Do Babies go to Heaven When They Die?

I want to begin by saying that if you’ve lost a baby to abortion or miscarriage and are wondering where that baby went, I hope this blog provides you some clarity.

There are many religions out there, each with differing views on the matter. Some claim that all babies die and go to heaven, some have no well-defined concept of the afterlife, and others believe in reincarnation. In Christianity, however, there are three main views regarding this topic.

The Three Common Views

• Humans are born into sin and therefore sinners are banned from heaven. This includes babies. Though few hold to this idea, it is still a belief in Christianity.

• Babies are taken into God’s presence in heaven upon their death becasue God chose them. Some of the Early Church fathers held this belief because the infant had not yet committed sins of their own.

• Only babies baptized into God’s family are part of the New Covenant and go to heaven upon death. Augustine Hippo believed in the concept of “original sin.” He believed that all humans inherited sin from Adam and Eve. As a result, unbaptized babies would go to a state called limbo.

In modern circles, there is a more common belief that children, before the age of accountability, will go to heaven if they die. But what does the Bible say?

What the Bible Says

While there is no verse that explicitly gives us an answer to whether babies go to heaven after they die, the Bible does have verses that allude to the importance that children have in God’s sight and support the idea that when they die, they go to heaven. Here are a few examples.

In 2 Samuel 12:23 we see the first mention. This verse that is used at funerals to comfort parents who are grieving the loss of their child. When David is stating, “going to him,” after experiencing the loss of his kid, he is not referring to the grave or death because the connotation of this verse is speaking of comfort. There is no comfort in saying “I too will die one day.” Instead, many theologians believe that David was referring to a better place (heaven) he would also go to one day.

The second mention is in the book of Isaiah 7:16. This is often the verse used to support the idea of a babies being “innocent” until the age of accountability is reached because they have not yet done something evil by choice.

Another key verse that the Bible states is Psalm 139:13-16. In this verse, David is referring to a book in which his days were written before he was born; he also tells us that while He was in his mother’s womb, He was intimately known by God. These verses advocate for the lives of the unborn children.

Also, Matthew 18 and 19 teach us that Jesus cares deeply for children. Though these references don’t state that babies go to heaven when they die, they do show His heart for children.

And lastly, in John 9:41 there is another reference. This seems to support the belief that there is heaven for those who cannot yet believe. Meaning that if they don’t have the mental ability to believe, they’d automatically go into heaven.

Final Thoughts

The question of whether babies go to heaven after they die is a complex one. Based on the verses above, they seem indicate that infant children who die before the age of accountability and didn’t have the opportunity to believe, will spend eternity with God.

Read: Do Pets Go to Heaven?