since Jesus seemed to have no issue with letting the fellow on the cross join him in paradise that day, and he certainly did not have time or means to get baptised. So, from that, rebaptism to me is nothing more than being dunked in/splashed with water.

        As far as adult baptism, well I can't exactly say I am against it now can I? There are two ways to view baptism in my book. First, being the parents

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