“There is nothing new under the sun,” says the Preacher in Ecclesiastes (Ecclesiastes 1:9). The question regarding the faith of unborn children, especially when children die prior to Baptism, has been discussed for centuries. Johann Georg Walch in, “The Faith of Unborn Children,” makes the case that that the unborn children of Christians who are deprived from Baptism by death join the Lord Jesus in paradise. Walch doesn’t prove this from wishful thinking or what he thinks would be loving of God to do. Rather, Walch points to the Scriptures, the only rule and norm by which we can know the mind of Christ. And the Scriptures demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that the unborn children of Christians who die in the womb possess saving faith.
Walch begins his discussion by drawing a parallel to the Old Testament covenant of circumcision.[1] Just as circumcision was declared necessary, but not absolutely necessary to salvation in the Old Testament, Baptism ought to be considered necessary, but not absolutely necessary in the New Testament. The clearest parallel between Baptism and Circumcision is established in Colossians 2:11-12,
“In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in Baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.”
Walch points out that even under the old covenant of circumcision, salvation prior to circumcision was freely granted, most clearly in the case of David’s son who died at 7 days old (2 Samuel 12:33). The distinction between necessary for salvation and absolutely necessary might seem like hair splitting, but Walch explains what he means later in the chapter. Baptism is ordinarily the means by which someone comes to faith, and so Jesus says in John 3:5, “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” Walch writes concerning this seeming contradiction, “It does not follow that God could not be concerned with any way to salvation which departs from the common order, that is, for those who through no fault of their own are deprived of Baptism.”[2] Walch sums up his argument with a quotation from St. Augustine, “it is not a lack of the Sacrament (of Baptism) that condemns, but the contempt of Baptism that condemns.” In other words, the simple lack of being baptized through missed opportunity must be distinguished from someone who has time and opportunity to receive God’s grace in Baptism, but rejects it. Walch notes that in the case of unborn children, their inability to receive Baptism actually comes from the preservation of God’s institution. The Scriptures refer to Baptism as a second birth (Titus 3:5 and John 3:5). Therefore, when a Christian couple waits to have a child baptized after birth, they do so out of reverence for the institution of Baptism. [3]
The exact way that unborn children come to faith is uncertain. Walch carefully maintains that unborn children are capable of faith, as demonstrated by the examples of Jacob (Genesis 25:26) and John the Baptist (Luke 1:44). Faith alone justifies, and so unborn children have no other means by which they could be saved other than faith in the name of Jesus (Acts 4:12). Jacob grabbed the heel of his brother Esau while in the womb, and Walch notes that many commentators, including Martin Luther, saw this as an act demonstrating faith on the part of the unborn child. The Scriptures themselves make this connection, especially the prophet Hosea (Hosea 12:3-6). The unborn John the Baptist leaped in his mother’s womb at the greeting of St. Mary, and so we know that he had faith in Christ. Elsewhere in Scripture we hear that faith comes through hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17). Therefore it seems reasonable to suggest that the unborn child whose mother has attended the Divine Service will have heard the word of God plenty of times while in utero.
The question may come, “What about children who die so young that their ears and hearing have not developed in utero?” To this we can put forward the Scriptural example of Jesus calling Lazarus out of the tomb (John 11:43-44). Just as God’s Word can be heard by a dead man, who has no capability to hear, or by animals, who cannot recognize human speech (Psalm 29:9), it can also be heard by unborn children, even those without ears or hearing.
Walch’s book is deeply comforting for all who have such questions resulting from loss. His book is so valuable precisely because it builds all of our hope upon the sure and certain words of Holy Scripture. Walch is not writing his book to give empty comfort, but to show the sure and certain comfort given by Jesus, who Himself said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for to such belong the kingdom of God,” (Matthew 19:14).
Vicar Joseph Greenmyer
[1] Johann Georg Walch, The Faith of Unborn Children, trans. by Otto Stahlke, (St. Louis- Concordia Publishing House, 2005), 12.
[2] Walch, The Faith of Unborn Children, 18.
[3] Walch, The Faith of Unborn Children, 15.
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