A Christian’s age of accountability
A question that Christians have always wrestled with is the
age of accountability, or the age at which a person is held accountable by God
for his or her actions. Obviously, a one-year-old doesn’t have the ability to
distinguish between good and evil, but an adult clearly does. Because biblical Christianity
claims the existence of original sin, which says that people are born with a
sinful nature (see Chapter 4), Christians have historically debated what this
means for children who die at a young age.
In spite of their inherited sinful nature, many Protestant Christians
believe that until a child reaches an age of accountability, God will grant
salvation to the child in the event of his or her premature death. Catholics believe
that God sends infants to limbo (see the “What role sacraments play in
salvation” section, earlier in this chapter) if they die before that age. However,
a minority of Protestants dismiss the idea of an age of accountability
completely, stressing the sin-soaked nature of all humans, no matter their age.
The Bible never discusses any age of accountability. Christians
have come up with various ages, ranging from as early as 5 years old to as late
as 20. Other Christians say that the exact age depends completely on the
individual, according to his or her ability to discern between right and wrong
and to understand God’s truth.
Baptizing by immersion only
Some Christians, such as Baptists, believe that the only
valid way to baptize people is to dunk them underwater and lift them back up. People
who hold this view argue that the Greek word for baptism is only correctly
translated as “to dip.” They add that the Bible only explicitly endorses
baptism by immersion, supporting their stance with verses such as John 3:23 and
Acts 8:36. Researchers agree that baptism by immersion seems to have been the
common practice in the New Testament Church, and even by the early second
century, the common teaching was to immerse, if at all possible.
Advocates of this method also say that immersion best
represents the true meaning of baptism – that the act of dunking underwater
signifies the believer’s death and burial to sin, and the act of rising up from
water depicts the resurrection to a new life.
Baptizing by multiple ways
The alternative position views immersion, pouring, and
sprinkling as all valid forms of baptism. This view, held by Catholics and such
Protestants as Methodists and Lutherans, claims that, although the Greek word
baptism is translated as “to dip,” it can also mean “to put liquid over or on.”
Therefore, because the exact Greek translation is vague, proponents argue that
it’s impossible to make a decision based on language translation alone.
In addition, though immersion seems to be the dominant
method recorded in the Bible, it may have been impractical or even impossible
for some of the baptismal incidents recorded in the Book of Acts (such as Acts
16:33, Acts 18:8, and Acts 19:5). Moreover, proponents argue that purification
ceremonies in the Old Testament often used a variety of methods, including
immersion, pouring, and sprinkling.
Finally, holders of this view also typically believe that
pouring and sprinkling best represent the meaning of baptism, showing the “pouring
of the Holy Spirit” onto a person.
Dedicated babies
People who believe in believer’s baptism (see
the section, “Deciding who should be baptized,” in this chapter) don’t baptize
their babies, but many have their child dedicated (or christened) to God in a
ceremonial manner during a worship service. During a dedication (or
christening), the parents and the church congregation as a whole dedicate the
child’s life to God and dedicate themselves in the participation of raising the
child in a godly manner.
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