INFANTS

Contrary to the denominational claim that infants are born in sin, the Bible teaches otherwise. (a) Children do not inherit evil from their parents (Ezek. 18:20). (b) The practice of sin begins in "youth" (Gen. 9:21), not at birth. (c) Both Jesus and Paul used little children as models to be emulated in some respects (Mt. 18:3-4; 19:14; 1 Cor. 14:20). This admonition hardly would have been appropriate if infants were little "totally depraved" sinners. (d) Man "goes" astray; he is not born astray (Isa. 53:6). (e) Humans become sinners by means of their own sins (see Eph. 2:1 "your" -- ASV), not by means of another's transgression. (f) Sin is a matter of choice, not chance (Josh. 24:15; Isa. 7:15). See: BORN IN SIN. No one ever suggested that infants are sinners until the mid-to-late second century A.D.