I can understand why they baptize babies but don't understand why any Catholic could believe these babies are going to hell if they didn't do this ordinance before their death. We are born into a fallen world and are baptized to be symbolically reclaimed by Christ but why that would literally be required I don't understand. Anyone who has raised children can tell you that a two year old having a temper tantrum is a fallen being and not innocent. We are born into carnal bodies, learning to overcome the natural man desires and become Godly. It makes less sense to baptize at age 8 as some kind of magic number of accountability. My 4 year old is perfectly capable of sinning and understanding it was wrong.
The point of baptism is not to wash away Adam's sins, or because we are now accountable for our own, it's that we are fallen from the moment we are born on this earth because of Adam and Eve's Fall, all part of the plan.
This is why Mormons have it wrong on the age of baptism, and Catholics have the age right in my opinion.
If you believe original sin is a true doctrine of course you would conclude this. But others disagree. And honestly, one questions the mercy of a God that would send a baby to Hell because it was born into a sinful world and did nothing of its own accord to sin.
This point is wrong because Christians believe that Christ is God. If my Savior came to suffer for me, and He is my Father, I don't see it as sick and twisted. The Mormon belief on the Father sending His only begotten Son instead of himself makes no sense to me.
Uh no. What you say above that Christians believe is called modalism. And why many understand the trinity this way it is a heresy. Christians believe that God the Son, one personage of the One God came to earth, not God the Father.
The sacrifice of Jesus is evidence of how much He loves us.
The atonement was needed to teach us charity, to become perfected by learning the pure love of Christ, the Father. Without it, we wouldn't have to forgive and couldn't become like Him.
But why can't an omnipotent God just forgive? Why does he demand blood? Nobody seems able to answer this.
I'm not sure how many Christians believe this.
Oh I think quite a few do.
I also don't believe Mormons have it right either. I believe
if there is a heaven with
kingdoms of glory, that there will be progression through them. The temple endowment teaches that progression is REQUIRED. Hell is the place of darkness and separation within us because of our sins. We won't have peace until we repent.
You could be right. Nobody really knows.
If we have charity, we wouldn't care about Hitler being in the same place as us if he repents. That's the purpose of the atonement. There is not a get out of hell free card for them. They will suffer horribly for their sins when they repent. What matters is that we love them the way Christ does and hope for them to progress and have salvation if we expect to be saved for our sins. Would you want any of your children in hell for eternity? NO. We would always hope for our children to repent and come home. That's how I believe God loves us and how we should love even the most evil men. I like this quote from Mark Twain:
"But who prays for Satan? Who, in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it most?"
I guess that is true. We would want even the most heinous person to be forgiven if the repent if we have true charity.
I disagree. By Mormonism claiming to have solutions for these problems, they introduced many new ones.
I had MANY items on my shelf as a TBM that I wouldn't have had with mainstream Christianity.
Well I think Mormonism goes a long way to answering some of the absurdities of historical Christianity. Does it create some other problems? yep.
