What is the Age of Accountability?

[Albion]

Is this your first day on CF?

I give up.

 

[jimmyjimmy]

I give up.

Come back tomorrow, and see where the count stands.

 

[ByTheSpirit]

I don't know if I believe in this accountability idea or not, but I have always understood it to be diffident for different people. Some people understand the concept of right and wrong from a very young age while others take a while, and those with mental incapacities can take even longer. There is no one broad, "at the age of ..." you are suddenly accountable, it depends.

 

[PeaceB]

How old is a person who is "accountable", if you believe there is such an age.

Code of Canon Law - IntraText

Can. 97 §1. A person who has completed the eighteenth year of age has reached majority; below this age, a person is a minor.

§2. A minor before the completion of the seventh year is called an infant and is considered not responsible for oneself (non sui compos). With the completion of the seventh year, however, a minor is presumed to have the use of reason.

Rome has spoken, the matter is finished.

 

[ByTheSpirit]

Code of Canon Law - IntraText

Can. 97 §1. A person who has completed the eighteenth year of age has reached majority; below this age, a person is a minor.

§2. A minor before the completion of the seventh year is called an infant and is considered not responsible for oneself (non sui compos). With the completion of the seventh year, however, a minor is presumed to have the use of reason.

Rome has spoken, the matter is finished.

That is nice for Catholics, but what about Protestants? I could give two hoots what Rome says about matters of faith.

 

[PeaceB]

That is nice for Catholics, but what about Protestants? I could give two hoots what Rome says about matters of faith.

Only two hoots. Alas. I was hoping for three.

As for Protestants, I cannot say. You all will have to resolve that, I suppose. I expect somewhere on the order of 30,000 different answers.

 

[nonaeroterraqueous]

Only two hoots. Alas. I was hoping for three.

As for Protestants, I cannot say. You all will have to resolve that, I suppose. I expect somewhere on the order of 30,000 different answers.

I'll just give you a fourth hoot to make amends for a few anti-Catholic comments I've made in the past.

I believe that the age of accountability is negative nine months. I believe in original sin. Remember that one? It's an old idea and not very original. That doesn't mean that infants will be punished like adults. It just means that a rat is a rat, and even a baby rat is still a rat (it's just cuter and harder to stomp on). As a person grows older, he becomes more accountable, but he is always accountable in some sense.

 

[S.O.J.I.A.]

there is no biblically defined age of accountability.

 

[PeaceB]

I'll just give you a fourth hoot to make amends for a few anti-Catholic comments I've made in the past.

I believe that the age of accountability is negative nine months. I believe in original sin. Remember that one? It's an old idea and not very original. That doesn't mean that infants will be punished like adults. It just means that a rat is a rat, and even a baby rat is still a rat (it's just cuter and harder to stomp on). As a person grows older, he becomes more accountable, but he is always accountable in some sense.

I thought that was the answer that the OP would give. That there is no age of accountability.

From the standpoint of original sin, I would agree.

For those who do not believe in baptismal regeneration, would that not then mean that children who die as infants are damned, and that all people who suffer severe mental disability (and thus cannot profess faith in Jesus Christ), are damned?

 

[PeaceB]

there is no biblically defined age of accountability.

Are all children who die in their infancy damned, according to Calvinism? My impression is that they are.

 

[jimmyjimmy]

I don't know if I believe in this accountability idea or not, but I have always understood it to be diffident for different people. Some people understand the concept of right and wrong from a very young age while others take a while, and those with mental incapacities can take even longer. There is no one broad, "at the age of ..." you are suddenly accountable, it depends.

if a person dies one hour after he reaches this age, whatever it may be, and he is not a Christian, is he condemned?

 

[S.O.J.I.A.]

Are all children who die in their infancy damned, according to Calvinism? My impression is that they are.

we would recognize that God has as much sovereignty over salvation with an infant as he does with a fully grown human being.

 

[PeaceB]

we would recognize that God has as much sovereignty over salvation with an infant as he does with a fully grown human being.

Absolutely. But are all infants who die condemned to hell under Calvinistic theology?

 

[S.O.J.I.A.]

Absolutely. But are all infants who die condemned to hell under Calvinistic theology?

no, because...

we would recognize that God has as much sovereignty over salvation with an infant as he does with a fully grown human being.

 

[fhansen]

How old is a person who is "accountable", if you believe there is such an age.

Also, if a person dies one hour after he reaches this age, whatever it may be, and he is not a Christian, is he condemned?

Only God, who knows the heart and judges by it, can know the answer to that question about any particular person with 100% certainty. There are degrees of accountability, and therefore culpability, depending on a variety of factors: age, intellect, background, experience, knowledge, grace. And He judges accordingly, with more demanded from those who're given more. Luke 12:48

 

[ByTheSpirit]

if a person dies one hour after he reaches this age, whatever it may be, and he is not a Christian, is he condemned?

Well like I said I do not know if I espouse the ideology or not, but have know people who do, and they will say it like this:

All people are born in unbelief, but God will not hold sins against those who cannot comprehend their sin and their need for a Savior. This when such a person is able to understand their sin and what it means then at that point they are accountable for it and can be held responsible for it, even 1 hour after.

 

[ChristianFromKazakhstan]

How old is a person who is "accountable", if you believe there is such an age.

Also, if a person dies one hour after he reaches this age, whatever it may be, and he is not a Christian, is he condemned?

Only God decides individually. Some people due to mental health never ever become responsible.

 

[hedrick]

I believe in inclusivism. I also accept the general view that infants are all saved. Put together these both imply that we start out “saved.”

I don’t think there’s a specific age, but rather that people who are going to be condemned at some point knowingly reject good, not with respect to individual acts, but rather as a general orientation.

 

[jimmyjimmy]

God will not hold sins against those who cannot comprehend their sin and their need for a Savior.

You've defined atheists, haven't you?

This when such a person is able to understand their sin and what it means then at that point they are accountable for it and can be held responsible for it, even 1 hour after.

Do you believe that Jesus died to provide the opportunity for any and everyone to respond to the gospel?

 

[ByTheSpirit]

You've defined atheists, haven't you?



Do you believe that Jesus died to provide the opportunity for any and everyone to respond to the gospel?

I'm not defending the idea only offering what I heard and know about it.