Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: jhpb@garage.att.com (Joseph H Buehler) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Original sin of infants Message-ID: Date: 3 Apr 91 08:54:39 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 19 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article st0o+@andrew.cmu.edu (Steven Timm) writes: Apart from this, even given that infants are original sinners under case (1) I have yet to be convinced that baptism is a magic talisman against original sin, nor that such a talisman is necessary. The key question to be answered is the following: Does being born with a sinful nature necessarily mean that one has committed sin just by being born? The gifts of God's grace are not something that belongs to human beings by nature. He has to bestow them. And it is necessary to have these gifts to enter Heaven. That's why unbaptized infants need to be baptized. Baptism is the Sacrament that infuses these graces. There's no question of a personal sin on the part of the infants. It's a question of a set of gifts that Adam forfeited as head of the human race, that have to be given back to each individual in order to allow entry into Heaven.