Here, we’ll go the safe, tried, and true route: the soul enters at the moment of conception.<\/p>\n
That’s our view. That’s the current Church’s view.<\/p>\n
Interesting was one famous near-death experiencer, who is ardently pro-life, and claimed that, during her sojourn to the afterlife, she learned that souls enter at different stages of fetal development depending on the person and situation.<\/p>\n
If we accept that, it leaves us with what we started: that it is safest to assume life begins at the moment of<\/em> conception<\/em>.<\/p>\n In the mail, we received this, from correspondent Michael Thiel, who argues a viewpoint that is different, at some points startling:<\/p>\n “Regarding the unborn and abortion: The Septuagint version of Exodus<\/em> 21:22-23 states that the death of an unformed child is not considered homicide. A formed or shaped child is considered homicide because it has a ‘soul’ (life) as in ‘life for life.’ This is how Philo interpreted these verses. The Constitution of the Holy Apostles even states that a ‘shaped’ child receives a soul from God in the interpretation of these same verses from Exodus.<\/em> Augustine, Theodoret, and Thomas Aquinas concur. Muslims believe that ‘ensoulment’ begins at the fourth month. The Greek Apocalypse of Ezra says that ensoulment begins at the end of the fifth month, or at the beginning of the sixth month. 20% of pregnancies end in miscarriages by the 12th week. So, is it logical to assume that from the moment of conception, the unborn child has a soul? I think not.<\/p>\n So, when does the soul of the unborn receive ‘life’ or the ‘light’ in the spiritual sense?<\/p>\n “I think Genesis<\/em> 2:7: ‘And the LORD God formed man of<\/i>\u00a0the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being”;\u00a0is explained by John<\/em> 1:4: ‘In him was life, and the life was the light of men.’ And John<\/em> 1:9 ‘That was the true light that enlightens every man coming into the world.’<\/p>\n “We are given spiritual understanding at birth<\/b> when God breathes into us His breath, the light of life,” Michael goes on. “Sin darkens the spirit and eventually brings death to the soul. Jesus came to save us from the darkness and death of sin. This is why He said we must be born again<\/b>\u00a0of water and of the Spirit.<\/p>\n “This is why Philo and early Church fathers condemned infanticide as most egregious, because not only does the infant have a soul, but God has breathed into our souls the spirit of life and light at birth.<\/p>\n “This is my perspective of course.<\/p>\n “In Jesus Christ our Lord, Michael Thiel, Plymouth, Minnesota”<\/em><\/p>\n We thank Michael for that, but have to go back to conception: God knew us before we were born, says Scripture. (\u201cBefore I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations,\u201d Jeremiah<\/em> 1:5). If we were in existence before we were in the womb, we were there, one might posit, at conception.<\/p>\n [scroll past ad for more from Thiel]<\/em><\/p>\n