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Joined: Sep 2023
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Hi, I am wondering what Eastern Christians (Catholic and Orthodox) believe about where do unbaptized babies go when they die? Thanks all.

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Christ is in our midst!!

Troubled Guest,

Welcome to the forum. We hope your time with us is spiritually enriching.

My own opinion is that I let the Lord take care of that question. The question that should be directed at one who asks is why I want to control what is beyond my control. Do I not trust Him?

Bob
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"Others are not in a position to receive it, perhaps on account of infancy, or some perfectly involuntary circumstance through which they are prevented from receiving it, even if they wish. ...and that [they] will be neither glorified nor punished by the righteous Judge, as unsealed and yet not wicked, but persons who have suffered rather than done wrong. For not every one who is not bad enough to be punished is good enough to be honoured; just as not every one who is not good enough to be honoured is bad enough to be punished."

St Gregory Nazianzen Oration 40 on Holy Baptism (which is the work cited in the Summa in the article on limbo of the infants)
https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/310240.htm

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What I heard on an Orthodox site (and with which, after thought) I must agree with, is that they go to be with the Lord.

Why wouldn't they? They have no sin. Remember, sin requires three things: knowledge that you are about to commit an act that is sinful, willing consent to the action, and taking the action itself. If any of these three are missing, you cannot say the person has sinned. For instance, if I take an action, not knowing that the Church teaches that it is a sin, there is no complicity or willingness to sin against God, and therefore, no sin.

Augustine's idea that babies somehow "inherit" the guilt of Adam's sin and therefore are condemned to an eternity in hell is . . . ahem, well, let's keep my opinion of this thought family friendly, shall we? Let's just say I find it contemptible on several levels.

Babies are born subject to death, as we all are. This is why Christ died, that by death He trampled death and made it of no account. It is Western thinking, influenced by Rome, that sees everything in judicial terms of guilty or not guilty and is consumed with the idea of punishment. As best as I can tell, Orthodoxy rejects this thinking (penal substitution) and the ancillary ideas and doctrines that come with it.


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