Is it Ok That Babies, Who Dont Know God Yet, Go to Hell Because They Dont Believe in God?

Dear Mallamun,

Thank you for your excellent question. Through the years, some people have taught that when babies are born, they "inherit" the sins of their parents. Those same people also teach that, if a baby were to die, he or she would go to hell because of the parents' sins. However, the Bible teaches something very different. God says that babies do not become sinners because of their parents. In Ezekiel 18:20, the Bible says: "The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son." Babies cannot sin, because they do not even know what sin is, and they are not able to understand God's will. The Bible never says that babies go to hell. In fact, the Bible teaches that babies are in a safe state, which means that they would go to heaven if they were to die. In 2 Samuel 12:23, King David said that his dead infant son would never return to this Earth, but David also said that one day he would go to be with his son. King David was looking forward to the day when he would be able to meet his son in heaven.  Also, Jesus said in Matthew 18:3-5 that all people who want to go to heaven must become like little children.  And in Luke 18:16-17, Jesus said that the kingdom of God was made up of little children. Regardless of what some people teach, the Bible, which is God's Word, teaches that babies go to heaven.

---

Copyright © 2014 Apologetics Press, Inc. All rights reserved.

*Please keep in mind that Discovery articles are written for 3rd-6th graders.

This document may be copied, on the condition that it will not be republished in print unless otherwise stated below, and will not be used for any commercial purpose, as long as the following stipulations are observed: (1) Apologetics Press must be designated as the original publisher; (2) the specific Apologetics Press Web site URL must be noted; (3) any references, footnotes, or endnotes that accompany the article must be included with any written reproduction of the article; (4) textual alterations of any kind are strictly forbidden; (5) Some illustrations (e.g., photographs, charts, graphics, etc.) are not the intellectual property of Apologetics Press and as such cannot be reproduced from our site without consent from the person or organization that maintains those intellectual rights; (6) serialization of written material (e.g., running an article in several parts) is permitted, as long as the whole of the material is made available, without editing, in a reasonable length of time; (7) articles, in whole or in part, may not be offered for sale or included in items offered for sale; and (8) articles may be reproduced in electronic form for posting on Web sites pending they are not edited or altered from their original written content and that credit is given to Apologetics Press, including the web location from which the articles were taken. Further, documents may not be copied without source statements (title, author, journal title), and the address of the publisher and owner of rights, as listed below.

For catalog, samples, or further information, contact:

Apologetics Press
230 Landmark Drive
Montgomery, Alabama 36117
U.S.A.
Phone (334) 272-8558

http://www.apologeticspress.org