“Without the Law”

K. Douglas Bassett

Alma 24:9; 29:5; Journal of Discourses 16:42; refer in this text to Mosiah 15:24; 2 Ne. 9:25-27

“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… . 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.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 3:20-21)

Latter-Day Commentary on the Book of Mormon

References