From: mdw33310@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Michael D. Walker)
Subject: Re: The doctrine of Original Sin
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Lines: 34

Eugene.Bigelow@ebay.sun.com (Geno ) writes:

>Joseph H. Buehler writes:

>>This all obviously applies equally well to infants or adults, since
>>both have souls.  Infants must be baptized, therefore, or they cannot
>>enter into Heaven.  They too need this form of life in them, or they
>>cannot enter into Heaven.

>Are you saying that baptism has nothing to do with asking Jesus to come into
>your heart and accepting him as your savior, but is just a ritual that we
>must go through to enable us to enter Heaven?


	My feeling on baptism is this:  parents baptize their baby so that the
	baby has the sanctifying grace of baptism (and thus removal of original
	sin) on its soul in the event of an unexpected death.
	
	That is, the parents speak on behalf of the child which is too young
	to speak on its own.  This should not surprise anyone:  don't parents
	*always* do what they believe is the best for their baby?  Why would
	that apply to the baby's physical needs only but not his/her spiritual
	needs to have God's grace?
	
	The purpose of confirmation is for the baby (now young adult) to 
	decide to re-affirm for himself/herself the promises that his/her
	parents made at baptism.  That is where accepting Jesus into your
	heart comes in.  In baptism, the parents ask Jesus to come into their
	baby's heart; at confirmation the child repeats that request 
	independently.
	
	(By the way, these are my personal feelings, though I believe they are
	pretty close to what the doctrinal position of the Catholic Church on
	this issue.  Can anyone out there back me up or correct me?
