Do babies go to heaven? Most christians would say yes, because it would be too unfair for babies to go to hell, and christians don't believe in reincarnation. However, this raises a few issues:

1. Didn't that person basically got a free pass to heaven? The general idea is that humans actually have to earn heaven by choosing God and choosing to follow his rules. If dying as a baby automatically saves you, then this is unfair since you got a free pass to paradise while the others had a chance to be condemned.

2. Who goes to heaven exactly? Christians obviously believe that it is you who goes to heaven. When you die you basically retain the same memories and the same identity you had. But a baby has none of this. His of her psyche is not developed. How is heaven for a baby exactly? Do they get a very nice cradle? Does the baby get to drink milk that tastes super good?

If the answer to (2) is that the baby somehow gets to grow and develop in heaven, why didn't God just made us all in heaven from the start?

A more important conceptual if: does a baby spend eternity in heaven as a baby, or does it gain a growth spurt to a higher level of cognizance?

The Catholic Church used to have Limbo as the place unbaptised babies were sent to, but I think they did away with that.

But it's all bullshit anyway so really doesn't matter. Heaven, hell, purgatory, limbo...just made up crap.

Nah, they get eaten at atheist barbeques...

Yeah, there are many people in hell for technical violations - like unbaptized babies.

Or people who were born before Jesus. I mean the so-called saviour should have made himself available in all these centuries before, and not wait until the "end of days" if he wanted to be seen as a compassionate and merciful God.

In my experience Heaven is an 18-and-older environment, so no, babies can't get into Heaven unless St Peter isn't watching the door very well.

The RCC line is that since Heaven is a place of perfection, infants, the infirm, and the elderly will be brought to 'the stature of the fullness of Christ'. In the case of infants or the mentally challenged, their personal identities will also be perfected without the earthly constraints of developmental stages.

Boru

(August 30, 2024 at 4:12 am)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: The RCC line is that since Heaven is a place of perfection, infants, the infirm, and the elderly will be brought to 'the stature of the fullness of Christ'. In the case of infants or the mentally challenged, their personal identities will also be perfected without the earthly constraints of developmental stages.

Boru

Yeah but this brings up the obvious question of why didn't he do this to all of us and avoid having to condemn people.

I'm surprised that the Catholic Church never came up with a doctrine saying that the souls of dead, unbaptized babies weren't simply recycled and sent to newly conceived babies. 

(August 30, 2024 at 6:46 am)Modern Atheism Wrote:

(August 30, 2024 at 4:12 am)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: The RCC line is that since Heaven is a place of perfection, infants, the infirm, and the elderly will be brought to 'the stature of the fullness of Christ'. In the case of infants or the mentally challenged, their personal identities will also be perfected without the earthly constraints of developmental stages.

Boru

Yeah but this brings up the obvious question of why didn't he do this to all of us and avoid having to condemn people.

One’s got nothing to do with the other. Sin is a willful act. According to doctrine, infants and very young children cannot make a conscious decision to deny God or break his rulz, so there’s no reason for them not to be in Heaven. 

I suspect the reason they came up with this was to appear slightly less monstrous. Didn’t work.

Boru