Children Are Saved...

I said I'd have more on this, so here it is.

It's interesting that most of the christian world believes that children that die without baptism are damned. Seems quite ridiculous that a person could be eternally condemned because someone else didn't take care of an ordinance for you.

But alternatively, the LDS world generally believes that children who die before the age of accountablilty are automatically saved with celestial glory. It's funny, this concept is the complete opposite extreme. We ridicule those that could think God could possibly be just and damn a person who never had a chance to prove themsleves, and yet we don't even consider that it's equally unjust to automatically save them without having to prove themselves. Even Christ had to suffer tempations in mortality. I think the belief that they are guaranteed exaltation is a over-interpretation of the scriptures that reference this doctrine.

Many believe, in answer to this question, that these children had proved themselves prior to mortality, and therefore won themselves a free pass in mortality. Here's why I don't buy this explanation. If that were the case, then it must be equally plausible that there are those that have already proved themselves unworthy, proving that they would never be strong enough to be celestial, and thus could equally be given a pass to damnation. Maybe they were the 1/3 that were cast out? It's possible, but I don't think so. Those were they who rebelled against God. I believe this was prior to our spiritual development in preparation for mortality. There were obviously those who followed God that would be doomed to telestial glory or worse.

Another argument against this idea is that the purpose of mortality is not only to receive a body, as is commonly noted, but to learn to use it. Can you possibly believe that children, when resurrected, will know how to use their bodies as God does? How will they be justly judged when they haven't experienced the trials of pain, morality, and the such? How can they become like God if they've not yet learned to control their bodies?

It was stated by Joseph Smith that children's bodies will be resurrected as children, and they will have to grow to the stature of an adult. Do you think that they will not have difficulty with the new sensations and experiences that their physical bodies will bring about as it grows to adulthood?

So when will these children have the chance to learn to use their bodies? And are they sure to accomplish the feat with perfection?

Here's my theory. What makes sense to me is that children who die before accountability will be resurrected and raised in the Millenium. It seems logical. Satan will be bound during this time, as we know, and therefore they will be free from temptation by devils. But they will, like the other children that are born during this time period, experience desires and passions that they never knew before. And they will struggle with it, like the rest of us did. They will experience trials, and stumble every once in a while. They will need to be redeemed by the Atonement of Christ. They are not guaranteed exaltation, but must earn it. They will have the same advantages as the rest of those born in the Millenium. But they may fall, if they choose to.