It's a charming scene, repeated constantly throughout the Church and woven into the fabric of Latter-day Saint practice and culture. Sometimes it involves a single child of 8 years, sometimes several, seated reverently on the front row of a meetinghouse chapel, dressed all in white.
One or two simple sermons are delivered. At some point in the service, the child and his or her family and friends assemble at the baptismal font in the meetinghouse. Father or another trusted and worthy priesthood holder goes into the water with the child, raises his arm to the square, calls the child by name and utters the words: "Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost."The young baptismal candidate is then immersed briefly, according to the pattern established by revelation and commandment, and is thus prepared to be confirmed by laying on of hands as the newest member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and thereby to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
An apparently simple act is baptism, yet one symbolizing divine truths, the interplay of profound doctrines of moral agency, accountability and the atonement of Christ. Unlikely though it may be that an 8-year-old has a thorough understanding of these doctrines, one thing is certain according to the revelations of God: Under normal circumstances, he or she is capable of choosing between right and wrong and of being accountable for such choices.
"The Lord has placed - and that in His own judgment - the age of accountability at 8 years," declared President Joseph Fielding Smith. "After we get to be 8 years of age, we are supposed to have understanding sufficient that we should be baptized. The Lord takes care of those who are under that age. Now He has Himself arbitrarily declared that. I did not set the age. I accept it because the Lord set the age, and that is the law." (Doctrines of Salvation 2:53.)
It has long been a matter of debate: Are children born good or bad? Or are their personalities simply shapeless clay, their moral outlook to be molded by the influence of various environmental stimuli?
The scriptures provide a clear answer. "And the Spirit giveth light to every man that cometh into the world; and the Spirit enlighteneth every man through the world, that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit.
"And every one that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit cometh unto God, even the Father." (D&C 84:46-47.)
"For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil." (Moro. 7:16.)
Expounding on this concept, the late Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve wrote: "As part of life itself, all mortals are endowed with a heavenly gift called the light of Christ. This divine endowment manifests to us the difference between good and evil. We do not need to be taught what is right and wrong. This knowledge is bred in our bones; it is hereditary; it is innate, inborn and intuitional in nature. Call it conscience, if you will; say that it is a divine inheritance from a Divine Parent; identify it as a spark of divinity sent by Deity to fire the soul with the flames of righteousness; call it the Spirit of Christ - it has many names. But what counts is that it is real. It is `the true light that lighteth every man that cometh in the world.' (D&C 93:2.)" (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith.)
Thus endowed from birth with the light of Christ, Heavenly Father's children must nevertheless contend as they grow older with their mortal nature, described by Alma as "carnal, sensual, and devilish." (Alma 42:10.)
"For the natural man is an enemy to God," declared King Benjamin, "and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord." (Mosiah 3:19.)
As pertaining to children younger than age 8, Satan has no power to tempt them. (See D&C 29:47.) Even so, as time goes on, they are subject to the "natural-man" condition of mortality.
"Little children are innocent by virtue of the Atonement, not by nature," taught Robert L. Millett, BYU dean of Religious Education at the Sidney B. Sperry Symposium Oct. 7, 1995. Noting that there are those who believe that little children are by nature "pure and holy and decent and good and unselfish and solicitous and benevolent and submissive, just by nature of being little children," he added, "The answer in the Book of Mormon and in modern revelation is that little children are innocent as one of the unconditional blessings of the Atonement because Jesus Christ decreed them so."
Charming though they may be, little children often tend to exhibit behavior that is demanding, self-centered and appetite driven. As are their physical characteristics and their other capacities, their ability to make appropriate choices based upon the light of Christ within them is still in a rudimentary stage of development. Most adults know that intuitively and excuse the behavior of little children accordingly.
By age 8, under normal circumstances, a child should have progressed to the point he can make an appropriate use of his moral agency. His parents have a divine commandment to nurture him along to that point. Thereafter, he is held accountable for his choices. To the extent that a child's behavior is due to his not having been properly taught, parents must bear the burden of responsibility. (See D&C 68:25.)
An understanding of the doctrines of agency, accountability and the Atonement can dispel some falsehoods widely accepted in society:
Falsehood No. 1: Young people, even beyond the age of 8, do not have the maturity to choose the right all the time and need the chance to "sow their wild oats."
Divine revelation makes it clear that by age 8, people under normal circumstances are wholly capable of making proper moral choices. Many people in their teenage and young adult years do choose wisely and righteously. Those who do not should repent immediately and make the atonement of Christ efficacious in their lives.
Falsehood No. 2: Misdeeds can be excused because one has suffered misfortune, abuse or lack of opportunity in his life.
"We live in a time when many want to avoid the responsibility for their acts," lamented President James E. Faust, second counselor in the First Presidency, at the October 1995 general conference. "When I was a young lawyer, I was appointed by the judges to defend persons who were charged with infractions of the law. . . . From these experiences, I learned that some individuals did not think they were responsible or guilty in any way even though they had violated a law. . . . They felt it was really their parents' fault because they were not properly taught, or it was society's fault because they were never given a chance in life. So often they had some reason or excuse for blaming their actions on someone or something else rather than accepting the responsibility for their own actions. They did not act for themselves but were acted upon."
President Faust, at the conference, quoted Nephi's statement from the Book of Mormon, "And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon." (2 Ne. 3:26.)
Elder Marion G. Romney, then of the Quorum of the Twelve, said at the October 1968 general conference, "Men themselves can, and most of them do, abridge their own agency by the decisions they themselves voluntarily make." The converse is also true, he explained. "Every choice one makes either expands or contracts the area in which he can make and implement future decisions. . . . From the very beginning God has, through his prophets, made it clear that expanded freedom follows wise choices, and that freedom is restricted by unwise decisions."
The understanding that mortals are born to act and not be acted upon is or ought to be a liberating notion. Consider the implication: If it is true, one is free through one's own future behavior to chart a course toward everlasting joy and eternal life. One need not be a prisoner of past events or circumstances.
Little wonder there should be a tone of optimism in this counsel from Nephi, "Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves - to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life." (2 Ne. 10:23.)
Though the 8-year-old may be too young to fully recognize it, his or her baptism is a joyous occasion indeed. From this point on, he is free through the Savior's atonement and through the constant guidance of the Holy Ghost to make the choices that will bring him peace in this life and eternal life in the world to come. (See D&C 59:23.)
