| Little Ones Can Sin Too by Warren Krug (March-April, 2000) |
Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Psalm 51:5 (NIV)
Modern society has a lot of trouble accepting the truthfulness of the above passage. Whether influenced by
certain religious denominations or liberal theologians who believe in the innocence of young children or by
elements of the political correctness crowd who don’t subscribe to the concept of sin in the first place, many
people today find it hard to accept the fact that very young children, even infants, are sinners.
As Bible believers, we don’t need any more evidence of this truth than the Bible itself. Yet, it is always interesting
and exciting when some outside source tends to support controversial Bible teachings.
An item in the December-February issue of Creation magazine quotes a story from the Alberta Report regarding
a study conducted by psychologists.
The study involved 511 toddlers under 18 months of age. It seems that the research came up with the following
statistics: 70% of the young children were guilty of grabbing and snatching things from others; 46% were
involved in pushing and shoving incidents; 27% bit others; 24% kicked; 23% were involved in fights; and 21%
physically attacked others.
The psychologists were shocked. They had to conclude, since the children were so young, the bad behavior
they had witnessed could not have been learned from others.
Despite their best attempts at Christian parenting, even Christian fathers and mothers can see the effects of
original sin in the behavior of their young ones.
Psychologists who don’t recognize this fact cannot be completely helpful. A person might well conclude that
parents struggling with seriously misbehaving children would do better seeking advice from a conservative
minister who accepts the doctrine of original sin than from a psychiatrist who believes in an “age of innocence.”
While researchers might be able to confirm that even little children can engage in bad behavior, their studies
cannot tell us what to do about it. Here we must read the Bible to learn of God’s plan of salvation—for big
sinners and little sinners alike. LSI
—Warren Krug, editor
Modern society has a lot of trouble accepting the truthfulness of the above passage. Whether influenced by
certain religious denominations or liberal theologians who believe in the innocence of young children or by
elements of the political correctness crowd who don’t subscribe to the concept of sin in the first place, many
people today find it hard to accept the fact that very young children, even infants, are sinners.
As Bible believers, we don’t need any more evidence of this truth than the Bible itself. Yet, it is always interesting
and exciting when some outside source tends to support controversial Bible teachings.
An item in the December-February issue of Creation magazine quotes a story from the Alberta Report regarding
a study conducted by psychologists.
The study involved 511 toddlers under 18 months of age. It seems that the research came up with the following
statistics: 70% of the young children were guilty of grabbing and snatching things from others; 46% were
involved in pushing and shoving incidents; 27% bit others; 24% kicked; 23% were involved in fights; and 21%
physically attacked others.
The psychologists were shocked. They had to conclude, since the children were so young, the bad behavior
they had witnessed could not have been learned from others.
Despite their best attempts at Christian parenting, even Christian fathers and mothers can see the effects of
original sin in the behavior of their young ones.
Psychologists who don’t recognize this fact cannot be completely helpful. A person might well conclude that
parents struggling with seriously misbehaving children would do better seeking advice from a conservative
minister who accepts the doctrine of original sin than from a psychiatrist who believes in an “age of innocence.”
While researchers might be able to confirm that even little children can engage in bad behavior, their studies
cannot tell us what to do about it. Here we must read the Bible to learn of God’s plan of salvation—for big
sinners and little sinners alike. LSI
—Warren Krug, editor