HOW CAN A CHILD BE SAVED? 177 



of a Future Probation. The argument runs 

 something like this: None can be saved except 

 those who personally accept Jesus Christ as their 

 Savior. Children and some others can not accept 

 Jesus Christ here; therefore an opportunity will 

 be presented for them to accept Him in a future 

 world. They will remain in the Intermediate 

 State until they have passed through the moral 

 conditions which are denied to them here. 



This doctrine, on the assumption of original 

 sin, always seemed to me, since I first came in 

 contact with it, exceedingly reasonable. I never 

 was a convert to it, because I concluded that, while 

 it seemed unobjectionable from its relation to 

 children, yet there is not enough data to pro- 

 nounce it proven. But from our point of view it 

 is not a necessary solution. 



Our own solution of the problem may be pre- 

 sented in a few words: Children are in an ac- 

 ceptable relation to God when they come into the 

 world. That relation they can not annul until they 

 come to years of moral accountability and rebel 

 against Him. In the meantime, if He should take 

 them to Himself, we have only the problem of 

 their development in righteousness under an en- 

 vironment more favorable than here. That prob- 

 lem lies outside our investigation; we need not 

 enter upon its discussion. 



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