“Is my baby with God now?” What does the Bible say to such a question? What hope does it offer parents grieving the loss of a precious child? The answers are merciful. However, the implications are not simple. Is God a Universalist? Is there salvation after death? What is the role of infant baptism? And what about the doctrine of depravity? If a baby is born into sin, then what? What happens to the unborn -- to the miscarried and the aborted? For pastors looking for biblical grounds to offer comfort and assurance, and for parents seeking solace for their grief, When a Baby Dies offers insights that are rich in hope and grounded solidly in Scripture. Is my baby with God now? What does the Bible say to such a question? What hope does it offer parents grieving the loss of a precious child? The answers are merciful; however, the implications are not simple. Is God a universalist? Is there salvation after death? What is the role of infant baptism? And what about the doctrine of depravity? If a baby is born into sin, then what? For parents seeking solace for their grief, and for pastors looking for biblical grounds to offer comfort and assurance, this timely book offers insights that are rich in hope and grounded solidly in Scripture. Ronald H. Nash is professor of philosophy and theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida. He is the author or editor of many books, including Faith and Reason and Is Jesus the Only Savior Is my baby with God now? What does the Bible say to such a question? What hope does it offer parents grieving the loss of a precious child? The answers are merciful. However, the implications are not simple. Is God a Universalist? Is there salvation after death? What is the role of infant baptism? And what about the doctrine of depravity? If a baby is born into sin, then what? What happens to the unborn -- to the miscarried and the aborted? For pastors looking for biblical grounds to offer comfort and assurance, and for parents seeking solace for their grief, When a Baby Dies offers insights that are rich in hope and grounded solidly in Scripture. Ronald H. Nash (PhD, Syracuse University) was professor of philosophy at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He was author of numerous books, including The Concept of God and Faith and Reason . chapter oneARE CHILDREN BORN WITHOUT SIN?It is easy to understand why parents who lose a child seek some reason to ground the hope that their infant is saved. Unfortunately, many people seek this reason in false beliefs that not only lack any foundation in Scripture but that in fact contradict essential biblical claims. This is the first of four chapters to explore these false beliefs. In three of these chapters I introduce the false theory in terms of a particular family's search for spiritual guidance and hope after the loss of a child. In each case, they mistakenly seek that help from a theological system that is inconsistent with Scripture. I do not do this to judge the parents. Many people justify their lack of biblical and theological knowledge by saying they have been too busy to pay attention to such matters. Denominational and theological differences have never seemed important to them, until suddenly, as in these cases, the tragic loss of a child makes it necessary to call on a minister for the funeral. In the stories that follow, all names are fictitious and, as they say in the movies, any resemblance between these people and any other person, living or dead, is purely coincidental. In this chapter I critique a theory that continues to influence large numbers of people in Christendom, even though it was correctly denounced as a heresy almost sixteen hundred years ago. This belief, known as Pelagianism, teaches that all human beings are born morally innocent; infants are born without sin. Large numbers of people still seek mistakenly to ground the salvation of children who die in infancy upon their supposed sinlessness. This chapter explains why such thinking cannot be an option for Christians who regard the Bible as their ultimate authority of faith and practice. Whatever our answer to the issue of infant salvation, it must recognize that all human beings, including all infants, suffer from original sin.SAM AND MARY Sam and Mary are in their late twenties. They are a good example of what is often called an unchurched family. They met in college and were married in the church that Mary's family attended three or four times a year. The church building was large and ornate, although the small number of people in the typical Sunday morning service left much unfilled space in every row. Even though Sam and Mary seldom attended church, they would always, when asked, say that they 'belonged' to the big church in the center of town. Their first child was a beautiful little girl named Amy. One night when she was three, Amy came down with a fever that grew progressively worse as the night wore on. About three in the