Not only are little children alive in Christ, needing no baptism, but so are those who do not know God’s commandments. Where no law is in force, no punishment is exacted. The Atonement satisfies the demands of justice in their case (2 Nephi 9:25–26). This is also true of individuals with diminished mental capacity. President Joseph Fielding Smith taught: “We have good reason to believe that all spirits while in the pre-existence were perfect in form, having all their faculties and mental powers unimpaired… .
“The Lord has made it known by revelation that children born with retarded minds shall receive blessings just like little children who die in infancy. They are free from sin, because their minds are not capable of a correct understanding of right and wrong. Mormon, when writing to his son Moroni on the subject of baptism places deficient children in the same category with little children who are under the age of accountability, they do not require baptism, for the atonement of Jesus Christ takes care of them equally with little children who die before the age of accountability, as follows: [Moroni 8:22 is quoted]… .
“Again the Lord has stated:
“‘And again, I say unto you, that whoso having knowledge, have I not commanded to repent?
“‘And he that hath no understanding, it remaineth in me to do according as it is written… . [D&C 29:49–50].’
“Therefore The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints considers all deficient children with retarded capacity to understand, just the same as little children under the age of accountability. They are redeemed without baptism and will go to the celestial kingdom of God, there, we believe, to have their faculties or other deficiencies restored according to the Father’s mercy and justice.”12
Regarding the deaths of little children, we also add here the following historical note: “Sister M. Isabella Horne said: ‘In conversation with the Prophet Joseph Smith once in Nauvoo, the subject of children in the resurrection was broached. I believe it was in Sister Leonora Cannon Taylor’s house. She had just lost one of her children, and I had also lost one previously. The Prophet wanted to comfort us, and he told us that we should receive those children in the morning of the resurrection just as we laid them down, in purity and innocence, and we should nourish and care for them as their mothers. He said that children would be raised in the resurrection just as they were laid down, and that they would obtain all the intelligence necessary to occupy thrones, principalities and powers. The idea that I got from what he said was that the children would grow and develop in the Millennium, and that the mothers would have the pleasure of training and caring for them, which they had been deprived of in this life.’”13
“Behold That All Little Children Are Alive in Christ”
Not only are little children alive in Christ, needing no baptism, but so are those who do not know God’s commandments. Where no law is in force, no punishment is exacted. The Atonement satisfies the demands of justice in their case (2 Nephi 9:25–26). This is also true of individuals with diminished mental capacity. President Joseph Fielding Smith taught: “We have good reason to believe that all spirits while in the pre-existence were perfect in form, having all their faculties and mental powers unimpaired… .
“The Lord has made it known by revelation that children born with retarded minds shall receive blessings just like little children who die in infancy. They are free from sin, because their minds are not capable of a correct understanding of right and wrong. Mormon, when writing to his son Moroni on the subject of baptism places deficient children in the same category with little children who are under the age of accountability, they do not require baptism, for the atonement of Jesus Christ takes care of them equally with little children who die before the age of accountability, as follows: [Moroni 8:22 is quoted]… .
“Again the Lord has stated:
“‘And again, I say unto you, that whoso having knowledge, have I not commanded to repent?
“‘And he that hath no understanding, it remaineth in me to do according as it is written… . [D&C 29:49–50].’
“Therefore The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints considers all deficient children with retarded capacity to understand, just the same as little children under the age of accountability. They are redeemed without baptism and will go to the celestial kingdom of God, there, we believe, to have their faculties or other deficiencies restored according to the Father’s mercy and justice.”12
Regarding the deaths of little children, we also add here the following historical note: “Sister M. Isabella Horne said: ‘In conversation with the Prophet Joseph Smith once in Nauvoo, the subject of children in the resurrection was broached. I believe it was in Sister Leonora Cannon Taylor’s house. She had just lost one of her children, and I had also lost one previously. The Prophet wanted to comfort us, and he told us that we should receive those children in the morning of the resurrection just as we laid them down, in purity and innocence, and we should nourish and care for them as their mothers. He said that children would be raised in the resurrection just as they were laid down, and that they would obtain all the intelligence necessary to occupy thrones, principalities and powers. The idea that I got from what he said was that the children would grow and develop in the Millennium, and that the mothers would have the pleasure of training and caring for them, which they had been deprived of in this life.’”13