Babies and Angels

I'm working on a post about "Elohim", but something happened last week, and I need to address the "we were once angels" doctrine instead today....

The WMSCOG teaches that all humans were first angels living in heaven with God.  There in heaven, they committed a terrible sin and were cast down to live a human life here on earth as punishment.

If you study with them, one of the points they will bring up about this concerns babies who die very young.  They say, if the wages of sin is death, why do very young babies sometimes die before they have had an opportunity to sin?  It's because they have already sinned in heaven, they say.  The ramifications of this doctrine are truly horrible!  Here's why...

Last week, a family where I work went through that very event.  I don't know them personally, but I know their story.  I won't depress you with all the sad details, but the baby died within an hour of being born.  Besides them, my friend and her husband had a baby who died at about 10 weeks old, and my brother-in-law and his wife had a baby who died the day he was born.  If you pause a moment, you can probably think someone who has dealt with the tragedy of a child dying far too young.

When we read in the Bible that "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23), we understand it to mean that not only do we have to deal with the consequences of our own sin, but that the world itself is suffering and groaning under the weight of sin (Romans. 8:22)--hence natural disasters, disease, and the like...including the death of babies.

The Bible declares that even a newborn baby is born with a natural tendency to sin (Psalm 51:5), and it doesn't take too long before it shows up in action.  (If you don't think this is true, then perhaps you've never had a child of your own.)  But we still believe in the "innocence" of babies because we know they lack true understanding.  We know that children are special to God (Mark 10:14), and we trust that if a child dies young, God will be a fair and loving judge.  We have definite hope to see these children in heaven.

But in the WMSCOG, what hope is there for these babies who die, these families who mourn?  If the baby was previously an angel who sinned and was sent to earth to die for its sin, then his/her death was deserved and he/she has no hope for heaven.  I wonder what kind of comfort the WMSCOG can give to those families.  Maybe..."That's too bad.  Your baby must have committed a really terrible sin in heaven to deserve such a quick death."??

How awful is that?!?  Maybe some like this doctrine because it's a nice idea to think that you lived in heaven once, but if you think about it this way, it is not nice at all.

Thankfully, it not a true teaching of the Bible.  The WMSCOG uses misinterpreted and twisted Scriptures to support this doctrine.  Don't fall for it!