Baptism of Little Children

Today I read Moroni 8, an epistle that Mormon wrote to his son Moroni about baptism and its purpose. Once again I am struck by the memory of the people in the Book of Mormon. Moroni received this epistle at least 20 - 40 years prior to recording this for us. And he seems to have remembered it word for word. Even if he actually had the epistle still with him, that an interesting thing to tote around for so long.

However he remembered so perfectly the word of Mormon, we are the beneficiary of it here in Moroni 8. Here we see, that like the ancient church, the Nephites too were misunderstanding the ordinance of baptism and needed correction. I believe it arises from the commandment that all must be baptized or they cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

However, they have forgotten that little children are innocent before God and need no baptism. I'm not sure if Jesus ever taught that to the Apostles in His time, it's certainly never recorded that I can see. And yet the ancient Apostles knew that it was not only not needed, but a mockery of the sacred ordinance of baptism. Perhaps it was some of the teachings during the 40 days he spent with His Apostles before His ascension into heaven.

And yet they knew that they should not baptize little children, it was known already and had been forgotten so Mormon had to remind them of it is the purpose of this epistle. It is much like Paul's letter to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 15:29 where he asks why are the dead baptized if the dead rise not at all? It was understood what baptism for the dead was already so there was no need to explain it. So it is with infants, little children and baptism.

Thank goodness for Mormon and for Moroni for recording this clarification otherwise we would not have it, although I think the Lord would have revealed it to Joseph Smith eventually in the Doctrine and Covenants. But here Mormon teaches us that children are alive in Christ and cannot commit any sin until the age of accountability. We learn from modern day revelation that the age of accountability is age 8. I remember as a teenager/young adult I once asked my parents how it is children cannot commit sin until age 8 when a child can do any number of wrong things, including murder in some extremely rare cases. The answer I was given is that prior to age 8 it is not counted a sin for those children, rather it is on the heads of those who have responsibility for the child.

But baptism, as we discussed two days ago, is the next step after true repentance. Mormon calls it the first fruits of repentance, because if we truly repent of our sins, we will desire to be baptized by proper authority. This is why it is an abomination and a mockery to baptize little children, if they cannot sin, then they have no need of repentance and therefore they have no need to be baptized. Mormon teaches us that little Children are alive in Christ, and we know from modern day revelation that all little children that die before the age of accountability are taken home to Christ and are saved by His grace.

To baptize little children, is a sin before God. Baptism is only for those who are capable of sin and should only be administered to those who are truly repentant. That is why there is an interview for baptism to determine the person's worthiness. I remember once on my mission that we had a man we were helping to prepare for baptism and he was needing to quit smoking. He was REALLY struggling with it and it came time to do his interview and the Elder who did the interviewing came up to me and my companion and shared his concerns. He said that while he had passed him on to be baptized, the brother had not. By his demeanor he still felt really guilty and unworthy of baptism. He didn't feel he had truly repented. That is humility. We kept working with him and he did get baptized and was able to quit smoking eventually.

Like with most of our topics, I could go on for a very long time, but what I have said will suffice. Thank goodness for Mormon and Moroni and the scriptures they sacrificed so much for us to receive. We benefit from their knowledge and what they have recorded for us each and every day! Until tomorrow.