While some untutored Christian friends have denounced my suggestion that fundamentalists consign unbaptised foetuses to hell (13 May 2005), others have confirmed the accuracy of this position. In discussing the related question of whether those who die as babies go to heaven or hell, Rev. D. R. Niven of St George, Qld. makes the following unassailable point (New Life, 19 Apr. 1990):

We tend to think that babies will go to heaven by a different route than that of adults, when Jesus Himself [has] made it perfectly clear how anyone is to go to heaven. Jesus said: ‘Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God’ (John 3:3).

Now, if the foetus has not even been born once, how can it possibly be ‘born again’ and thus qualify for heaven? This lends strong support to the argument that, from a conservative Christian point of view, the foetus has a more urgent claim to birth (and rapid baptism) than its mother has to life, and that Andrew Lansdown’s position (13 May 2005) is a purely utilitarian one.

Other points made by Niven may seem a trifle cold to the average onlooker, but they are perfectly consonant with a literal reading of the Bible:

Babies and adults must be born again of God’s Spirit to enter heaven … God may save some babies, God may save all babies, God may save no babies. However, every single baby that He desires to save will be saved, and every one who is saved will not deserve to be saved, having been born a sinner (Psalm 51:5) …

This verse reads: ‘Behold I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.’ This further confirms that God sees the foetus as a sinful being, and that it has no hope of salvation (i.e. heaven) unless it is both born and baptised. Yet another strike against Lansdown’s unbiblical position!

Back to Niven:

…[I]f anyone thinks that a baby is incapable of believing, then they need to be aware of Psalm 22:9, 10 which reads: ‘But you are He who took me out of the womb; You made me trust when I was on my mother’s breasts. I was cast upon You from birth. From my mother’s womb You have been my God.’

From these verses it can be seen how important it is for parents, especially mothers, to read the Scriptures to their babies; even to the extent of reading aloud whilst they are still in the womb. Medical science has long proven that a developing baby in the womb recognises its mother’s voice - why not also the Word of its heavenly Father?

And with that virtuoso display of unblemished logic, I rest my case.

Filed in: Fundamentalism