🌊 Baptism¶
Estimated time to read: 4 minutes
Age of Accountability¶
Have you ever talked to an 8-year-old?
Not pointing to a specific bishop or human, this is hypothetical: Would a given bishop excommunicate an 8 or 9 year old child, for whatever apostate behavior? Denying the Holy Ghost, for example? Or would this bishop think that the child was too young and didn’t understand what their sin was and wouldn’t understand being excommunicated. If so, then the child has not reached the age of accountability.
Granted, the Book of Mormon does teach about not baptizing “little children”. That’s about as far as that discourse goes, though- not much mention of accountability, or forbidding those 7 years or younger.
Can you point me to any other culture or society, modern or ancient, that settled on 8 years being a milestone for accountability and responsibility? If that was inspired of God, wouldn’t other Christian denominations have at least approximated that idea? If it was part of God’s eternal, unchanging truth, wouldn’t there be mention of it in the NT or BoM?
Who else does this?¶
I’ll answer my own question!
Part of Catholic Canon Law is the age of reason. See Can. 97 §2. These canons have been around for a long time, certainly before God reveals this info to Joseph Smith.
On completion of the seventh year, a minor is presumed to have the use of reason, but intellectual disability can prevent some individuals from ever attaining the use of reason.
. . .
As many as 36 collections of canon law are known to have been brought into existence before 1150.
— Catholic Canon Law, Wikipedia
Here’s another short summary: https://www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/age-of-reason
Cool. Anyone else?
Other people put the age of accountability at 12 (since that was the age at which Jesus began to demonstrate his understanding of right and wrong) or 13 (the age of the Jewish Bar Mitzvah).
Thanks, Wikipedia.
I suppose the conclusion to arrive at is that an age of accountability isn’t unique to Mormonism? Granted, these sources aren't explicitly stating this age as a qualification for baptism.
Peer pressure¶
This pressure is often strongest during childhood and teenage years, when there is a powerful need to be accepted by one’s peers.
— Peer Pressure, Topics and Questions, LDS.org
It’s an amazing coincidence how many 8 year olds have chosen to have the same religious beliefs as their parents, don’t you think?
Do 8 year old children really decide on their own to be baptized? This is not a rhetorical question. Do they? What factors influence that decision, however small?
"Little Timmy, would you like to be the center of attention while all your friends and their families praise your actions, then get treats with Grandpa and also make Jesus happy? Then at church we'll say a special prayer just for you! Or would you rather do none of that and feel like a disappointment?"
Then, in order to leave, Timmy would have to be over 18 and get his resignation letter printed, notarized, and mailed. What? No, we're not a cult.
Scriptural backing¶
Behold I say unto you that this thing shall ye teach—repentance and baptism unto those who are accountable and capable of committing sin; yea, teach parents that they must repent and be baptized, and humble themselves as their little children, and they shall all be saved with their little children.
And their little children need no repentance, neither baptism. Behold, baptism is unto repentance to the fulfilling the commandments unto the remission of sins.
Wait, children need no repentance, nor baptism? The ordinance should only be taught to those who are "accountable and capable of committing sin", so I suppose that means when Mormon kids are baptized at 8, it's not for remission of sins.
For all men must repent and be baptized, and not only men, but women, and children who have arrived at the years of accountability.
And their children shall be baptized for the remission of their sins when eight years old, and receive the laying on of the hands.
Didn't Moroni just tell us that children don't get baptized for remission of sins? Because they're incapable of sinning? Does this suggests that an eight-year-old is universally guilty of sin on their birthday…? Because at that point they’re accountable, I suppose.