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However, according to the Bible, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." [http://biblehub.com/2_peter/3-9.htm 2 Peter 3:9]. "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." [http://biblehub.com/john/3-17.htm John 3:17]. This indicates clearly that a sovereign willingness on the part of God to '''''not''''' provide for all souls in the world any possible opportunity for salvation, even ignorant pagans and infants, is not a doctrine supported by the Bible.<ref>See Revelation 22:17 "''whosoever will''"</ref>

However, according to the Bible, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." [http://biblehub.com/2_peter/3-9.htm 2 Peter 3:9]. "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." [http://biblehub.com/john/3-17.htm John 3:17]. This indicates clearly that a sovereign willingness on the part of God to '''''not''''' provide for all souls in the world any possible opportunity for salvation, even ignorant pagans and infants, is not a doctrine supported by the Bible.<ref>See Revelation 22:17 "''whosoever will''"</ref>

Many Christians reject the arbitrary doctrine that babies who have died, who have not been baptized, who did nothing, either good or bad, and did not believe, are automatically doomed to an eternity in the lake of fire.<ref>See [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20%3A10&version=NRSVCE Revelation 20:10], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20%3A13-15&version=NRSVCE 13-15]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25%3A41-46&version=NRSVCE Matthew 25:41-46].</ref> Those Christians who at the same time also reject any need for infant baptism, who have been told that infants are ''[[ipso facto]]'' totally innocent of all sin, that there is an "age of innocence", and have heard cited the phrase "below the age of innocence" with reference to very young children, have searched in vain for this phrase in the Bible.<ref>A search of [[Strong's]] under the topic of [http://biblehub.net/searchtopical.php?q=innocence"innocence"] gives no examples of these phrases. <br> Online searches for the phrase [https://www.bing.com/search?q=bible+verse+%22age+of+innocence%22&form=EDGEAR&qs=PF&cvid=0ca3aae1f43b45139bb73e5b40a2869c&cc=US&setlang=en-US&plvar=0 "age of innocence"] and [https://www.bing.com/search?q=bible+verse+%22below+the+age+of+innocence%22&form=EDGEAR&qs=PF&cvid=7e33910d5a2c4df99886f48f82ca3f75&cc=US&setlang=en-US&plvar=0 "below the age of innocence"] in the Bible produce no result.</ref> Their doctrinal belief that baptism of infants is utterly unnecessary, because they have accepted the belief that the Bible itself teaches that '''''all''''' babies in the womb and those infants and children "below the age of innocence" are already "covered by the saving blood of Jesus" because they are innocent of any sin, and are already saved up until the age of understanding and accountability, at which time they must choose on their own to make a decision for Christ to be saved, is not found in the New Testament. Theologians and apologists who have been challenged to defend this doctrine with support from scripture are not able to cite a single text that explicitly states that an unborn or a newborn child, infant, babe, child in arms, a child not yet able to walk, is saved by the covering blood of Christ apart from the baptism mentioned in the New Testament, [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A3-5&version=NRSVCE John 3:3-5]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+28%3A18-19&version=NRSVCE Matthew 28:18-19]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+16%3A15&version=NRSVCE Mark 16:15]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+2%3A38-39&version=NRSVCE Acts 2:38-39]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+5%3A25-27&version=NRSVCE Ephesians 5:25-27]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A21&version=NRSVCE 1&nbsp;Peter 3:21]. This is simply from reading the whole text of the New Testament alone ''[[sola scriptura]]''. Such a doctrine appears to be only a "tradition of men" outside of the Bible alone. They are unwilling to consign unbaptized infants to hell, yet "as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" Romans 5:12 (KJV). It is a belief in the universal compassionate mercy of God for all mankind, coupled with a doctrinal rejection of the apostolic tradition of infant baptism received by mainstream Christianity, [[Catholic Church|Catholics]], [[Orthodox Church|Eastern and Oriental Orthodox]], and among [[Protestantism|Protestants]], several [[denomination]]s: [[Anglican Communion|Anglicans]], [[Lutheranism|Lutherans]], [[Presbyterian]]s, [[Congregationalism|Congregationalists]] and other [[Calvinism|Reformed]] denominations, [[Presbyterians]], [[Methodist]]s, some [[Church of the Nazarene|Nazarenes]], and the Moravian Church.

Many Christians reject the arbitrary doctrine that babies who have died, who have not been baptized, who did nothing, either good or bad, and did not believe, are automatically doomed to an eternity in the lake of fire.<ref>See [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20%3A10&version=NRSVCE Revelation 20:10], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20%3A13-15&version=NRSVCE 13-15]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25%3A41-46&version=NRSVCE Matthew 25:41-46].</ref> Those Christians who at the same time also reject any need for infant baptism, who have been told that infants are ''[[ipso facto]]'' totally innocent of all sin, that there is an "age of innocence", and have heard cited the phrase "below the age of innocence" with reference to very young children, have searched in vain for this phrase in the Bible.<ref>A search of [[Strong's]] under the topic of [http://biblehub.net/searchtopical.php?q=innocence"innocence"] gives no examples of these phrases. <br> Online searches for the phrase [https://www.bing.com/search?q=bible+verse+%22age+of+innocence%22&form=EDGEAR&qs=PF&cvid=0ca3aae1f43b45139bb73e5b40a2869c&cc=US&setlang=en-US&plvar=0 "age of innocence"] and [https://www.bing.com/search?q=bible+verse+%22below+the+age+of+innocence%22&form=EDGEAR&qs=PF&cvid=7e33910d5a2c4df99886f48f82ca3f75&cc=US&setlang=en-US&plvar=0 "below the age of innocence"] in the Bible produce no result.</ref> Their doctrinal belief is not found in the New Testament, that the baptism of infants is utterly unnecessary, because they have accepted the belief that the Bible itself teaches that '''''all''''' babies in the womb and those infants and children "below the age of innocence" are already "covered by the saving blood of Jesus" because they are innocent of any sin, and are already saved up until the age of understanding and accountability, at which time they must choose on their own to make a decision for Christ to be saved. Theologians and apologists who have been challenged to defend this doctrine with support from scripture are not able to cite a single text that explicitly states that an unborn or a newborn child, infant, babe, child in arms, a child not yet able to walk, is saved by the covering blood of Christ apart from the baptism mentioned in the New Testament, [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A3-5&version=NRSVCE John 3:3-5]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+28%3A18-19&version=NRSVCE Matthew 28:18-19]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+16%3A15&version=NRSVCE Mark 16:15]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+2%3A38-39&version=NRSVCE Acts 2:38-39]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+5%3A25-27&version=NRSVCE Ephesians 5:25-27]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+3%3A21&version=NRSVCE 1&nbsp;Peter 3:21]. This is simply from reading the whole text of the New Testament alone ''[[sola scriptura]]''. Such a doctrine appears to be only a "tradition of men" outside of the Bible alone. They are unwilling to consign unbaptized infants to hell, yet "as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" Romans 5:12 (KJV). It is a belief in the universal compassionate mercy of God for all mankind, coupled with a doctrinal rejection of the apostolic tradition of infant baptism received by mainstream Christianity, [[Catholic Church|Catholics]], [[Orthodox Church|Eastern and Oriental Orthodox]], and among [[Protestantism|Protestants]], several [[denomination]]s: [[Anglican Communion|Anglicans]], [[Lutheranism|Lutherans]], [[Presbyterian]]s, [[Congregationalism|Congregationalists]] and other [[Calvinism|Reformed]] denominations, [[Presbyterians]], [[Methodist]]s, some [[Church of the Nazarene|Nazarenes]], and the Moravian Church.

According to scripture the whole of mankind was defiled by the guilt of Adam and Eve ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+5%3A12&version=NRSVCE Romans 5:12]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Wisdom+2%3A23-24&version=NRSVCE Wisdom 2:23-24]) which broke off the intimate communion of their whole being with the Lord, severing them and the collective whole of the heritage of all their offspring from the spiritual life of God. Moreover, not only are we born as members of the whole community of the fallen race of man defiled by the terminal defect of this original sin—and for this reason every human being dies, even innocent babies in the womb—we also each of us as natural descendants of fallen man commit our own sins against God and our fellow human beings, against our own parents, children, friends, enemies, against truth, mercy and justice, and against ourselves whether we intend it or not ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+3%3A23&version=NRSVCE Romans 3:23]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+7%3A15&version=NRSVCE 7:15], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+7%3A19&version=NRSVCE 19]). Even little children have regrets about what they have done, and tiny babies display anger and stubbornness when they don't get what they want. As we mature in age and come to know the holiness of God we become even more aware of our inherent imperfection and our guilt before Him. Even [[Atheism and health|atheists]], against their will, struggle with feelings of guilt, knowing that they are not what they should be, even by their own personal standards.  

According to scripture the whole of mankind was defiled by the guilt of Adam and Eve ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+5%3A12&version=NRSVCE Romans 5:12]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Wisdom+2%3A23-24&version=NRSVCE Wisdom 2:23-24]) which broke off the intimate communion of their whole being with the Lord, severing them and the collective whole of the heritage of all their offspring from the spiritual life of God. Moreover, not only are we born as members of the whole community of the fallen race of man defiled by the terminal defect of this original sin—and for this reason every human being dies, even innocent babies in the womb—we also each of us as natural descendants of fallen man commit our own sins against God and our fellow human beings, against our own parents, children, friends, enemies, against truth, mercy and justice, and against ourselves whether we intend it or not ([https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+3%3A23&version=NRSVCE Romans 3:23]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+7%3A15&version=NRSVCE 7:15], [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+7%3A19&version=NRSVCE 19]). Even little children have regrets about what they have done, and tiny babies display anger and stubbornness when they don't get what they want. As we mature in age and come to know the holiness of God we become even more aware of our inherent imperfection and our guilt before Him. Even [[Atheism and health|atheists]], against their will, struggle with feelings of guilt, knowing that they are not what they should be, even by their own personal standards.