If we are guaranteed heaven before birth, would it be better to die early rather than risk damnation?

Question

Some Christian traditions believe that all infants go to heaven. In this view, wouldn't it be better if everyone died before they are born, so they avoid becoming sinful, and thus guaranteed to go to heaven?

Evidence Christians Believe This Doctrine

Here's one question showing a prominent Christian believes something like this (and also indicates potential problems with the view).

Dr. William Lane Craig has famously stated the following, When justifying the slaughter of the Canaanites:

Moreover, if we believe, as I do, that God's grace is extended to those who die in infancy or as small children, the death of these children was actually their salvation.

And another question.

The Westminster Confession of Faith reads:

Elect infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated, and saved by Christ (10.3)

Answer 1

A child has to fall hundreds of times before it learns to walk. Its brain needs to register in memory and the reflex mechanism, not only those steps which help the child walk, but also those which make it fall! The child never stops trying to walk in spite of the fear of fall. If it does, it will never learn to walk. Similar is the case of spiritual falls we call sins. They ultimately help us to walk in the sunshine of God's love. Following are some excerpts from an article titled ' When God uses my sins for good' by Timothy Paul :

For me, it is the awareness of the sin I have done that keeps me humble before God. God has given me great grace in forgiving me of my sin. God gives me this grace, not because of I deserve it, but because it is his character to do so. It is part of who he is. Therefore, when I am aware of the grace I have been given, even though I do not deserve it, then I can give grace to others who also don’t deserve it. When I do that, I become a little more like Christ. I am being conformed to his image. In this way, God uses my past sin to conform me into the image of Jesus Christ. What a powerful thought.But not only does God use my sin to conform me into the image of Jesus Christ, he also uses my past to encourage others in the body that may be caught in sin today. Through my example and the evidence of God’s grace in my life, others will come to understand that they can be forgiven as well. https://timothymark.com/when-god-uses-my-sin-for-good

< That said, life on earth is an opportunity given to a person to prove his/ her capacity to imbibe the redeeming grace of the Saviour. Some die young, others die at the ' ripe old ' age. The latter group may have committed more sins than the former group, but they also have had more opportunities to witness Christ !

Answer 2

Be Optimistic and Hopeful in Life

The doctrine that infants automatically go to heaven is implicitly believed and practised by the majority of Christian sects, even though their official tradition may state otherwise. You need not find quotes from Dr William Lane Craig to support this.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 1261) states that the Church entrusts unbaptised infants to God's mercy, acknowledging the great mercy of God who desires that all should be saved. The Church expresses hope that infants who die without baptism may be saved. This hope is rooted in the belief in God's infinite mercy and the teachings of Jesus, who welcomed children (Mark 10:14, also see article by Alfred T. Overstreet). The Church emphasizes that God is not bound by the sacraments and can act outside of them. The Catechism #847 even acknowledges the fact that the righteous adult will inherit life outside the sacraments or baptism, "in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation" (Cf. Rom 2:6-16).

In recent decades, the Catholic Church has articulated the same in a more direct manner, while maintaining the ambiguity of "hope" about the question. The International Theological Commission has suggested that unbaptised infants might experience a form of salvation, emphasizing God's mercy and the idea that their deaths could be seen as a participation in Christ's redemptive work.

This pragmatic reasoning has been found in the Gospels as well

Mark 9:42-44 [NRSV]

"If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.

Also see Matthew 10:15 or Luke 10:12 where Jesus highlight the seriousness of rejecting the gospel of repentance by comparing sinner's dire and tragic fate with Sodom and Gomorrah. He is expressing a deep pity and compassion towards sinners, rather than conveying mere relative probabilistic fact for risk assessment.

While the pragmatic reasoning is true, it is definitely not recommendable to act upon suicidal thoughts or the destruction of whole world to prevent the unfortunate suffering, especially of the innocent souls in this world. The purpose of life according to God's creation is not solely for us to pass the test of life to heaven by avoiding hell. God wants us to enjoy and experience life in an abundant way. See John 10:10, Ecclesiastes 3:12-13. The thoughts of comparative benefit in dying at birth suits only in a rhetorical expression of pity or condemnation to sinners or during times of extreme sorrow. The book of Job and Ecclesiastes are the most important and precise books in the Bible to understand life and its purpose.

Job 3:11-13 [RSV]

"Why did I not die at birth, come forth from the womb and expire? Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should suck? For then I should have lain down and been quiet; I should have slept; then I should have been at rest,

Answer 3

There is a mighty supposition at work here, the idea that "we are guaranteed heaven before birth". "If" that is the case, then the rest of the question logically follows. But if the supposition itself is unfounded, then the rest of the question evaporates. So, the only sensible way to tackle this question is to check out the first part first.

Yes, "Some Christian traditions believe that all infants go to heaven." Though it needs to be pointed out that the Presbyterian Westminster Confession of Faith qualifies that with "elect infants", meaning that "non-elect infants" are not deemed to be 'regenerated' i.e. 'saved'. Therefore, those Presbyterians cannot be included amongst other denominations that believe in what can be termed "Universal Charity". This holds that God's love is not discriminatory, but extends to everyone, who will eventually be saved. Logically, that would include infants, and even those in the womb.

Those who believe this might say that dying at a very young age will not (in a sense) matter, as eternal salvation is sure to them. But I have yet to hear any from that school of thought claim that "it would be better to die early rather than risk damnation". It only takes a second's though to realise that that is a contradiction in terms. If all will eventually be saved, there can be no such thing as "risking damnation".

Obviously, all who believe God does discriminate between repentant sinners and non-repentant sinners, so that he judges the latter, who will be kept out of heaven and so suffer eternally outside of his love, cannot subscribe to Universal Charity. They must be viewed as distinct from those who do; those who seem inclined to suppose that all babies and toddlers automatically get into heaven. It may also turn out to be the case that William Lane Craig would never subscribe to the "better to die in infancy than risk eternal damnation" school of thought. I don't know anything about him, however.

The two quotations offered do not actually prove that either example fits the bill here. The view seems to be that of the OP who says, "In this view, wouldn't it be better if everyone died before they are born, so they avoid becoming sinful, and thus guaranteed to go to heaven?" Now, if quotations could be given from groups in Christianity where that is their view, the question could be fully answered. As it stands, the answer I offer is, There is no "guarantee of heaven before birth" in the Bible, but even those who think there is may see a disjunction between that and thinking that living longer could risk damnation.

Many Christians who do not subscribe to Universal Charity would say that damnation is not a risk - it's guaranteed, unless repentant faith is placed in what God alone, in Christ, did to save us from damnation. As the God of all the Earth is deemed to always judge righteously (Genesis 18:25 & Revelation 19:2), what happens to babies and toddlers will be under his sovereign outworking when it comes to matters of eternity. The only response I can make to the latter part of the question is 'No', for it does not logically follow that dying early avoids the 'risk' of damnation.

Answer 4

I will rephrase your question for clarity: "If the unborn go to heaven, isn't abortion a mercy?"

Considering abortion as mercifully sending babies to heaven is an invalid option for Christians for several reasons.

We cannot justify killing the unborn, an action that God expressly forbids (Leviticus 20:1–5; 2 Kings 24:2–4). God commands us not to commit murder (Exodus 20:13), He knows the child before birth (Jeremiah 1:5), and, in the Mosaic Law, He prescribed punishment for killing an unborn child (Exodus 21:22–25). Abortion is never an act of mercy; it is always an act of shedding innocent blood (see Proverbs 6:16–17).

God is a God of logic, and given that He specifically tells us to protect the weak and innocent (Proverbs 31:8–9), to have children (Genesis 1:28), and to see them as a blessing (Psalm 127:4–5), we can’t justify abortion on any moral grounds whatsoever. Abortion is the murder of the unborn, and we can’t mitigate the heinous nature of the act by injecting some perverse sense of human “mercy” into the equation.

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My answer is based on Orthodox tradition, which does believe that the unborn are not guilty and not punished.

Answer 5

Please tell us which "Christian traditions" believe that we are born sinless? Seems to me, that your question is a backhanded way of approving of infanticide & indeed, abortion. Also, bombing of cities & schools thereby killing children would actually be a good thing according to that belief. St. Paul tells us "ALL have sinned & come short of the Glory of GOD" Romans 3:23. Last time I looked, "All" includes everyone, children & adults. If any "Christian" religion teaches that children, they ignore over 27 Bible verses that say otherwise. Having raised 3 "babies", I know they can sin because sometimes they cry just to have company. (You gotta give credit to babies) That is like an older child or adult complaining so they can have someone to talk to, to interact with.