ENSOULMENT, what is it?

[Douglas Hendrickson]

Can a SOUL be minuscule, like unto a single-cell invisible zygote that is VIRTUALLY NOTHING?

So that it makes sense to think a soul could somehow accompany the union of a human sperm and a human egg at conception?

SURELY THERE CANNOT BE A HUMAN BEING SOUL BEFORE THERE IS EVER A HUMAN BEING BODY (no "reincarnation" and "transmigration of souls), and nothing like a human being animal body of FLESH AND BLOOD is present at conception.

 

[dreadnought]

Can a SOUL be minuscule, like unto a single-cell invisible zygote that is VIRTUALLY NOTHING?

So that it makes sense to think a soul could somehow accompany the union of a human sperm and a human egg at conception?

SURELY THERE CANNOT BE A HUMAN BEING SOUL BEFORE THERE IS EVER A HUMAN BEING BODY (no "reincarnation" and "transmigration of souls), and nothing like a human being animal body of FLESH AND BLOOD is present at conception.

I don't know that it's possible for human beings to know exactly when a soul is attached to a living organism. That is why, generally speaking, I don't believe in abortion.

 

[JackRT]

I don't know that it's possible for human beings to know exactly when a soul is attached to a living organism. That is why, generally speaking, I don't believe in abortion.

I agree with your first sentence but I would add "We do not even know that there is such a thing as a soul."

 

[dreadnought]

I agree with your first sentence but I would add "We do not even know that there is such a thing as a soul."

That might depend on how you define "soul." I had always thought of my soul as "that room I share inside me with the Lord," but suddenly "soul" seems to be "the part of me that lives on after I die."

 

[JackRT]

<staff edit>

Yes, that is pretty much the traditional understanding. We didn't even know that there were such things as sperm and egg until after the discovery of the microscope a few centuries ago. Until then it was thought that the male "seed" contained an entire nascent human being and the woman was simply the warm nurturing soil in which the seed was planted. We still don't know if there is a real entity that is a soul.

 

[Douglas Hendrickson]

I agree with your first sentence but I would add "We do not even know that there is such a thing as a soul."

Well perhaps. It does seem to be a rather nebulous concept.

Yet since the term occurs much in Scripture, I think it is more to the point to figure out what is meant by the term when it is (was) used.

A really important Christian doctrine, I think, is that the SOUL continues on after death.
But I doubt any sense can be made of it before birth.