According to the Bible, WHEN does the new human being in the womb become associated with a new soul?

Question

Although many believe that the Bible teaches that the soul is associated with the very first cell of a unique new individual, I must say that I can't find a scripture which unambiguously says that. Yes, there are scriptures which make it clear that a new human in the womb has a soul and great worth before God, but I personally can't point to any scripture which says exactly WHEN a new soul is associated with that new human (according to the Bible) -- although I can't say that I've had opportunity to sit down and do careful extensive Greek and Hebrew exegesis of every relevant passage. (And when people tell me that they HAVE, and I ask them to send me what they found, they simply send me a very general scripture where the passage states that the soul is present before birth or "in the womb". That is all well and good -- but gestation lasts 9 months and that still leaves a lot of leeway for a specific moment when the soul is "imparted." But if you have an import interpretation or explanation of one of those "classic" Bible passages which readers have often missed, by all means help us out.)

So while simply stating that I don't have a definitive final answer for this question, I'm very interested in hearing from someone who believes that they do. If you have (or THINK you have) a definitive answer for this one as to THE TIMING OF THE "ASSIGNMENT" OF A NEW SOUL TO A NEW HUMAN BEING IN THE WOMB, please answer with scriptural citations and as much detail as possible.

Again, please do not simply cite the very GENERAL STATEMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE that speak of the pre-born human having a soul. All too often people use those scriptures to claim that a new soul is imparted at conception. I'm certainly not opposed to that idea being possible -- BUT I CAN'T FIND A SCRIPTURE WHICH UNAMBIGUOUSLY MAKES THAT DISTINCTION IN TIMING OBVIOUS.

[[ I'll go ahead and make this obvious statement in vain: I'm not asking whether you actually BELIEVE in the Bible's authority on these subjects nor do I care how much you hate the Bible or people who believe the Bible -- and I could care less as to how you believe you are so superior to and smarter than those who do. I'm asking a simple question about an important collection of ancient writings called the Bible. Statements proving your bigotry or egotism get very boring and do not provide useful information. ]]

Answer 1

The problem is that MOST Christian beliefs cannot be traced back to the Bible--at least not directly. Christianity 'is' Church interpretation of the Bible, not what Jesus or any of the apostles said.

That's why I am a Muslim. In Islam, you find clear cut passages in Quran and sayings of Prophet Muhammad. On abortion, for example, there is consensus among Muslim scholars that abortion is wrong and a sin BUT God gives a human soul to a fetus when its about 120 days old. The State does not and should not get involved unless the abortion was performed after four months of pregnancy. Even after that, when abortion is unavoidable, the mother should pay compensation in charity or fast for the remission of sin.

Answer 2

The Bible does not state an opinion/rule on this issue.

Answer 3

idk this is relig here ,see Biology  

Answer 4

Exodus, chapter 21, verse 22:  If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.

23 And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,

24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

25 Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

In other words, punishment for property loss is money. And the punishment for life lost is death. And the punishment for bodily injury is to be commensurate with the amount of the injury ("eye for an eye," not "a life for an eye"). And according to this system, if men cause a woman to lose a fetus, there is a monetary penalty--implying that loss of a fetus is not murder, but rather loss of property.

Benji--it's not a "homologous". It's a "homunculus". "Homologous" is a completely different word that means "similar in function or meaning."

Answer 5

The bible concerns itself with spiritual aspects, not arguments.

Soul and body are one

Answer 6

When you kill an embryo, you kill human life. Sure, the embryo NEEDS the mother to stay alive and many would argue the embryo acts like a parasite, but all children need their parents for at least the first 10 years of life.

That being said, it can be assumed that Christians would be against the killing of a human embryo.

Answer 7

The Bible DOES NOT address this issue.  You have to look at ancient Jewish thought.

I believe ancient Judaism teaches that when a person takes its first breath it receives its soul.  Being alive was associated with the act of breathing.

It is implied in Genesis 2:7

7Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

LORD God being Hashem in this case.

So there you go.

Answer 8

They didn't know much about the human body in those days as they used to practice blood letting to release the evil spirits out of the body.

Answer 9

How long does it take for a cucumber to become a pickle...

the yeast in a loaf of bread...

why must everything be over intellectualize?

God is out side of our concept of space and time so the time stamp "of" is not applicable to our point of reference, only that it is...

Breathe of life?? the child receives oxygen from the mother from the day of conception...

the twin thing...I have twins, they are 2 completely different souls...

Answer 10

Many Christians believe that the Bible is silent in regard to God's view on life before birth. Although the Bible does not specifically define when life begins, it does give us enough information to formulate a solid biblical position.

The Bible tells us God is involved in our creation from the womb:

"Did not He who made me in the womb make him, And the same one fashion us in the womb? (Job 31:15)

Yet Thou art He who didst bring me forth from the womb; Thou didst make me trust when upon my mother's b*****s. Upon Thee I was cast from birth; Thou hast been my God from my mother's womb. (Psalms 22:9-10)

For Thou didst form my inward parts; Thou didst weave me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Thy works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from Thee, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth. Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Thy book they were all written, The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. (Psalms 139:13-16)

Thus says the LORD who made you And formed you from the womb, who will help you, `Do not fear, O Jacob My servant; And you Jeshurun whom I have chosen. (Isaiah 44:2)

Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, "I, the LORD, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself, And spreading out the earth all alone, (Isaiah 44:24)

Answer 11

At conception. However, the soul clearly doesn't exist, so the Bible's statement on this subject should be disregarded.

Answer 12

In Jeremiah it says, 'Before you were in your mother's womb I knew you'.  Essentially this attests more to God's omniscience and omnipresence than to when the spirit of a man is there.

The scripture in Jeremiah certainly attests to the fact that humans are known by God before they come into being giving the entire question a sense of timelessness which can't really be answered in my opinion, which is perhaps why the scripture is silent on the issue.

Answer 13

The bible considers a child when there born to have a soul. All the lunatics on here will say fetus though...because a couple of cells MUST be a human...

Answer 14

God cannot lie. It is impossible for God to lie. Hebrews 6 vs 18

Think about that. Just for a minute...

What you mean to ask is, between the lines...?

He says to love mercy, do justly, and walk humble with Him...

That's what I know

God bless you.

Answer 15

I cannot say with any authority, but I've wondered about the identical twin situation where a fertilized egg splits.  Assuming that identical twins are not one soul in two bodies, impartation would have to be post division.

Answer 16

at the time the sperm hits the egg

Answer 17

You couldn't possibly expect a bunch of primitives, who didn't even understand our bodies at the time they slapped the scriptures together let alone in the middle ages, to understand the human reproductive systems.

Ha ha ha.

Answer 18

According to the Bible ensoulment occurs before birth. In Jeremiah it suggests that ensoulment occurs before implantation (before the fetus is formed in the womb) - in a pre-existence.  

Although not specifically stated, it is usually assumed that the soul begins at the moment of conception.

Verses specifically addressing ensoulment are:

John the Baptist: "For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine or liquor; and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, while yet in his mother's womb." (Luke 1:15)

Paul: But when He who had set me apart, even from my mother's womb, and called me through His grace… (Galatians 1:15)

Jeremiah: "Before 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." (Jeremiah 1:5)

Some believe that the soul is however, not 'set' until birth - that up to that point it may come and go at will.

Answer 19

When one set of Chromosomes match and mate with another set of Choromosomes to complete the sequence. New life has occured. I dont believe there is a scriptural basis for this

Answer 20

The Bible says that life comes with breath.  (or spirit)

Gen 2:7

"the LORD God formed the man (adam) from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being."  

Both in Greek and Hebrew the word breath and spirit are interchangeable.

Answer 21

In the Middle Ages, uninformed and inadequate theories about embryology led some theologians to speculate that specifically human life capable of receiving an immortal soul may not exist until a few weeks into pregnancy.

While in canon law these theories led to a distinction in penalties between very early and later abortions, the Church's moral teaching never justified or permitted abortion at any stage of development.

These mistaken biological theories became obsolete over 150 years ago when scientists discovered that a new human individual comes into being from the union of sperm and egg at fertilization.

In keeping with this modern understanding, the Church teaches that from the time of conception (fertilization), each member of the human species must be given the full respect due to a human person, beginning with respect for the fundamental right to life.

Answer 22

The Bible has not concept of embriology.  Even as late as the 17th century people believed that sperm contained a "homologous", a minature human being.  Until DNA was discovered magic was still a plausible option for how a cell functioned.

Answer 23

I don't think there is a specific citation. I asked a friend who is in charge of her youth Bible study, and she told me you receive a soul at birth but she could not tell me where in the book it says that.

Answer 24

The Bible does not specify.  Simple.

Answer 25

According to the BIBLE?  It doesn't say.

Answer 26

That's a really interesting question- sorry I don't actually know the answer, but it's interesting to note that there are a lot of things that people think are stated in the Bible that aren't actually.. Though I'm a Christian by the way and I think that a kid has a soul the whole time it's in the womb

Answer 27

Actually as is often the case with the Bible there are conflicting scriptures.  Some have God breathing souls into people after they are born, or even after they are grown!  Others have the vague womb references you cite.

Why?  Because "the Bible" is not a coherent single reference written by one set of people with one set of beliefs.   The OT contains four separate traditions and the NT is essentially a long Petrine/Pauline spat with bits of wacked out gnosticism and eschatology mixed in.

You just have to accept there is no single uncontradicted answer to these questions.

And before the amateur apologetics fans start talking to me about context and language - I know the difference between ruach, nephesh and pneuma.  Make sure you do before you snipe.