He/she must understand what sin is, that they have sinned, and that they - being sinners - are in a damnable state requiring salvation.

He/she must recognize who Jesus is, understand that he is the son of God who died and rose again and that only through him is salvation offered.

He/she must understand the acts required of them to gain salvation: believe in Jesus, repent of their sinful nature, confess that Jesus is Lord and be baptized for remission of their sins (some of these are arguable, but my that is not my intent, currently).

If a child is able to express knowledge and understanding of these items, then what prevents them from being baptized? Well...nothing, it seems, which is why the preacher was baptizing this child at only 11 years of age. Why would a child believe they needed to be saved? Could it be that they were reminded over and over again how they were a sinner, both loved and hated by God at the same time - loved so much that He wanted nothing but to be with them, but hated so much that He'd send them to Hell for their sins? And where did they learn such things? Straight from the pulpit, from Sunday-school classes, from bible studies with their parents, etc. If, like me, those children went to church with their parents an average of three times per week - twice on Sunday's and once on Wednesday - then they were subjected to these teachings hundreds of times over. I've personally seen the ramifications of such teachings in my own 11 year old, who has broken down into several panic attacks over his fear of hell. This, I cannot stand for. Which is why I've limited his church attendance to just once per week, every other week (I would prefer he not attend this church at all, but there are concessions that must be made in a bi-religious marriage).





Analogous to this, regardless of your personal political leanings, it would be an odd thing to hear your child say "I'm a Republican!" or "I'm a Democrat!" We, as a society, would look at that child and say, "who brainwashed you, dear?" In much the same way, it is equally distressing to hear a child say "I'm a Christian!" or "I'm a Muslim!" or any other religious affiliation you can think of. While any of these may be concepts and ideas that are understood on a basic level (age-dependent, of course), a child is generally too immature and too inexperienced to be able to commit themselves or dedicate their lives to anything, let alone have a thorough understanding of these complex, intricate topics.





There is also a less insidious, but equally persuasive reason why a child would desire baptism. In the Church of Christ, it is only baptized men who are allowed to serve in functional roles (the passing of the communal elements, of the contribution plates, reading the scriptures for the mornings' lesson) during the worship service. It would be completely understandable for a child raised around these things to desire to participate. A young man in the church can look at these and think, "I can do those things; I want to do those things!" It's only natural to want to feel involved. Couple that with the inevitable love-bombing one receives when they are able to perform these things for the first time; oh the praise they receive! "You did a GREAT job!" followed by hugs and affirming words all around. Humans desire affirmation and, in the innate quest to receive such confirmation, a child is effectively coerced - socially pressured - into dedicating their lives to Christ. Even more, children are fed the idea that, not only is baptism necessary, it is expected. That expectation is also a strong motivating factor which only adds to the coercive element.





How can a child dedicate their lives to anything? I'd argue that they can't. For all of these reasons, it seems to me there are only two reasons a child would feel compelled to dedicate their lives to the Christian cause: indoctrination and social coercion, both of which are completely unethical.









A few days ago, I was scrolling through my Instagram feed and came across a photo that caused me to feel both sad and frustrated. The photo was of a [popular CoC] preacher in a church baptismal, deeply embracing the child he just baptized who was - at most - 11 years old.11 years old.There is not an 11 year old in existence with enough ownership of their cognitive faculties and enough experience in life to make the decision to pledge allegiance to anything, let alone dedicate their life to an ideology they barely understand. I, too, have an 11 year old. My child, at 11 years old, does not have the mental maturity to even dedicate an afternoon to his homework, let alone his life to a deity. I hate to be so blunt, but this screams to me of religious indoctrination and social coercion.When I was 13 years old, I was baptized at the Baptist church I had grown up in, many years after (as my mother tells me) I asked Jesus into my heart at the age of four. FOUR. From there, throughout my youth and teen years, there were many more re-dedications as I was reminded over and over again how I was a sinner, both loved and hated by God at the same time - loved so much that He wanted nothing but to be with me, but hated so much that He'd send me to Hell for my sins. The cognitive dissonance here is overwhelming; adults barely recognize it for what it is, you can only imagine how the not-yet-fully-developed brain of a child would react to such a thought. I can recall many tearful nights spent in prayer, literallyto God to forgive me of my sins, sins which, as a concept, I had no capacity to understand, yet I knew that I was destined for Hell for them. In fact, simply my beingseemed to be an affront to God, not even worthy to stand in His presence.What an awful thing for a child to be burdened with.If you are of the Church of Christ, you probably have already picked up on the theological 'errors' of my upbringing: "That's Calvanism!" You'd be correct. Like most Baptist churches, the one I grew up in adopted some of its teachings from a Calvanist theology (while rejecting others) in that it taught that we were all born totally depraved, with a sinful nature that separates us from God. Calvin says, "” (Institutes, Book 2, Chapter 1, Section 8)."But!" you may protest, "children are 'safe'!" Other Protestant churches, the CoC included, put a lot of stock into the concept of the "age of accountability." This is the exact opposite of the Calvanist position of total depravity. This, as argued, is the age at which an individual is able to make decisions and account for their own actions without the oversight of anyone else. As it's reasoned, there are a handful of exemptions when buying a ticket to Heaven, specifically children and those who have the mental maturity of children. There is no specific age for this accountability to take place, however. As one apologist site puts it, " Elsewhere , the same apologists write, "" Well that. Sounds. Dreadful. Unfortunately, this 'age' is completely up to guesswork! Is someone 'safe' one day but damned the next? The lack of clarity here puts accountability proponents in a bit of a bind. 'Tis a mystery, it seems.(Personally, I think those who advocate this stance are missing one important biblical example for what the age of accountability actuallyRecall the wilderness wanderings the Israelites were subjected to after their escape from Egypt. Recall that the Israelites had sinned against God by being too fearful to fight the inhabitants of the promised land. As punishment, those aged 20 and above would be unable to ever enter the land God had promised (Numbers 14:29) and were destined to die in the desert. Elsewhere, God stated that only those who had no knowledge of good and evil would enter the promised land (Deuteronomy 1:39). We can extrapolate from there that those who were age 19 or youngerof good an evil - straight from the Lord, himself. Recall yet another passage where God explains that only those aged 20 and above would be responsible for giving offerings to Him (Exodus 30:14). From here, we can see that, according to YHWH, the age of accountability is twenty years old.)Herein lies the crux of the problem, however. Because accountability proponents are unable to pinpointsomeone is accountable, they resort to the individual voicing their understanding of key biblical concepts. The same apologist site spells these items out in an article titled " What Must I Know to Be Saved? " The list is as follows: