Sinning? In your dreams...

I don't know how I could document this, but it seems to me I recall Augustine apologizing to God for his sex dreams, but excusing them somehow or other in a way I forget, something along the lines of "nature" just kind of doing its thing or something like that. I have no idea if it's sin but I think it's always a good thing to give it to God and ask for forgiveness if there's any doubt. How helpful I am, huh?A great argument against a celibate priesthood at least, it seems to me. Single people are only too vulnerable to this kind of temptation if they aren't called to celibacy. It is a calling for some, but it's pretty rare.The obvious answer to the whole thing, Iano, is to find yourself a wife.

OK, forget it.

I used to have a lot of those before I became a Christian. Usually right before falling to sleep rather than as a nightmare though. I'd be stuck on this high wall with a drop of hundreds of feet on all sides and could do nothing but cling to the perch. Haven't had that in years.

There are a few ways this is viewed in different church traditions. One group argues that the children of believers are saved by covenant, from the time of birth on, the same way the children of Israel were all God's people including the infants, for whom (males at least) circumcision on the 8th day was the sign of their belonging to God. In the Christian context the sign is baptism of infants.If the person falls away completely from belief, sometimes the idea is that they will be brought back eventually in God's good time, sometimes the idea is that it's possible to lose your salvation.Another group argues that children should not be treated as believers because they can't be assumed to understand, and the ability to understand is the important thing. So they are not baptized until there is credible proof of their belief. This is of course primarily a Baptist belief.Yet another group argues that, God being sovereign in His election of those to be saved, it is possible that He may save many children, whether of believing parents or not, under some age of understanding or potential belief, and there is no way on this side of Heaven anyone can know which were chosen. This is argued by some Calvinist groups I believe.Yet another group argues that ALL children, whether of believing parents or not, who die before some supposed age of understanding or consent, are saved. This includes all aborted babies.This last one doesn't seem likely to me, based on the Bible, though all the other three are possibilities it seems to me. This isn't the sort of question the Bible answers to perfect clarity, to say the least. Some groups believe this too. That is certainly the case as I've described above.Come to think of it, what this has to do with dreams I don't know. Edited by Faith, : No reason given.