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→Original Sin and Infant Baptism
===Original Sin and Infant Baptism===
Similar to the ancient heresy of [[Pelagianism|Pelagius]], Mormons teach that all human beings are born completely innocentspiritually uninhibited; and they further assert that children are incapable of sin until they reach the age of eight years.<ref>See http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=21bc9fbee98db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=c2fb94859a4bb010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1.</ref> The second Mormon "Article of Faith" (contained in the ''Pearl of Great Price'') teaches: "We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression."<ref>http://scriptures.lds.org/a_of_f/1.</ref> Accordingly, infant baptism is vehemently rejected by the Mormon church.
In contrast, Orthodoxy teaches (unlike Roman Catholics and most Protestants) that while only [[Adam]] and [[Eve]] bear the ''guilt'' for their sin in the [[Garden of Eden]], they transmitted the ''consequences'' of that sin to their progeny. St. [[Anastasius the Sinaite]] wrote: "We became the inheritors of the curse in Adam. We were not punished as if we had disobeyed that divine commandment along with Adam; but because Adam became mortal, he transmitted sin to his posterity. We became mortal since we were born from a mortal."<ref>St. Anastasius the Sinaite, 19. Vide I.N. Karmirh, SUNOYIS THS DOGMATKHS THS ORQODOXOU EKKLHSIAS, s. 38. Quoted from Kalomiros, Dr. Alexandre, ''The River of Fire'', ch. IV, found at http://www.orthodoxpress.org/parish/river_of_fire.htm.</ref> Thus, in keeping with Holy Scripture and Apostolic Tradition, the Orthodox Church baptizes infants by triple immersion (as she does with adult converts, as well)--not to cleanse them of "[[original sin]]," but rather to give them the grace this holy [[sacrament]] imparts, together with access to the [[Eucharist|Holy Eucharist]] and all of the other means of grace she offers.<ref>Pomazansky, pp. 268-69.</ref>
