Does a fetus have a soul

[water_ripple]

Hello again Water,

I'm not sure what you mean by saying "God is above science" but it is certain that unless God give us the ability to do science, in other words to think, and the insight to desire learning about His universe, we'd have no science at all. If you could please explain what you mean by saying science "cannot give answers that are equatable to the answers of God?" This is very puzzling and seems to pit the knowledge we receive from good science with divine revelation. If that's what you meant I'd have to disagree.

Pax Christi...

Sincerely, Tim (alias Ratjaws)

What I mean by God is above science is that God is above human flaw. He has never had to rethink anything He has stated as fact. The relation to science: scientists gather data to support a theory, and if more data is gathered to support an opposite theory the secondary then moves into the realm of fact. Of course this is how humans learn how the world works. I am not trying to debunk science to the realm of sorcery in the least. Sometimes I watch too much of the Discovery Channel and it makes me fear the ocean. It seems as if everything in it will eat you or bite you or sting you

. Ouch! Anyway, when I watch some of the programs science is now presenting evidence that supports things that happened in the bible i.e. the 10 plagues placed upon Egypt when pharoh refused to let go of the Jewish slaves, the parting of the Red Sea, the burning bush, the list goes on but memory sometimes fails me. I aplogize if it seemed that I did not believe anything about science.

The only difficulty I have with science is that some scientists do not recognize that God does exist. This troubles me, but respectfully I have learned about science. Science seperates or disbelieves (according to what I've been taught) that people are just a bunch of DNA coded together, and ignores the fact that even unborn humans have a soul. I am aware of Christian scientists who believe otherwise, but in my high school they taught evolution without any creationalistic view. They taught the big bang theory as a huge explosion which hurled matter and atoms at random, and that life simply happened by chance. I do not believe this theory at all. I think it was the hand of God that formed the universe and none of it happened by chance. IMO God formed our solar system exactly the way it is so that His plan could work. Scientists even say that if our solar system was not exactly the way it is that life probably might not exist. This comes as no surprise to me. Science simply reafirms my faith. Science can be beautiful, but without God in the picture I find it pointless. Theory against theory and data against data. I think "Now how could a person witness the beauty of God's creation and figure how it works and ignore Him completely?" It literaly baffles me.

 

[chrislynda8]

From the moment a woman concieves, God has created a life. All of have a soul including a fetus. Are we to say that God adds the soul later? I don't think so, I belive the soul is created as soon as the life is created. People who choose to abort a fetus should do so knowing they are destroying a creation of GOD!!!!!
​

 

[BjBarnett]

yes all humans have a soul. a fetus is alive and it has a soul. thats why abortion is murder and a sin

 

[sara elizabeth]

Of course it has a soul!!! A fetus is a human being.

 

[Eternal Mindset]

Yes a fetus has a soul, and as of the conviction of Scott Peterson for murdering his wife, and their unborn baby; it is also legally a human being

 

[ps139]

Is the fetus a human?
If not, what species is it?
So it must be a human.
Now, do you know any humans who do not have souls?

What does Scripture say?

For You created my inmost being;
You knit me in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
Your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
- Psalm 139:13-16

 

[prodromos]

One of the oldest and most important feast days in the Orthodox Church is the Annunciation of Mary, when the Archangel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would conceive the Son of the Most High, because it was at this moment in time that God became flesh.

 

[Karl - Liberal Backslider]

What is a soul? Isn't it the bit of us that feels, experiences, has emotions and so on? But all these things can be altered, or even completely stopped, by chemical or physical interaction with the brain.

As such, I think it's an emergent property of a complex brain. As such, a foetus develops a soul as its brain develops. A zygote does not have a soul, because it has no brain. As the nervous system develops, what we would call a "soul" starts to emerge.

For this reason, I would be hard pressed to conceive of circumstances where a termination could be justified after the first trimester.

 

[thereselittleflower]

If a fetus doesn't have a soul, then when would the fetus recieve it?
Upon leaving the womb or right before it leaves?

I find it saddening that this is actually an issue. A fetus is the beginning of a human being. It's LIFE! Don't you think God knows whats, what? Of course he does. There is a reason for what happens, though we may not know or understand, God does know and had it planned!

That's all I got to say about that...


Go in peace with Christ as your guide.

Tarnaak

Hi . . I think that what you are saying above is actually the same thing as I am saying here . . it is just that the word "fetus" has a specific meaning, and it does not generally come into use until a certain point in the pregnancy . .

A developing embryo becomes a fetus at 3 months . . the first 2 months it is called an embryo . . . .

Anyway, I most definitely agree with you that a fetus has a soul . . . and that an embryo has a soul, and that at the moment of conception, at the moment of the start of life, the soul is present . . . .


Peace in Him!

 

[thereselittleflower]

From the moment a woman concieves, God has created a life. All of have a soul including a fetus. Are we to say that God adds the soul later? I don't think so, I belive the soul is created as soon as the life is created. People who choose to abort a fetus should do so knowing they are destroying a creation of GOD!!!!!


​

And not just any creation of God, like a plant or a rock . .

But a human being . . . . and so, committing murder . . .



Peace in Him@

 

[Lynn73]

Yes, a fetus has a soul. And I, too, find it sad that it even has to be debatable.

Jer 1:5 - Show Context Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

 

[Palatka44]

Yes, a fetus has a soul. And I, too, find it sad that it even has to be debatable.

Jer 1:5 - Show Context Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

The key word in this verse is before. What was before any of us? God. In many of these posts some have given thought that a nervous system is needed in order to have a soul. It is the case with animals. However when God created man He breathed into his nostrils and man became a "living soul".
Genesis 2:7
7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
From that time forward every human concieved has a living soul for it is from God. God is Life.
Deuteronomy 30:20
20 That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days:
Job 33:4
4 The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.
Psalm 42:8
8 Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.
John 6:33
33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
John 17:1-3
1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
John 20:31
31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
1 John 5:20
20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
Revelation 11:11
11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
In Him exist all the souls that will ever be concieved.
Jesus is the Prince of Life.
Acts 3:15
15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.
Knowing now that it is God that makes and sustains the living soul of man it is important to know that if as a "fetus" (you, me and everyone that is reading this post) were aborted we would not be here reading and posting.
Kinda sobering is'nt it?

 

[okiemommy26]

Ok here is my 2cents,

I know some of the women probably know what it feels like to carry a baby in their womb, as the baby is growing you can tell what kind of attitude and what the baby likes and dislikes while in the womb. You know how that baby acts inside there. So I think yes a fetus has a soul.

 

[ps139]

What is a soul? Isn't it the bit of us that feels, experiences, has emotions and so on? But all these things can be altered, or even completely stopped, by chemical or physical interaction with the brain.

As such, I think it's an emergent property of a complex brain. As such, a foetus develops a soul as its brain develops. A zygote does not have a soul, because it has no brain. As the nervous system develops, what we would call a "soul" starts to emerge.

For this reason, I would be hard pressed to conceive of circumstances where a termination could be justified after the first trimester.

A soul is what makes us human.
It is the spiritual side of us, which is opposite the "flesh." St. Paul explains this distinction quite well.
Chemical or physical interaction with the brain cannot forgive the sin on our souls, only God can.
Chemical or physical interaction with the brain cannot sanctify us, only God can.
How can a soul be "developed"?
It is either present or absent.
Braindead people have souls. Retarded people or brain damaged people do not have any less of a soul than you or I.

 

[SumTinWong]

"Recently I have noticed a tendency to debate wether a fetus has a soul."

A better question is why do people insist on calling it a fetus? When you hear the good news that someone is pregnant do they rush in and say, me and Joe Bob are gona have a fetus!!! ? I think not. Seems to me that a child is called a fetus when it is unwanted and a baby when it is. JMHO

 

[kel32]

I think an important fact that has been overlooked throughout this post is that we don't "have" souls, but in fact we "are" souls.

"the Lord God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living soul." Genesis 2:7

So, to answer the OP, a fetus does not 'have' a soul - a fetus IS a soul.

~peace~

 

[SPALATIN]

Recently I have noticed a tendency to debate wether a fetus has a soul.

What are your opinions?

Oh Good a debate to justify Abortion. Tell you what when you stand before the Judgement seat ask God about it. I would rather not leave anything to chance.

 

[Iron Sun 254]

Oh Good a debate to justify Abortion. Tell you what when you stand before the Judgement seat ask God about it. I would rather not leave anything to chance.

I think you've misunderstood what she was saying. She wasn't talking about her debating (i.e questioning)whether a fetus has a souls but that others do. Read her second post in this thread to see what I'm talking about.

 

[SPALATIN]

I think you've misunderstood what she was saying. She wasn't talking about her debating (i.e questioning)whether a fetus has a souls but that others do. Read her second post in this thread to see what I'm talking about.

I didn't misunderstand. but the OP suggested something different. I don't always read every post and so I answered the OP before reading any more.

So for that I am sorry.

 

[Nickolai]

All living Beings have a soul. By definition, anything that is alive has a soul. However only Humans have a nous, (pronounced like a hangman's Noose) also called a spirit by many.