Sincere question for Christians

sir82

Here's something I've never been clear on, being raised as a JW: What is the standard, "orthodox Christian" if you will, teaching with regard to where the soul goes after death for each of the following 3 scenarios:

1) A 3 month old baby, born to believing, saved Christian parents, dies;

2) A 3 month old baby, born to non-Christian parents, dies;

3) A 20 year old peasant in the rurals of China dies, without ever getting the chance to even hear the term "Christian", much less be exposed to anything of the Christian message, dies.

There are thousands and thousands of persons dying in these (or similar) situations every day, week, month, year. My (admittedly JW-centric) reading of the Bible doesn't seem to uncover the final disposition of these souls, i.e., "where will they spend eternity?"

I may have follow-up questions, based on the responses given.

Thanks in advance!

snowbird

Before attempting to answer your questions, let me give you a little sketch of my background.

I was raised in a Baptist church with hellfire and damnation being proclaimed as the end for all who didn't repent and get baptized.

The Baptist teaching on your questions:

#1 - the baby goes to heaven because it is innocent of any wrongdoing.

#2 - the baby goes to heaven - see above

#3 - the peasant will probably go to hell; the Bible states that you must confess Christ as your Savior and believe in Him in order to be saved.

The JW teaching:

Both babies and the peasant will go to Sheol and wait for a resurrection. I agree with this because it is Biblical.

However, and this is where I depart from WT doctrine, I believe our spirit, our essence, who we are, as it were, goes back to God awaiting a reuniting with our soul or physical bodies.

Sylvia

JeffT

Almost universally 1 and 2 go to heaven.

3 may depend on how liberal your church is. Mine will tell you none of this is up to us and only God knows. Some members of my church may tell you he'll have a chance to repent, others will give different answers.

sir82

Interesting...

OK, so 3-month old babies are then considered to be free of "original sin"? At what age / level of understanding does "original sin" kick in?

How does that square with "all have sinned & fall short of the glory of God"?

To Sylvia:

How does that situation square with the idea of a "God of Justice"? This person was born, lived a hard life, was never told the "rules" and did the best he could, yet he's going to be tortured for billions of billions of years because of other humans' inability to get the message to him in time?

Just trying to understand, I've never been exposed to teachings outside of JW-dom. I could of course look this stuff up, but I find it more interesting to hear "real people" explain their viewpoints.

snowbird

Exactly. Those are the questions that caused me to leave the Baptists and join the JW's who convinced me they had all the answers.

I found out they don't.

No one does.

Sylvia

sir82

That's my issue. How can I love a God whom I can't understand?

The situations described above are not hypothetical or remote. They occur repeatedly, on a daily basis. Millions, maybe even billions, have faced or will face these situations.

It would not at all be difficult for God to explain what happens, thus providing a basis for understanding.

Understand I'm not asking for proof of his existence (thus negating the need for faith), just an explanation for a very simple, fundamental, real-life situation. I.e., given that he exists, how does he work?

Why require followers to exercise faith, but provide no satisfying answers for legitimate and reasonable questions?

snowbird

He doesn't ask for our understanding; He asks for our trust.

He has given us enough information in the Bible to merit it.

Forget about what others say or have said about Him.

Sylvia

sir82

OK, slight rephrase: How can I trust a God I can't understand?

Would you trust someone who tried to sell you a car, then presented to you a sales contract written in Sanskrit?

I have forgotten what others have said about him - I am looking at the Bible, and don't find answers to the very simple, basic, fundamental issues I raised.

Based on your "no one knows the answer" response, it sounds like you haven't found them either. Doesn't that bother you? Are these questions irrelevant, unimportant to you?

snowbird

Oh! God did tell Adam that he would return to dust, didn't He?

I believe all the dead, Christians included, are sleeping in the dust, awaiting their awakening.

I believe only dead Christians will be awakened at the return of Christ - the First Resurrection.

After the passage of 1,000 years, I believe, the rest of the dead will be awakened - the Second Resurrection.

I came to these conclusions after a careful, prayerful, and plain reading of the Holy Scriptures.

Sylvia

snowbird

My response was that no one has all the answers.

You can find the answers to those very simple, basic, fundamental issues in the Bible.

Sylvia

Sincere question for Christians

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