do infants have sin?

 Based on the sources provided, infants are understood to inherit a fallen nature with propensities toward evil, but they are not held accountable or punished for sin in the same way as those who consciously transgress God's law after reaching an age of understanding.

Here's a detailed explanation:

• Inherited Fallen Nature and Tendencies to Evil:

  • Humanity inherited a "fallen nature" from Adam and Eve's transgression.
  • Even "very small children, infants," are described as being "born with natural irritability of the sexual organs," which can lead to habits that increase irritation and form a habit that grows with them. This is a "moral pollution" that contributes to the race's degeneration.
  • Parents transmit their "perverted appetites," "lustful propensities," "irritable tempers," "evil tendencies," and various physical and mental deficiencies to their children. This can result in children being "puny and dwarfed".
  • Children "tend naturally to evil". Satan "takes possession of their young minds, and they are corrupted". They are sometimes described as "children of disobedience" or "children of wrath by nature".
  • The "first lessons impressed upon the child are never forgotten". If children are not "perseveringly and patiently trained in the right way," they will form "wrong habits" that corrupt others.

• Sin as Transgression and Individual Accountability:

  • Sin is consistently defined as "the transgression of the law".
  • The sources indicate that individuals are held accountable for their actions and choices, particularly after reaching an age where they can discern good and evil.
  • Jesus said, "If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth". This suggests that conscious knowledge and choice are relevant to the imputation of sin.
  • The story of the man born blind (John 9) is referenced, where Jesus states, "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him". This directly refutes the idea that congenital defects are always a punishment for personal or parental sin.
  • While parents may be "real sinners" for abusing marriage privileges and strengthening animal passions, leading to children "born with the animal propensities largely developed", the sources differentiate between inherited tendencies and personal guilt.
  • "The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son". This implies that one is not punished for the guilt of inherited "sinful genes," but for their own actions.

• Infants and Salvation/Accountability:

  • Children of "eight, ten, or twelve years of age, are old enough to be addressed on the subject of personal religion". They can have "correct views of their state as sinners and of the way of salvation through Christ".
  • Parents are warned not to "lull your children to sleep over the pit of destruction, with the mistaken thought that they are not old enough to be accountable, and are not old enough to repent of their sins and profess Christ". This implies that accountability begins when they are capable of understanding and making a choice.
  • Children may become Christians, "having an experience in accordance with their years". God desires "every child of tender age to be his child".
  • The "grace of God will remove all this hereditary, transmitted imbecility" for those who are "without the consciousness of sin". This implies a different standard for those who cannot reason or are not conscious of their actions.
  • When children are "not subjects of grace, have not experienced the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus, and the evil angels have access to these children". This suggests a state where they are vulnerable to evil but not necessarily guilty in the full sense until they can choose.
  • The most crucial distinction is that sin is a transgression of the law, which requires an understanding of the law and a conscious choice to disobey it. Infants, by definition, lack this cognitive capacity.

In conclusion, while infants are born into a fallen world with inherent tendencies toward evil due to the transmission of "sinful genes" or "perverted appetites" from their parents, they are not considered to have committed sin in the sense of transgressing God's law because they lack the conscious knowledge and will to do so. Their condition is one of inherited predisposition and vulnerability to evil, which parents are urged to counteract through careful training and by bringing them to Christ for divine influence.