When does a soul enter a child's body? The answer to this question that interests many people is currently debatable. Different religions talk about different dates. But for the most part, they recognize that the personality of man, who is God’s creation, is not limited to just following physical laws, that man always remains a mystery and cannot be defined, like his soul. Versions regarding when the soul enters the body of a child - in Orthodoxy, Islam and Judaism - will be outlined below.
Immortal substance
In accordance with religious and part of philosophical teachings, the soul is a kind of immaterial entity, an immortal substance. It expresses both the divine nature and the human essence and personality. It gives rise to and determines the life of an individual, his ability to sense, think, consciousness, feelings, and will. All this, as a rule, is opposed to the body. The question of when the soul enters the body of a child has worried the minds of, in particular, Greek and Christian religious philosophers since ancient times.
Three options
In this regard, three theories of the origin of the human soul have been formed in Christianity:
- Pre-existence of the soul.
- God's creation of the soul at the very moment of conception.
- The birth of a child's soul from the souls of its parents.
The first theory is a doctrine that began to be preached by the Pythagoreans (6-4 centuries BC), and then by Plato (5-4 centuries BC) and the Greek Christian theologian Origen (3rd century). It says that initially the Creator created a certain number of individual souls. That is, even before they appeared on Earth. This view was completely rejected by the Christian Church at the V Ecumenical Council. Two other teachings that deal with when the soul enters the body of a child will be discussed below.
Theory of the pre-existence of human souls
This theory was first voiced by the outstanding Christian theologian of the first centuries, Origen.
Being an adherent of ancient philosophy, Origen tried to somewhat rework the teachings of Plato, Pythagoras and other ancient philosophers about the soul, putting a Christian meaning into the theory. Thus, Origen argued that God initially created many souls that were in contemplation of the Creator. Then, for some reason, the souls got tired of contemplating and deviated from it. The most sinful souls became demons, and the least sinned - angels. And when man was created, souls of “average sinfulness” moved into him. This teaching was rejected by the Church in the 5th century as contrary to Holy Scripture. If we consider the sending of the soul into the body as punishment, then there would be no coming of Christ into the world. And sin itself appeared only with the Fall of people.
Supporters of the remaining theories
So, there are two theories left. Proponents of the first, which speaks of God's creation of the soul at the moment of conception, were, in particular, Clement of Alexandria (2nd-3rd centuries) and John Chrysostom (4th-5th centuries). The doctrine that the souls of children are born from parental souls was developed, for example, by Tertullian (2nd-3rd centuries) and Gregory of Nyssa (4th century).
However, in both cases, reasonable questions arise: “When and how does the soul enter the child’s body? Is it created or is it born simultaneously with the birth of the body? Or does it appear after his appearance after a certain time?
Next, the points of view of supporters of both theories on the question of when the soul enters the fetus of a child will be considered in detail.
Soul in the Christian religion
The Christian religion also claims that the soul is immortal, but only after death it does not move to another body, but goes to either Heaven or Hell. It all depends on whether a person was a righteous person or a sinner during his lifetime. The souls of deceased relatives become our Guardian Angels and watch over us from Heaven, so we must honor their memory. They can also temporarily transform into animals in order to visit the living and warn them of danger. According to the Bible, the soul of every person will someday have a judgment day - and then he will be judged by his actions.
Opinion of Gregory Sinaite
Proponents of the theory that the soul is created by God say the following. The question is posed: “Which comes first - the body or the soul?” The Orthodox saint Gregory of Sinai (13th-14th centuries) gave a classical answer characteristic of Orthodoxy. Its essence is that it will be wrong to think about the soul that came before the body.
It is also wrong to believe that the body appeared without a soul. That is, the soul and body develop together, and not gradually and in parallel. More precisely, a person simultaneously develops in the soul and in the body. Thus, Orthodoxy interprets the answer to the question of when the soul enters a child as follows: “At the moment of conception.”
Understanding Clement of Alexandria
Clement of Alexandria says that the soul enters the mother's womb, which through purification is prepared for conception. When the seed is ejected, the Spirit enters it and contributes to the formation of the fruit. Therefore, the barren are also such until the soul, which creates the basis of the seed, penetrates into the substance that interferes with conception and birth.
As can be seen, Clement of Alexandria is of the opinion that the soul is brought in from the outside. However, conception itself is evidence that the “embryo” is animate. “Penetration” of the soul into the mother’s womb relates specifically to the moment of conception, and not to another, later time. Without such “penetration” into the seed of the soul, it would remain dead and not give life.
Adam's mother soul
The opinion of supporters of the theory about the birth of children's souls from their parents looks like this. If we proceed from the fact that the soul is a corporeal being and is inextricably linked with the body, then it is clearly clear that the origin of the soul and body is the same and at the same time. Since the soul does not have the same nature with God, only his breath is present, its conception occurs by the power of man along with the body of the child. This is due to the fact that not only bodies, but also souls with their desires take part in the act of conception.
The consequence of the act is a twofold result: a seed is obtained, which is both physical and mental. Such seeds are initially completely mixed with each other, and then gradually from them, through the assistance of God and angels, a person appears in the womb of the mother. Just as one body comes from another, so one soul comes from another. And the soul of the first man - Adam - is the mother soul of all the others, and the soul of Eve also came from his soul.
Human conception and the origin of the soul
Contents: About the origin of the soul and its infusion into the body at conception. About the killing of the fetus, in general and in the Law of Moses. About surrogacy and artificial conception. Is it possible to conceive artificially if you are infertile? About the treatment of diseases.
On the origin of the soul and its infusion into the body at conception
Anonymous: Please tell me when the soul enters the fetus, at conception? How does Christian ethics relate to such modern medical practices as the implantation of artificially fertilized eggs into the uterus? Let's say 7 eggs were fertilized, but only 2 were implanted into the uterus, the remaining 5 embryos died... after all, they already have a soul?
O. Seraphim: They don’t have a soul yet. Since the soul is given by God, only later, when the bodily appearance of a person manifests itself, in the womb.
“Although all people thus descend from their first parents by natural birth: nevertheless, nevertheless, God is the Creator of every person. The only difference is that He created Adam and Eve directly, and created all their descendants indirectly - by the power of His blessing, which He bestowed on our forefathers immediately after creating them, saying: be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth (Gen. 1:28), and which, having once been spoken as the word of the Almighty, will not lose its effectiveness until the end of time. Therefore, the Holy Scriptures say that God not only created our first parents, but also -
a) From one blood He brought forth the whole human race to dwell on all the face of the earth (Acts 17:26); He Himself gave to all life and breath and everything (25).
b) Creates every person. Thy hands have worked on me and formed all of me, exclaims Job and the Psalmist (Job 10:8; Psalm 119:73) and in other places: The Spirit of God created me (Job 33:4); Behind and before You embrace me (Ps. 139:5). God Himself speaks to Jeremiah: Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you came out of the womb, I sanctified you: I made you a prophet to the nations (Jer. 1:5).
c) Creates the human body: He clothed me with skin and flesh, He knit me together with bones and sinews (Job 10:11); My bones were not hidden from You when I was being created in secret (Ps. 139:15; cf. Ps. 32:15), the same sacred writers cry before God.
d) Creates the human soul. This thought is expressed: Ecclesiastes and the dust will return to the earth, as it was; and the spirit will return to God, who gave it (Eccl. 12:7); Prophet Isaiah: Thus says the Lord God, who created the heavens and their space, who spread out the earth with its products, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk on it (Isa. 42:5, cf. 57:16); Prophet Zechariah: Says the Lord, who stretched out the heavens, who founded the earth, and formed the spirit of man within it (Zech. 12:1). With all the clarity this belief of the Old Testament Church was expressed by the pious Jewish wife, when during the days of the persecution of Antiochus, convincing his children to taste death for the sake of the law of God, he said to them: “I do not know how you came into being in my womb: I did not give you breath and life.” ; It was not me who formed the composition of each. Therefore, the Creator of the world, who formed the nature of man and ordered the origin of all, will again give you breath and life with mercy, since now you do not spare yourselves for His laws” (2 Macc. 7:22-23).
Regarding, in particular, the question of the origin of human souls, the Orthodox Church, on the basis of the above-mentioned texts, has always held, as it still does today (Right. Confession, Part 1, answer to Question 28), the idea that they are created by God . This was indisputably evidenced by the 5th Ecumenical Council, when, condemning Origen’s opinion on the pre-existence of human souls, it expressed: “The Church, following the Divine words, affirms that the soul is created together with the body, and not in such a way that one was created before and the other after, according to the false teaching of Origen." He testified, at least regarding the Church of the Eastern Blessed. Theodoret: “The Holy Church, believing the Divine Scripture, teaches that the soul is created together with the body, but not in such a way that with the very seed from which the body is formed, it received being, but that, according to the will of the Creator, it immediately appears in body according to his education."
This was witnessed from the side of the Western Church by Saint Leo, the Pope, and Blessed. Jerome. “The Catholic faith,” says the first, confesses that each person, according to his body and soul, is formed and animated in the mother’s womb by the Creator of all things, so, however, that the infection of sin and death remains, passing from the progenitor to the offspring.” And blessed Jerome asks: “Where do all people have souls? Is it really from parents (ex traduce) like irrational animals, so that just as the body is born from the body, so the soul is born from the soul? Or are rational creatures, having fallen to earth out of an addiction to bodies, united with human bodies? Or indeed, as the Church teaches on the basis of the words of the Savior: My Father works hitherto, and I work (John 5:17); and the words of Zechariah: The Lord formed the spirit of man within him (Zech. 12:1); and the Psalmist: He creates the hearts of them all (Ps. 33:15), God creates souls daily, whose will is already a work, and who does not cease to be the Creator? Let us not even mention the private teachers of the Church: Lactantius, Ambrose, Ephraim the Syrian, Cyril of Alexandria, Gennady and others, who clearly preach in their writings that human souls are created by God.
How can we understand this creation of souls? The Church itself does not determine with precision; but, based on the evidence presented by the Fifth Ecumenical Council, Blessed. Theodoret and especially Saint Leo, and in accordance with other dogmas of the Church, one must believe that what is meant here is not the direct creation of God, but indirect - that God creates human souls, as well as bodies, by the power of that very blessing - be fruitful and multiply, which He gave it to our forefathers at the beginning - he creates not from nothing, but from the souls of his parents. For, according to the teaching of the Church, although human souls receive existence through creation, it is in such a way that the infection of ancestral sin passes on to them from their parents - and this could not have happened if God had created them from nothing. Will they say that such a creation of souls from the souls of parents is completely inexplicable for us, when the human soul is a simple being? Is it true. But for us it is completely inexplicable that God, the purest Spirit, could give birth from his being to his Son and bring forth the Holy Spirit, without undergoing any division... That is why the ancient teachers of the Church repeated that the mystery of the creation of our souls is understandable to God alone. By accepting the opinion about the creation of human souls from the souls of their parents, we naturally reject:
a) the opinion that souls come from the seed of parents, from which bodies also come, is an obvious opinion that allows for the materiality of the human soul and its mortality along with the body;
b) the opinion that souls arise by themselves from the souls of parents, like bodies from bodies, invariably allowing for the divisibility of the soul, and therefore also its materiality and mortality, because a being, completely immaterial, can never, without special creative omnipotence, produce from oneself any other creature;
c) finally, the opinion that human souls are created by God out of nothing and sent by God into bodies, which is inconveniently reconciled with the dogma of the Orthodox Church about the spread of original sin from parents to children through natural birth.
When exactly are human souls created and united with bodies? The formation of the body as a material one occurs gradually in the womb; and the soul, a simple being, can only be created instantly, and is actually created and given from God, according to the teachings of the Orthodox Church, “at the time when the body is already formed and becomes capable of receiving it” (Right. Confession, Part 1, Rep. . to question 28). This is what the ancient teachers of the Church taught: Cyril of Alexandria, Augustine, Theodoret, Gennady and others, and to prove their words they pointed to the words of the prophet Moses: Ex. 21:22-24. This is how, for example, he reveals his thought. Blazh. Theodoret: “The same prophet (Moses) teaches even more clearly in his laws that first the body is formed, and then the soul is poured in. For, speaking about the one who strikes a pregnant woman, he gives the following law: if someone strikes a pregnant woman, and her baby comes out unidentified, then take the price from the culprit; And if he is depicted, let him give soul for soul, eye for eye, etc. (Ex. 21:22-24). By this he makes it clear that an undepicted or unformed baby does not yet have a soul, but a formed one has a soul.” On the other hand, we can point to other places in the Holy Scriptures, from which it is clear that babies are still in the womb, before they are born, they have souls. For example, about Rebekah it was noted: the sons began to beat in her womb (Gen. 25:22); Saint Elizabeth speaks about herself before the Most Holy Virgin Mary: when the voice of Your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped joyfully in my womb (Luke 1:44); compare Jer (1:5)” (Dogmatic Theology, Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow, par. 79).
Based on what Metropolitan Macarius (Bulgakov) says in his Dogmatic Theology, referring to the Holy Fathers, it turns out that: souls are created by God from the souls of parents, instantly, “at the time when the body is already formed and becomes capable of receiving it "(Right confession part 1, answer to question 28), in the womb. And that “This is what the ancient teachers of the Church taught: Cyril of Alexandria, Augustine, Theodoret, Gennady and others, and in proof of their words they pointed to the words of the prophet Moses: Exodus. 21:22-24." Therefore, original sin remains in the soul, passing on from the souls of the parents.
If God gives a soul, and it does not automatically appear from conception, then there is no point in giving a soul to those embryos that are not implanted.
And if implanted, then the soul can be given during the development of the fetus. This is what Moses says, that only the one who kills an already formed fetus is put to death. And the one who killed an unformed fetus is not killed, but pays money for it. Why? – Because God has not yet infused a soul into the fruit. Because if there is a soul, then it is a person, and if there is no soul, then it is not a person.
Science deals in a test tube not with people, but with the material beginnings, into which God may or may not infuse a soul.
Science is not gods, and has no power over the creation of the soul and man. They can experiment as much as they want with the beginning of matter (embryo), but if God does not give a soul, then there will be no man.
That the soul is given by God - most of the Holy Fathers speak about this.
The soul is simple by nature and cannot divide. Therefore, she cannot simply be born from her parents. For this would already be the endowment of the divine function of parents.
Only God can create a soul; parents, on their own, autonomously without God, cannot do this.
But God can create a soul by borrowing it from the souls of its parents; and thus original sin is transmitted from the parents to the soul of the baby - this is the opinion of many Holy Fathers.
That is, the creator of the soul is only God. - this can be said to be a dogma.
Here is the testimony of the Fathers that the soul is created by God: Here is the blessed one. Theodoret refers to the opinion of the Church, which was in his time: “the Holy Church, believing the Divine Scripture, teaches that the soul is created together with the body, but not in such a way that with the very seed from which the body is formed, and it received being, but that , according to the will of the Creator, it immediately appears in the body according to its formation” (Dogmatic Theology, Metropolitan Macarius Bulgakov, par. 79).
“This was witnessed from the side of the Western Church by Saint Leo, the Pope, and Blessed. Jerome. “The Catholic faith,” says the first, confesses that each person, according to his body and soul, is formed and animated in the mother’s womb by the Creator of all things, so, however, that the infection of sin and death remains, passing from the progenitor to the offspring. "And blessed. Jerome asks: “Where do all people have souls? Is it really from parents (ex traduce) like irrational animals, so that just as the body is born from the body, so the soul is born from the soul? Or are rational creatures, having fallen to earth out of an addiction to bodies, united with human bodies? Or indeed, as the Church teaches on the basis of the words of the Savior: My Father works hitherto, and I work (John 5:17); and the words of Zechariah: The Lord formed the spirit of man within him (Zech. 12:1); and the Psalmist: He creates the hearts of them all (Ps. 33:15), God creates souls daily, whose will is already a work, and who does not cease to be the Creator? Let us not even mention the private teachers of the Church: Lactantius, Ambrose, Ephraim the Syrian, Cyril of Alexandria, Gennady and others, who clearly preach in their writings that human souls are created by God.” (Dogmatic theology, Metropolitan Macarius Bulgakov, par. 79).
“God, as good, creating every soul in His image, brings it into being self-moving, - (free)” (St. Maximus the Confessor, “Speculative and Active Chapters,” ch. 5, Philokalia, vol. 3).
On the killing of the fetus, in general and in the Law of Moses
Anonymous: Yes, the Law of Moses is discussed here.
O. Seraphim: The patriarchal interpretation, according to the link, of Moses is too strained and suffers from inaccuracies.
It is even worth looking at the interpretation of the rule of St. Basil the Great: Rule 2: “Whoever intentionally destroys a fetus conceived in the womb is subject to the condemnation of murder. We do not have a subtle distinction between a fruit that has formed or one that has not yet formed. For here punishment is imposed not only for what was born, but also for the fact that she slandered herself; since wives very often die from such attacks. Coupled with this is the destruction of the fetus, like another murder, from those who deliberately dare to do this. However, it is appropriate not to extend their repentance until death, but to accept them into fellowship when they are ten years old; healing cannot be measured by time, but by the way of repentance.”
Interpretations for this rule: Interpretation of Zonar. “Some women secretly copulate with men and become pregnant; but out of fear of parents, for example, or of masters, or any other persons, they deliberately eject the fetus by drinking certain potions, or in other ways, and destroy what is carried in the womb; Those who do this, as those who dared to kill, (the Holy Father) determines to be subjected to penance. And since the ejaculated fruit sometimes does not yet have an image, and sometimes it is formed and already bears the features of a human being (for the seed thrown into the womb first turns into blood, then condenses into shapeless flesh, then begins to take on an image and form into members and joints), then we, says (the Holy Father), do not make a subtle distinction whether the ejected embryo is formed or uneducated; for not only its killing is punishable, but also malice against the womb-bearing woman herself, since for the most part women also perish along with the fetus, dying during its eruption. Such a woman, for malicious intent against herself and for killing the fetus, is condemned to the penance of a murderer; but not for the rest of her life she should be under penance, but for ten years. However, repentance should not be determined by time, but by manner; so that if the sinner treats repentance with disdain, then the decade should not only be fulfilled, but also increased; if he corrects his sin diligently, then the decade should be shortened: all this is submitted to the consideration of the examiner of conscience. And at the end of the 8th rule (Basily the Great) assigns penance to the murderer and to those who give potions that destroy the fetus. Here the period of penance for such wives is determined as for involuntary murder: for in the 57th rule it says: “He who involuntarily killed ten years old shall not partake of the Holy Mysteries.” The expression: “we do not have a subtle distinction between the fruit formed and the unformed,” the Holy Father used in view of the fact that in the book of Exodus it is said: if two men fight, and they strike a woman without idleness, and her child comes forth without being depicted, let it be lost in vanity: as if he had laid Let the husband of that wife give what is due: And if he is depicted, let him give soul for soul (Ex. 21, 22 and 23). So, since the ancient law imposed a monetary fine in the case when the fetus was ejected unformed, and when it was formed, condemned the one who struck his wife to death, then, recalling this law, the saint said that we do not distinguish whether what is ejected was , educated, or ugly; for we do not exact monetary fines, but judge her as a murderer, on the one hand, for the destruction of the fetus, on the other hand, for the sake of the one who spews out the fruit, because it often happens that she dies along with the fetus.”
Interpretation of Balsamon. “It is said about harlots who destroy the fruit in themselves through potions or in some other way in the tenth chapter of the 13th title of this meeting and in the 21st canon of the Ancyra Council. And the present rule, determining that murderers who have done something like this should be subjected to the penance of murderers, adds that the difference in the state of the miscarriage does not matter here: whether the ejected object is ugly, or already formed and with human features, the penance remains the same. This increase is directed against those who say that since the seed thrown into the womb is not immediately formed into a person, but is first transformed into blood, then condensed into human flesh, then formed and decomposed into members and parts, then there is no murder in that case when the fruit is ejected, not yet formed. To this, the holy father adds that the punishment for murder is prescribed here not only for the destruction of the fetus, but also for the encroachment on the life of the womb-bearer; for for the most part, as a result of the eruption (of the fetus), the mothers also perish. But this penance, says the Holy Father, should not extend until the end of the life of the perpetrator of the murder, but only ten years, and although the rules establish such a period, healing should be measured not by time, but by way, namely: if the sinner treats repentance carelessly , then the decade should not only be fulfilled, but also continued; and if (carries penance) with diligence, then the decade should be shortened. This is the meaning of this rule. Read also the 91st rule of the Council of Trullo and what is written in it, and the end of the 8th rule of this letter; from here you will learn that not only the one who destroys the fetus is subject to canonical penance for murder, but also the one who gives child-killing potions, or has and takes them, even if that is why the killing of the fetus does not follow. In view of the fact that the present rule, in accordance with the 21st rule of the Ancyra Council, punishes such a woman with ten years of penance, and the 57th rule of St. Basil literally says this: “Whoever unwillingly kills ten years old should not partake of the Holy Mysteries,” some say that she who deliberately destroys what she carries in the womb sins of involuntary murder. But it seems to me that she also commits a free murder, as is revealed from the end of the 8th rule, or, rather, should be put in the place of a suicide if she dies from such an incident; nevertheless, she is not subject to penance for voluntary murder, because what is carried in the womb does not yet exist in nature and the determination to kill did not come from malice, but from extreme fear, for example, of a parent, or a master, or someone else, threatening danger. And that there is a difference between what is carried in the womb and the baby that comes into the world, this is obvious from the book of Exodus, which says: if two men fight, and they smite the woman without idleness, and her baby comes forth without being depicted, let it be lost in vanity: as the husband mars that wife, let him give what is due: If he is depicted, let him give soul for soul (Ex. 21, 22 and 23), and from the 31st and 52nd rules, which say that she who neglects what is born is judged as a murderer; in the same way, the one who throws out the fruit through negligence should not be considered a murderer; finally, someone who kills her fetus for a good reason is not subject to the penance of free killers.”
“When people fight and they hit a pregnant woman and she miscarries (miscarriage of a fetus that does not have a human appearance) , but there is no other harm, then take from the guilty the penalty that the husband of that woman imposes on him, and he must pay it through intermediaries ; but if there is harm (miscarriage of a fetus that has a human form), then give life for life” (Ex. 21: 22,23).
Interpretation of St. Ephraim the Syrian: “If two people fight and they hit a pregnant woman, death will not occur, that is, the baby has not yet received a full education, and its members have not returned to their proper form; then the culprit must pay a fine. If the baby had a complete education; “let him give soul for soul” (St. Ephraim the Syrian, Commentary on Exodus 21: 22).
This Mosaic law was adopted for all subsequent times for the people of Israel. And it does not stipulate what the person who struck knew or did not know that she was pregnant; as is done in the previous verses, this and the previous chapter, where it is constantly said about what the guilty person knew or did not know - and depending on this, punishment follows.
But in this verse, Moses does not talk about what he knew or did not know, for the reason that the pregnancy is visible or not. Interpreters also talk about this, and not just Blessed Theodoret of Cyrus. That is why Moses does not speak in passing about the fruit, but specifically points to the condition of the fruit, because of which the punishment is imposed on the guilty.
And also, the example of the incarnation of Christ, according to this link, is not entirely successful, since it is not suitable for all people. For the Holy Fathers and church services say that the flesh of the Virgin Mary was like the earth from which the new Adam, Christ, was created by God.
The conception of the Virgin Mary is a completely different topic. Because there was no male seed there. In general, there was the creation of a new man by God, just as God created Adam. But instead of earth, the flesh of the Virgin Mary was taken.
Anonymous: Fruition occurs before the moment of Childbirth. In the late period, his nervous system develops. That is, only when the child is born is his formation completely completed. And before that, it goes through different periods of its formation. In the late period, organs are formed in the fetus. The very last organ to form is the nervous system. If a child is born earlier, his nervous system may not be fully formed. The result is cerebral palsy. Until the child is born, he is a fetus. And it doesn't matter what it's called. The zygote, the embryo, is all a fetus. The fetus in utero goes through different stages of its development before it becomes fully normal. The process of fetal maturation occurs in utero. And only when the fruit is ripe is it born. During the period of fruit ripening, it goes through stages when it looks similar in appearance and repeats the structure of a plant, then it repeats fish, then it looks like animals, and only 7 weeks it already looks like a person. By appearance. Some people think that from 12 weeks it already looks like a person. That is, before 12 weeks the fetus did not yet have human features; after 12 it already does. This is to the law of Moses.
O. Seraphim: That is, this is only the beginning, a clot of matter from which the human body should be formed.
And the whole question is only when the soul is given - at the very beginning of this clot of matter (embryo) or when it begins to take the form of a fish, animal or human. For man is a rational soul. But as we discussed above: the soul is given by God, only later, when in the womb the fetus becomes shaped like a person.
The Law of Moses deals with the accidental killing of a fetus in a fight. In the first case, when the fetus was not formed, there is the killing of a fetus that did not have a human soul. Therefore, the punishment is in the form of a monetary payment, since it was not a person who was killed, but a fetus without a soul. – The same punishment is imposed for killing an animal, not a person in Exodus 21: 33-36; 22:14. In the second case, when the fetus has already formed, it is the killing of the fetus, which has already become a person. Therefore, the one who did this is guilty of death, since a man who had fruit with a soul was killed. “Such punishment applies only to the murder of a person.”
The Christian Church in its rules does not include consideration, as St. Basil the Great says, of “the subtle distinction between the fruit being formed or not yet formed” (rule 2). Since punishment, in those days, was imposed “not only for what was born, but also for slandering oneself; since wives very often die from such attacks” (rule 2). That is, since the punishment was for attempted suicide, because abortion in those days was deadly, and women often died from it ; therefore, “the subtle distinction between a fruit that is formed or one that is not yet formed” was not considered. In other words, there is no need to consider “subtle fetal discrimination” if punishment was still given for attempted suicide. In order to thus prevent what is deadly for women.
Accordingly, if in our time abortion is done easily and simply, then there is no attempt at suicide. And therefore there should be no punishment for this. In this case, with an abortion, the only punishment left is for killing the fetus. And then the need arises to enter into consideration of the “subtle distinction between a fruit that is formed or not yet formed” (rule 2). That is, if an abortion is performed before the fetus has become human-like, this is somewhere before seven weeks, then the fetus does not yet have a human soul. That is, this fetus is not yet a person. For he becomes a man only when he receives a rational soul from God. And this happens only when the fetus becomes human-like, somewhere after seven weeks. And therefore, there is a murder not of a person, but of a fetus that does not have a human soul. Accordingly, with such an abortion there cannot be punishment as for the murder of a person, as stated in the Law of Moses: When people fight and hit a pregnant woman, she will miscarry (miscarriage of a fetus that does not have a human appearance) , but there will be no other harm , then take from the guilty the penalty that the woman’s husband imposes on him, and he must pay it through intermediaries” (Ex. 21: 22). – This turns out to be a punishment for killing an animal, not a person.
But if an abortion is performed after the fetus has become human-like, this is after about seven weeks, then this turns out to be the murder of a person, for which there should be punishment as for the murder of a person. This is what the Law of Moses says: “When people fight and they hit a pregnant woman and she miscarries... if there is harm (miscarriage of a fetus that has a human appearance), then give life for soul” (Ex. 21: 22,23 ). - And this turns out to be a punishment like for killing a person.
About surrogacy, artificial conception
Anonymous: What can you say about surrogacy?
O. Seraphim: Since modern science is always striving to become gods, as the devil promised back in Paradise. It is for this reason that they constantly strive to achieve the creation of man, as God created him. – Creation of a man from a test tube. – This is where surrogacy came into being.
Science is trying to prove that you can become gods yourself and begin to create, as God created. The devil is drawn to this through the passions of arrogance and conceit, the spirit of self-confidence and arrogance.
Nowadays, people simply make money from surrogate motherhood. And then a moral apology is adjusted to fit this, in order to give a morally plausible appearance to all this.
In fact, it is unnatural, and therefore, in general, is a sin. Maybe only with the exception of isolated cases. Therefore, only those who do this commit sin. But children who are born do not have this sin on them. If they committed fornication, then sin is only on those who committed fornication. And if a child was born from this fornication, then he does not have their sin.
True, one can judge differently those who do surrogate motherhood simply to make money. And those who did this, being pressed against the wall by the circumstances of life, found themselves in poverty - and needed money to treat any illnesses, themselves or their relatives. It's just a sin of varying degrees.
And also those women to whom this was done against their will are not guilty of this. This does not mean by threats, but by kidnapping a woman and selling her into slavery. And against her will, they made her a sur.mother. This already exists in our time - entire farms like this are created by criminal groups. Women are used against their will, and they make money from it. Both are kidnapped for prostitution and for surrogacy.
I can say one thing: if a woman can bear the fruit herself, but gives it to the sur.mother, then this is a sin, just her whim. The exception is when a woman is unable to bear a fetus due to illness, for example, due to the absence of a uterus. But such cases are isolated.
It is acceptable when the material is taken from a husband and wife, combined in a test tube and placed in the uterus of the same wife. This may be due to certain painful conditions, for example, infertility.
If a woman can bear the fruit herself, but gives it to the surrogate mother, then this is a sin.
Is it possible to conceive artificially if you are infertile? About the treatment of diseases
Anonymous: That is, I correctly understood that if a couple has been trying to conceive a child for years and has ruled out all possible reasons, for example, their health is fine, etc., but God does not give them a child, then it is not a sin to try to conceive artificially. way? And how should one relate to such concepts in Orthodoxy that since the Lord does not give, then in this case His will is not there, and then if a couple seeks help from science, then they are going against God... Please explain.
O. Seraphim: There are no such concepts in Orthodoxy. This is a modern innovation invented by people ignorant of religion. They pass off their ignorance as Orthodox teaching.
At the end of times, many different diseases appear, allowed by God for our sins. But this does not mean that if people get sick with these new diseases, new flus, etc., then they cannot be treated. This is an incorrect statement. – If God allows new diseases, and scientists discover new means to treat them, then in God’s providence there is both. Otherwise, it turns out that if people die from some new form of influenza, then one cannot look for a cure for it, since this, they say, is contrary to the will of God. But this is not a Christian or Orthodox teaching.
According to the concepts of these dark and ignorant false teachers, it turns out that if a child cannot be born, then a caesarean section cannot be performed to save the mother and child. And they must die. Or the child should die, but a caesarean section cannot be performed. Since, according to the concepts of these newly-minted false teachers, since God does not allow a child to be born, then it is impossible to interfere with this, to help through medical intervention. We all just need to reconcile ourselves and watch how the child or the mother and the child die - this is, they say, the will of God. But this is simply insanity and complete absurdity. They have invented some new teaching of their own about the will of God and are trying to pass it off as Christian or Orthodox. But there is no will of God for people not to help others in trouble, scientifically or by any invented or discovered means. If people do not provide help to other suffering people, then this will already be a violation of God’s commandment about mercy.
The same applies to illnesses when spouses cannot conceive a child.
If humanity discovers a new means of treating certain diseases, then it can use it. And this may help some, but not others.
Everything is in God's providence, including the fact that people will use all these scientific medical means to treat all kinds of new diseases. But whether this new scientific medical treatment will help or not, in any particular case, is already in the hands of God. Because you can use these new scientific tools, but in some cases they may not help. That is, a new remedy is not a guarantee for all cases of treating a given disease - in some cases it may help, but in others it may not.
In principle, any new scientific method of treatment works on the same principle as the old one - in some cases it helps, but in others it does not. This is simply the discovery of new actions of the laws of nature, the world around us, which were laid down by God at the creation of the world. And according to a new discovered method, these laws created by God are put into action for healing. And there is no contradiction in this with the will of God.
There can only be a contradiction when, morally, it is used for evil. Otherwise, their use is not contrary to the will of God when it is necessary to help people with their illnesses and suffering. On the contrary, this is mercy and compassionate love, the fulfillment of God’s commandments.
What depends on people, they must do, and everything else still remains in the hands of the will of God. Death is in the hands of God. No one can escape from sorrow and suffering anyway. They will catch up with everyone. And everyone will only need to kindle the right spiritual feelings in them, to act in accordance with the commandments of God. Learn to overcome these sorrows correctly, so that, having acquired and cultivated the right spiritual feelings in them, you can come to salvation.
In Islam
What does Islam say about when a child gets a soul? Interpreters of this religion believe that human life is in his blood. When a person dies, his blood comes to a state of rest. Life is a series of biochemical reactions occurring in each of the cells of the human body. It begins during conception in the embryo. But at the same time there is such a mysterious element as the soul, which in Islam is called “ruh”, and there is very little knowledge about it.
Life is present even in the sperm and in the egg when they are still in the male and female body, respectively, that is, even before fertilization. However, they do not contain soul (ruh). Thus, before the child appears in the mother's womb, he does not have a soul. On what day does a soul enter a child?
According to Muslim scholars, human life begins after the 4th lunar month of conception. It is then that the fetus becomes viable, that is, it is worthy of life. The Islamic theologian Ibn Abbas (7th century) said that the injection of spirit is carried out within ten days after the end of the 4-month period.
If the fetus dies before the specified period, then the funeral prayer (Janaza) for it is not read. The process of inflating the soul concerns only humans; animals do not have the spirit.
What was the soul of the ancient philosophers?
The religions of the world say that the soul can exist without a body, and the latter can gain life only by acquiring an immortal spirit. The existence of the soul has even been proven by scientists who have studied various cases of clinical death, during which, as a rule, a person continued to be aware and feel after his breathing stopped, and at the same time, some saw their lifeless body from the outside.
According to the great ancient Greek philosopher Plato, the soul is a transparent and immaterial entity, which is immortal. Before entering the body, it exists in the immaterial world of ideas and contemplates them, and then during life a person begins to remember them. Aristotle said about the soul that it is an internal force that has a goal and a final result, its goal is the life of a person and that it never dies and can exist independently of the body.
Since the soul is a particle of God, we can assume that it is ideal and reasonable, this explains the cases of clinical death, when a person continued to be aware and feel everything. No one has ever seen the soul, but it is believed that in appearance it is an exact copy of the physical body of a person.
Where is the soul?
According to the saying of the Prophet Muhammad, each person is created in the mother's womb for 40 days, having the appearance of a drop of seed. After that, it remains there in the form of a blood clot for the same period, and then for the same period - as a piece consisting of flesh. And only then an angel is sent to him, who blows his soul into him. And he is given the command to write down four things, which include: the destiny ahead of a person, his life span, all his deeds, and whether he will be happy or not.
The Quran records the words of Allah that He gave man a proportionate appearance, breathed into him the spirit from his spirit, and gave him sight, hearing and a heart. The answer to the question of whether the soul is in the blood sounds negative, because the blood can be completely drained and replaced. Although it is known that the soul is present in the human body, where exactly it is located is not clear. And looking for this place is most likely a futile exercise. After all, the Koran says that the revolution is a divine matter, the secret of which is known only to Allah alone.
Place of residence of the soul before birth
There are different opinions about where the soul is located before birth.
Ancient observations
In the old days, people associated the energetic essence with breath, which came from outside and disappeared after death. There was also an opinion that the carrier of an immaterial substance is blood. She was credited with the properties of the finest substance. The Greek philosophers Empedocles, Anaxagoras, and Democritus spoke about this. According to the teachings of Aristotle, the soul is born on the 40th day after conception in boys and on the 60th day in girls.
Biologists argued that immaterial substance appears along with the ability to think. But such a theory can be refuted, because it turns out that people with brain dysfunction do not have souls.
Materialistic theory
According to materialism, there is no life after death. It is defined within the limits of existence on earth. There is no evolution of the soul. All human feelings are based on physical and chemical processes that occur inside the body. Manifestations that are difficult to interpret from a physiological point of view are explained by the imperfections of modern science.
Atheistic theory
Atheists claim that the soul is created by Nature - a part of the Universe that a person perceives with his senses. The connection of two different substances - the energetic essence and the physical body does not require the intervention of Higher powers. Nature itself has embedded Intelligent life within itself. Without her complicity, a person cannot exist.
When a baby meets nature, manifestations of the outside world freely penetrate his body. A mirror and sensual appearance is created. Without such a process, there would be no person’s worldview and sense of self. Nature, settling in the child’s body, becomes his living soul.
Reincarnation
Adherents of the theory of reincarnation say that all spiritual substances are eternal. They lived and will always live. Life on earth is perishable. Everyone on it is mortal. After entering the body, the soul tries to stay in it for as long as possible. After the death of this physical body, the substance finds another. If a person has lived well, then the next reincarnation will be even better. Otherwise, the life that awaits him will be filled with torment and suffering. Higher powers, about which man knows nothing, are responsible for the embodiment of this principle. He doesn't remember the previous shell.
To understand the essence of reincarnation, it is worth considering one life cycle of the soul. The substance enters a person when he is in the womb. This happens 10-20 days after conception. The soul is firmly rooted in the embryo if the child is desired. May also leave the fetus when the mother has thoughts of terminating the pregnancy. Sometimes she finds another shell. Provided that the woman leaves the child, she can return. Such a person will always bear the imprint of his undesirability.
When the physical body ceases to exist on earth, the soul leaves it after a couple of minutes. For the first 10 days she is somewhere nearby. Then it frees up the space it occupies and flies away. But it happens that the soul cannot find peace. This happens when:
- the person did not die a natural death;
- relatives keep the personal belongings of the deceased - dentures, a wallet with money, a comb with hair, clothes, etc.
To free souls, various rituals are performed. It is also necessary to burn things that carry a negative charge. It is prohibited to do this with manuscripts, crafts, paintings that were created by man.
10 days after death, the preparation of the soul for reincarnation begins. She is cleansed of earthly worries, transformed, and takes on the appearance of a ball. The process lasts up to 40 days.
Her consciousness does not manifest itself. At this time, memories of a past life are erased from memory. The soul faces new tasks, and other qualities are formed in it. The search for another shell begins, which can last a very long time.
In Judaism
When does a soul enter a child's body, according to Jewish beliefs? Rabbi Eliyahu Essas gives the following explanations on this matter. At the moment when a drop of male seed enters a female egg, it contributes only the energy of a spiritual nature transmitted to it by the Almighty. The conception process takes three days, during which this energy is stored. These three days are a symbol of three spiritual qualities - intelligence, intuition and desire for a higher goal.
After the union of two eggs, another 37 days are required for the “united” cells to create a spiritual “fog”, “steam”. A kind of suspension of small droplets that gradually combine and create the vessel necessary to receive the soul. After 40 days, the vessel is ready to receive the soul.
From this moment we can already talk about the emergence of the human fetus. By the fortieth day, this fruit receives a “task” from the Creator. Over the course of nine months, the soul will be completely formed and will receive everything it lacks. After this, the person is born.
