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To: Colofornian
"Behold the children in God's love."

[Except that Jesus explicitly said NOT to keep back children from coming unto Him...and the Lds/Rlds advice to families is for 7 yo & younger not to come to His baptism hand...where the Body of Christ baptizes them in the singular NAME of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19)]

Now that's a cause for tears!

I don't think that this misrepresentation should be allowed to stand unchallenged. I have witnessed many baby blessings in the Community of Christ.

[Sec 17:19] Every member of the church of Christ having children, is to bring them unto the elders before the church, who are to lay their hands upon them in the name of Jesus Christ, and bless them in his name.

[Sec 17:20] No one can be received into the church of Christ unless he has arrived unto the years of accountability before God, and is capable of repentance.

Here is a hymn I wrote in 1982 for the blessing of an infant nephew of mine:

Fresh from thy presence, Lord, this child we see
Reflecting image of Thy majesty,
And yet how helpless clings,
What joy to parents brings.
In sighs of thankfulness rings this mystery.

Before they people, Lord, we now see blessed
By elders of thy church this special guest
From those bright realms above
Where all things bask in love.
On earth may this child know of all that is best.

Baby blessings are beautiful experiences in the Community of Christ.

635 posted on 05/31/2010 8:02:04 AM PDT by John McDonnell
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To: John McDonnell
Baby blessings...No one can be received into the church of Christ unless he has arrived unto the years of accountability before God, and is capable of repentance.

"Accountability" = age 8
So, John, if you're the father of a 7 1/2 year old, and he has a mouth issue, or some repeat disobedience issue, are you seriously telling me he can't repent ot that? Really?

You raise the issue of "accountability." Have you reviewed a few verses of what the Bible says about that among humankind from the get-go?

Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. (Psalm 51:5)

Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies. (Psalm 58:3)

"Wayward" is a directional/orientation word...as an infant begins to transition into a toddler, you don't need to teach them to become self-centered. They already are. Tantrums are their forte'. In fact, an infant is the most self-centered creature there is.

Baby blessings...

Baby blessings? What children need are to be delivered from this body of death and natural death. Joseph Smith made the terrible assumption that children were already "alive in Christ" (Moroni 8:12; Moroni 8:13 in the RCE version). He also made the terribly bad assumption, going against David & the Psalms above, that "little children are not capable of committing sin" (Moroni 8:8).

"They were not baptized...save they were worthy of it." (Moroni 6:2, RCE; 6:1 in regular BoM)

What utter Joseph Smith nonsense! Worthiness as an invitation to baptize?

38Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call. (Acts 2:38-39)

If even the Lds and RLds recognize the need to baptize "for the remission of sins," then...
...doesn't our unworthiness (our need for sins to be forgiven) actually serve as our "qualication" for baptism -- NOT our so-called Smithian "worthiness?"
...and if children are "whole," "incapable of sin," then why did Smith elsewhere say children need to be baptized for the remission of sin? What sin if they are whole and incapable of sinning? (see D&C 19:31; JFS-V 1:33)

And you somehow think that because a church organization "blesses" them, that's enough. These children need Christ. They don't need an organizational blessing. In fact, the apostle Paul says we ALL are baptized into a Person -- Jesus Christ -- we're NOT to be baptized into a church org:

Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? (Romans 6:3)

636 posted on 05/31/2010 9:13:37 AM PDT by Colofornian
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To: John McDonnell

“Fresh from thy presence, Lord, this child we see”
“From those bright realms above

sweet sentiments overall, but the two sentences above
are false. There is no preexistence of spirits. This
is a non-Biblical doctrine that gives rise to all
kinds of falsehood.

Babies do not come to us “from thy presence”.


637 posted on 05/31/2010 9:43:41 AM PDT by aMorePerfectUnion
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