At which stage of pregnancy do you class the baby as having a soul?

Question

When do you believe a child is self aware and has a soul? is it at conception,? 6 months or when born? By soul, I mean what makes us what we are as humans, all different.

Answer 1

I was very interested in this question and made a search throughout the different traditions. sometimes it is 120 days ( the life of a red blood cell) which is around when the fetus quickens or moves.  Most traditions have it when the child inhales its first breath ( pneuma) or soul.  Others, when the child is accepted  by the community and named ( soul coming in with the name).  Nobody seems to think that every acorn ipso facto must grow into a tree so it is only recently that people have gotten emotional about blastocytes having a "right to life" equaling that of a grown woman who happens to be bearing them.  In the Jewish tradition, the Rabbis kind of mutter and stammer and leave it up to the women to figure that one out.

Wise, wise men.  

Answer 2

Personally conception !

Answer 3

If you assume that babies have a soul, then why not issue birth certificates and names at the time of conception?

   How do you know if you are pregnant or what if you miscarried the fetus, you cannot assume.

  Six months is too late to have an abortion.

Maybe the child may turn out normal or have a disability.

So you never know.

If you had an abortion before six months, in time who's to know?

It is the woman's choise, not the man's to dictate.

But she needs other opyions to have support to want to have the bay if she wants, not to put her under pressure.

Answer 4

No such animal. Evolution makes us different.

Answer 5

the child is not self aware, cognitively speaking, until they are around about 4 months of age, and even then it is a very rudimentary form of object permanence, not really self-awareness (that being a full awareness of who you are in comparison to other people, and you have a disctinct personality, etc).

I believe that the body can be characterized as having a "soul" when it is born. I do beleive in God and a spiritual soul, but I believe the soul doesn't enter the body until birth (since 9 months in a womb sounds very boring to me).

Now, since you are defiing soul as being "what we are as humans, all different" I would say you wouldn't reach self awareness to even be able to comprehend that until you were around 16, and it would further develop through adulthood. So in that sense, people never acheive self awareness, since it is a continual and ongoing process, always changing.

If you say self awareness and soul is having a personality, then that would be from birth, since all infants act differently.

That is very complex and almost unanswerable question since it depends on a LOT of different factors.

Answer 6

I would say when you give birth, that the baby can then be classified as having a soul.

Answer 7

The Bible tells me that God knew us before we were even in our mother's womb Psalm 139.  This is where I find my answer

Answer 8

I like your question because it's always stirs up such controversy.

Many people believe the baby has a soul at the time of conception before it is even a baby - it is the start of a brand new life.

Some believe when the heart begins to beat - but their are cells which beat anyway and are not hearts.

Maybe some people believe when the baby is fully formed in utero or beings to move - but the baby moves long before the mother is even aware of it's tiny movements.

I say that since we do not actually know and that we can only hazard guesses, we must consider life to be sacrosant and believe that as soon as a pregnancy has begun, so has the soul begun.

Answer 9

Hi,

A child has a soul , i would say , when he,or  she, reaches the age of

59! even then, i'm not that certain!

We got to be all different , otherwise , could you just imagine , if you would visualize each and everyone of us ,looking like; Bob Hope!

Answer 10

My opinion is; a child has soul even before we are thinking about to have her/him. The specific child choose us to became its parents. It can be karma or you name it. I always dreamed about have twins since I was a child. Now, I have twins. I was 22 weeks old pregnant and I KNEW I was carrying twins but nobody believed me.I was around 100 lb and my belly was flat. I was listening a lot of music and I was talking to them constantly. I believed they can hear me and they will remember because they have soul!

I know my opinion is argumentative but believe me in this kind of argument has no winner. If someone belief is strong no one will be able to convince this person about the opposite.

P>S>Good God, Mercy for you "pat m" by not having any Soul!!

What are you talking about abortion?!!!!

I would like assume you mistook the topics!