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Your statement
There is no scriptural support for what you are saying and you'll be hard pressed to defend it scriptural.
This would indicate that either you have a deep understanding of God 's word and, therefore, are confident that your statement will stand upright in the light of truth, or you are truly ignorant of God's will. I must contend the later.
I ask that you look at the truth with a open mind and heart. God is not the author of confusion. Confusion is from the evil one. To understand God's word, we must have a love for the truth. (2 Thess. 2:10 'And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.') A love for the truth would require a hate for that which is false. (Psalms 119:104 'Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore, I hate every false way.') The teaching of Calvin is false. If it was true, it would be the teaching of Christ.

Before I set to the defense of the faith concerning whether children are sinners when they are born, I would first like to address your statement. (If you could provide me with some quotes that children don't have sin until they're thirteen I would gladly review my position. ) At no point in any statement I have written here or anywhere else, or have ever spoken publicly or privately have I ever said that children don't have sin until they are thirteen. At what age one goes from safe to lost, I don't know. They know and God knows. Your attempt to put me at a certain age is to try and get me to go beyond that which is written. I will not do that.

The Question is: Are we born sinners. A sincere and logical look at the scriptures will reveal that we are all born without sin. Sin is a transgression of God's law. What law has or could a baby transgress up to and including birth? You know, as well as I, the answer is none. Therefore, in order to cast stones upon the innocent--it must be deemed hereditary.
After all, God's word says all have sinned and come short of his glory. (Romans 3:23 'For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God'.) The word 'all' is inclusive, therefore, babies must be born with sin. This line of logic is not without fault, however, for the same bible that's says all have sinned also says that the Blood of Christ removes all sin. (1 John 1:7 'But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.') The false position that you have been taught has forced you to accept the 'all' of Romans 3:23 but deny the 'all' of 1 John 1:7.
Paul stated that he was pure from the blood of all men (Act 20:26 Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.)
Had Paul spoken to every single person in the whole world? Even if Paul had all of the technologies that exist today, I doubt that he would have been able. On this I think we should be in agreement.
God does expect us to use our minds to study and to reason. What Paul stated was that he had taught them the truth, and that later when some would depart he would not be to blame as he had warned them day and night with tears.

I would expect that you will agree that we must look at the context of each passage in order to reach a reasonable understanding of what is being taught.

Let's now take a look of some proof texts concerning the question 'Are babies born sinners?'

Who creates man?
Psa 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Psa 102:18 This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD.
Psa 148:5 Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.
Exo 4:11 And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?

Hebrews 12:9; Zechariah 12:1; Ecclesiastes 12:7 - Our fleshly nature comes from our earthly fathers (like Adam). But God is the Father of our spirits. God gives the spirit and forms it within man.

Total depravity says man is "wholly defiled in ... soul and body." Does the sinless Father in heaven give us wholly defiled, totally depraved spirits? If the spirit comes from God, not from earthly parents, how can we inherit sin from our parents?

Matthew 19:14; 18:3 - The kingdom of God belongs to those who are converted and become like little children. But if little children are totally depraved, why should we become like them? Does conversion make us totally depraved?

Inherited Sin?

Ezekiel 18:20 - The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself

If you or I are guilty of sin, it is because of what we have done.

Ezekiel 18:24 But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.

Please name one sin that all babies commit.

Did Jesus Inherit the Guilt of Adam's Sin?

Hebrews 2:14,17 - He shared in flesh and blood, made in all things like us.

Luke 3:38; Galatians 4:4 - He was a descendant of Adam, born of woman.

2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 John 3:5; 1 Peter 2:22 - Yet Jesus knew no sin. In Him is no sin, because He did no sin [Heb. 4:15; 7:26]

If we inherit sin from Adam, then Jesus must have inherited it since he was a descendant of Adam and was like us in all things. But He did not inherit it, therefore we do not inherit it. Guilt is not inherited.

Sin is what people do (in word, deed, or thought) that is not in harmony with God's will.

1 John 3:4 - Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. Sin is defined as something a person "commits" ("transgression" - KJV), not what he inherits. [cf. v6,8].

Mark 7:20-23 - A man is defiled (made guilty) by things (such as those listed) which a person does because of decisions in his heart. Contrast this to original sin.

Romans 3:9-18,23 - We are all "under sin" (v9) because we "have sinned" (v23). We have "turned aside" (v12), we do not "do good" (v12), etc. [cf. Psa. 14:1-4].

Romans 6:16,19 - People become servants of sin because they present themselves, their own members, as servants of sin and uncleanness. When we obey sin, we become servants of sin. Compare to original sin.

James 1:14,15 - A man becomes worthy of death when he responds to temptation by sinning (note "then ... when"). Sin and spiritual death are results of what he does. Note "each man" - it is an individual matter, and it is true of each of us.

James 2:10,11 - A person becomes guilty and a transgressor when he disobeys the law (stumbles).

John 8:34 - A person becomes enslaved to sin because of what he himself "commits."

1 Timothy 6:10 - Love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Original sin says the love of money has another root - inherited depravity - a "root" to the "root." The Bible says the root is the man's attitude, not Adam's sin.

1 Peter 2:22 - Jesus was not a sinner because he did no sin. If original sin is true, He would have been a sinner whether He did anything sinful or not.

Where is the passage that teaches that anyone is guilty of sin because he inherited guilt from Adam or is counted guilty before he himself commits sin?

Answers to Defenses of Original Sin and Total Depravity.
Psalms 51:5 - Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. Does this mean he was born guilty of sin, totally depraved?

1. It says nothing about Adam, Adam's sin, or that David inherited guilt of Adam's sin.

2. The verse does not state that David was born guilty. It describes the guilt of his mother. His mother is the one who was guilty of sin and iniquity when she conceived him and brought him forth. (The first part of the verse is, in Hebrew parallelism, explained by the last part of the verse.)

3. Consider parallel language in Acts 2:8. People were born in a native language or tongue. Did they inherit the language? Was it part of their inherent nature? No, but the people around them spoke it, so they soon learned it.

4. So David's point is, not that he was guilty of sin from birth nor inherited it, but he was born into the midst of a sinful environment and sinful influences. His mother was guilty and so were all around him, so he soon learned it, like one learns a language

Ephesians 2:1-3

Some say you were "by nature children of wrath" means inherited depravity, and "dead in sin" means powerless to do anything about your condition like a dead body.

1. But it nowhere mentions Adam, Adam's sin, nor inheriting guilty of Adam's sin.

2. They were dead because of "sins" (plural, not singular, as Adam's sin) "in which you once walked" (v2), and conducted themselves in the lusts of the flesh (v3). This contradicts inherited depravity and proves our position, that people are in sin because of their own conduct, not Adam's conduct.

3. "Nature" here refers to a person's character which comes as a result of repeated practice, not necessarily by inheritance. Rom. 2:14 says some people by nature obey God's will, but total depravity says that is impossible.

4. "Death" refers to spiritual separation from God - see v11-13. As the body is dead when the spirit separates from it (James 2:26), so our sins separate us from God (Isa. 59:2) and we become spiritually dead in sin.

5. Luke 15:24 - The prodigal son had been "dead," yet in that condition was able to decide to turn from sin and return to His father (v17-20).
Romans 7:14-25

It is argued that this passage describes the total depravity of nature inherited from Adam.

1. Again, the passage nowhere mentions Adam or Adam's sin, nor does it say anyone inherited sin or depravity. The passage does describe depravity, but it is the consequence of sin the man himself practices (v15-20).

2. The passage actually contradicts total depravity. The spirit "delights" in God's law (v22), and man "wills" to do good (v. 18,19,21). But this is impossible according to total depravity, for it says man is wholly defiled in all parts of soul and body, opposite to all good, wholly inclined to all evil, and has wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good. Total depravity has serious problems in this passage.

3. The context in v9 teaches the innocence of children (as discussed previously). Surely v14-25 does not contradict v9.

4. The passage describes the condition of men in sin, outside Christ, before conversion (especially Jews under the law, like Paul was before conversion). Paul uses first person and present tense, but he sometimes does this to show how he identifies with the people in the condition, especially if he himself has experienced the problem (cf. 1 Cor. 4:6; Rom. 13:11-13).

Yet it cannot be that Paul still had the problem he describes. He describes one who is "carnal, sold under sin" (v14), but 8:8,9 condemns those who are carnal, and 7:5 shows it is a past condition for Paul (cf. 1 Cor. 3:1ff). He says sin dwells in him and he is captured under the law of sin (v17,23), yet he elsewhere shows that Christians must not let sin reign in their members - 6:11-19; Gal. 5:16-24; Eph. 4:17ff; Col. 3:5-14. He says he is "wretched" (v24), but that is not the state of one in Christ (Phil. 4:4ff). He says Jesus delivers people from this wretched state (v24,25).

So Paul is using the historical present tense, just as we might do to tell a story that already happened. Paul used it to express understanding of the condition of those in sin, and because he once had that condition (Imagine him on the Damascus road after he knew he was wrong but had not yet been told what to do about it.)

5. Why can't the passage be describing the depraved and hopeless case of one who is guilty of sin as a consequence of his own practice, before he is forgiven (like we discussed in Eph. 2)? Man has physical urges and natural instincts that are neither good nor bad, moral or immoral, in and of themselves. God's law reveals proper ways to satisfy these urges, but sometimes our natural body sees ways to satisfy these urges which are improper, but it does not know the difference so it still desires it.

As a result we all eventually sin and become a slave of sin. We do not have God's promise to answer our prayers, nor do we have other blessings in Christ to strengthen us. We know we are guilty and not forgiven, so we despair and are wretched. We have little motivation to do good because doing good of itself will not remove our past guilt. We know we are wrong, wish to be right, but can see no solution to our wretchedness.

The solution, as Paul finally states, is forgiveness in Christ. As Christians we still sin occasionally (1Corinthians 10:13), but sin does not reign in our lives as before, and we have a means of forgiveness when we do sin (cf. chap. 6,8).
Romans 5:12-19; 1 Corinthians 15:22

We are told "in Adam all die" means that all inherit the guilt of Adam's sin, thereby being born totally depraved.

1. 1 Cor. 15:22 is discussing physical death, which all men do suffer unconditionally as a consequence of Adam's sin, but it is not saying we all unconditionally suffer spiritual death and total depravity as a consequence of his sin. This is clear by the contrast to Christ who unconditionally will make all alive, referring to the resurrection from physical death, which has been discussed throughout the context (v3-8,12-21). This will happen "at Christ's coming" (v23), when the "end" comes (v24).

2. Rom. 5:12-19 is, I believe, discussing spiritual death, but it does not teach the key points of original sin and total depravity. It does not say people receive the guilt of Adam's sin by unconditional inheritance, nor does it say people as a result become totally depraved, unable to do good, etc.

3. Adam is compared and contrasted to Christ (v14). They are alike in some ways, different in other ways. The key point is this: Whatever people lost through Adam, the same people gain through Christ! Note the chart:
Verse BY ADAM
One man's offense BY JESUS
The gift by grace
V15 many died much more the grace... abounded to many
V16 resulted in condemnation resulted in justification
V17 death reigned much more ... righteousness will reign in life
V18 AS through one man's offense judgment came to ALL men resulting in condemnation EVEN SO through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to ALL men resulting in justification of life
V19 For AS by one man's disobedience many were made sinners SO ALSO by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous

4. If this means through Adam's sin all men unconditionally received guilt and condemnation imputed to them, then it must mean that through Jesus' death those same all men unconditionally received justification of life! Whatever problem Adam caused and for whatever people he caused it, Jesus solved the problem for those same people. If everybody was unconditionally lost through Adam, then everybody is unconditionally saved through Jesus!

Again, consistency would require advocates of original sin to believe in universal salvation. But this contradicts the Bible, so it must not be that people unconditionally inherit the guilt of Adam's sin.

5. What the passage really teaches is what we have said all along. The consequences of both what Adam did and what Christ did are made available to all men conditionally on our conduct. Whether or not we actually receive the consequences of their deeds depends on what we do.

"How can people receive condemnation conditionally through what Adam did?" Even as people receive justification conditionally through what Jesus did! We have proved by many passages that Jesus' death brought salvation into the world, making it available to all men, giving us the opportunity to be justified. But whether or not we actually receive that justification depends on our conduct based on the choices we make.

Likewise Adam's sin brought sin into the world (v12), creating an environment of sin that tempts and influences us all toward sin. But we actually become sinners and are held guilty for sin only when we decide to participate in conduct that is sinful. We become sinners by our own conduct, as we have also proved by many passages.

This is clearly stated in the passage. V12 - "death spread to all men, because all sinned." We become guilty of sin when we commit sin, not before. Adam brought sin into the world and we all sooner or later follow his example. All the consequences of sin listed in v15-19 come upon us conditionally when we practice sin, and all the blessings of forgiveness come upon us conditionally when we obey Jesus.

Illustrations: "Through the knowledge of the math teacher, all the class became good mathematicians." "Through the talents of the music teacher, all her students became good musicians." Were the consequences inherited unconditionally? No, but the teachers made the knowledge or skill available, so when the students responded properly, they received what the teacher had to offer.
Psalm 58:1-6

The wicked are estranged from the womb (v3), so we are told this means we are guilty of sin and totally depraved from birth.

1. Again, it does not mention Adam, Adam's sin, nor that men inherit the guilt of Adam's sin.

2. What makes these people sinners? In their hearts they work wickedness (v2), and they have violent hands (v2). They are sinners because of their own conduct, exactly as we have taught. This proves our position, not inherited guilt.

3. "Estranged from the womb" is explained to mean "they go astray as soon as they are born" (v3). How can one go astray into sin if he was in sin from the start? If you are already in sin and you "go astray," where do you go?

4. How did they "go astray" and become "estranged"? By "speaking lies" (v3). Again, it is the conduct of the individual that makes him a sinner. But can babies literally speak lies at the moment of birth? No. So the verse itself forces us to conclude that the phrase "as soon as they are born" is not literal but figurative. It is an hyperbole - a poetic exaggeration to emphasize a point. (Compare the following verses where many illustrations are used to describe these same people.)

5. V6 says they have teeth. Again this is not describing people at the moment of birth.

Nothing here teaches that people are born guilty of Adam's sin. Clearly the passage confirms what we have taught: people are not born guilty of sin, but become sinners later when they go astray by their own conduct.
Conclusion

The Bible nowhere teaches the Calvinistic concept that man inherits sin or is born totally depraved, incapable of doing good or evil. Rather, little babies are born innocent and not accountable for their conduct. As they grow up in a sinful world, they reach the age when they are capable of understanding God's will for their lives. He then holds them accountable for their conduct, and they are counted sinners when they themselves choose to practice that which is a violation of God's will.

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