Postcard73

I have always understood the "age of accountability" to refer to the point in a human life when that person becomes accountable for original sin, basically because they are old and mature enough to understand sin. But doesn't the Bible clearly teach that God finds guilt in people that do not understand right from wrong? This seems like a perfectly plausible position since Adam and Eve had no concept of right or wrong and still got blamed. Heck, I got blamed for their sin, and I wasn't even born for another 6,000 years. If the age of accountability is founded on Biblical passages, then please note them. The passage I quoted suggests that even little kids are evil. Where are the verses that contradict it?

The doctrine of original sin indicates that we are all damned by man's fall. If the age of accountability is valid and God can bring a child into his presence in heaven - even though that child was born tainted and never accepted the gift of salvation - then why can't God do the exact same thing for me as an adult? I'm not an atheist because I don't like God; I'm an atheist because I think the concept is illogical. There is no rebellion on my part, so why won't God cut me the same slack he can cut a child?

On a side note, many of the atheists I know site God's depravity in the Bible as the reason they don't believe the Bible to be true. Wouldn't this indicate that those people also cannot tell right from wrong and are thus unaccountable per your comment?

trendkill

Interesting. The age of accountability in Mormonism is 8 (there is no original sin in Mormonism, but that is the age when people become responsible for their own sins and eligible for baptism). I've sometimes wondered what that was based on; possibly this is it.

Sven

Based on the age which the bible claims for Noah (and his sons), "youth" probable means "not yet 100 years of age"

gregor

I've seen one fundy use the "forced waiting to enter the promised land" story in Exodus as the formula on which they base their age of accountability fiction. Admittedly it makes absolutely no sense, but that's never stopped 'em.