Little Children, Tsunamis & Hell

The photographs and images are now seared into
our consciousness. One of the most troubling
aspects of the disaster in Southeast Asia is the
death of infants and young children. Moving
at the speed of a jetliner, the walls of water fell
on the young and the old alike--and so many of
the youngest were simply swept away.

The death of the little ones poses anguished
questions that reach to the depth of Christian
faith. What happened to these young victims
after death? Did they go to Heaven or to Hell?

That question is too pastorally loaded to be
left hanging, only to be found at the end of
this article. I am convinced that those who
die in infancy and early childhood--along
with the severely cognitively impaired--go
to Heaven when they die. That is quite a
claim, but it stands within the mainstream
of orthodox Christian theology throughout
the centuries, and I believe it is biblically
and theologically sustainable.

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