Q: What happens to babies when they die? Do infants go to heaven?
12-Dec-09 (updated 25-Mar-10)
When our first child was born, people always said “Enjoy them while they’re young because they grow up fast”. I’ve tried to do that for our daughter & son, not wishing away even the tough times of parenting. A few months ago, we were delighted to find out we were expecting another bundle of joy. We had been excited & the kids had fun stuffing their shirts so they could be “pregnant” like mommy. My daughter drew a picture of our family & we pasted an ultrasound image into the bulged stick figure representing my wife that we used to announce our new addition.
Things were checking out fine at routine doctor’s visits until about 16 weeks. There was no heartbeat. The ultrasound confirmed no movement. Our baby had died. To make things worse, at this stage the normal procedure to remove a miscarried baby wasn’t possible. My wife had to go through delivery. So there we were in the hospital months earlier than we thought & when we left the maternity ward, we had no one to show for it.
Things were checking out fine at routine doctor’s visits until about 16 weeks. There was no heartbeat. The ultrasound confirmed no movement. Our baby had died. To make things worse, at this stage the normal procedure to remove a miscarried baby wasn’t possible. My wife had to go through delivery. So there we were in the hospital months earlier than we thought & when we left the maternity ward, we had no one to show for it.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. – Mt 6.34
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We had notified our family, church & friends whose love & prayers did more than they know. God had sustained us by His mighty hand through the hardest day of our lives. My wife gave birth to our tiny lifeless child at just 6.7 inches & 3.6 oz. Don’t let anyone fool you; even at this very early stage & still earlier, a baby has well-formed arms, legs, fingers & toes complete with nails. She was just a miniature version of a full-term newborn. These tiny footprints are only 5/8 of an inch long, but they left a huge mark on our souls. |
As a Christian & an apologist (one who defends & gives answers about Christian beliefs), someone just days before any of this happened asked me “What happens to babies when they die?” Being a Christian, I can only offer answers to things we would otherwise have no way of knowing by using God’s only trustworthy source – the Bible. In our case, this initial question raises the larger question of “When does life begin?”
The Holy Scriptures tell us this: God wonderfully creates us in the womb at conception (Ps 139.13-14, Job 31.15) where He watches us (Ps 139.15-16, Hos 12.3) & He knows us (Jer 1.5). It is possible to die or be killed in the womb (Jer 20.17, Ex 21.22-25), inferring that there was a life to begin with. And it is God who gives life (Neh 9.6, Isa 42.5) & knows the exact number of our days (Ps 139.16).
When you ask what happens to the pre-born or babies in general when they die, you encounter what’s known in Christian circles as the “age of accountability”. This is the age at which God holds you personally accountable for your sins. It’s not a specific age & it’s not the same age for everyone, but it is known by God because He knows everything. However, if you can read this, you’ve exceeded that age & you’d be considered accountable (Heb 4.13). A prenatal baby, infant or toddler would not be accountable according to a comforting passage where King David’s baby dies & he says “I will go to him, but he will not return to me.” (2 Sam 12.22-23), implying that David would join his son in heaven. There are other passages as well.
If this were not enough, we can always fall back on the character of God as He describes Himself in the Bible – good (Ps 34.8), perfect (Ps 18.30), loving (1 Jn 4.8-11), holy (Rev 4.8), just (Ps 51.4) & many other awesome things. This is beneficial in clarifying topics that aren’t specifically or completely addressed in Scripture, but we must be careful & dutiful not to misunderstand God & thus contradict what He has specifically addressed. In this case, it seems valid that God would not condemn a baby to hell, but rather, they would go to heaven.
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him! – Mt 7.11
Being comforted that my baby is in heaven is one thing, but knowing that I’m going there too is entirely different. Fortunately, this is an area the Bible is exceedingly clear about. It tells us of another baby whose birth we celebrate at Christmas – Jesus Christ. This baby was special, as it was God Himself who came to live among us & save us (Mt 1.20-21).
Scripture tells us that we need saving because we all do things (sins) that violate God’s moral standard which separate us from God & require His justice to enforce judgment. Because it was Jesus who died on the cross to satisfy God’s judgment, anyone who trusts in this alone is guaranteed heaven (Jn 3.16-18 - Click here for more info). This is the joy that Christmas is all about – God’s gift of eternal life to us!
I take great comfort that though I’ve sinned against God in various ways (Rom 3.23), I can turn from sinning & trust in Christ’s total forgiveness (Ac 3.19). My confidence isn’t in anything I’ve done, but through faith in that Christ was punished on the cross for all my sins to satisfy God’s justice & promises me eternal life because only He’s able to qualify me for heaven (Eph 2.8-9, 2 Cor 5.21, 1 Jn 5.13).
Interestingly, the Bible calls this being “born again”, referring to a spiritual birth (Jn 3.3). Therefore, I have God’s assurance that not only is my stillborn daughter with Him, but I too will join her some day because of my trust in Christ. In this I have tremendous peace & I hope that this offers hope & comfort to others who have had similar experiences.
In memory of Hadassah Grace 10-28-09 & Matthew Levi 8-10-10.
I came across this sermon that Charles Spurgeon made on the subject. It contains the most sound, logical & scriptural arguments for the salvation of an infant (whether they died in or out of the womb) that I have ever encountered & I wholeheartedly agree with him.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2010/03/08/infant-salvation To the right is a book that addresses this topic in further detail. Related Page
Helpful Link
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