To: Dr. Sivana
In Luke 1, shortly after the angel Gabriel appears to Mary and she agrees to be the mother of Jesus, she visits her kinswoman Elizabeth. When Elizabeth greets Mary, she says “blessed is the fruit of your womb” and calls her “the mother of my Lord.” Luke must have assumed that ensoulment took place at conception—the visit to Elizabeth seems to have taken place immediately after the annunciation (since Elizabeth was in her 6th month, and Mary stays with her about 3 months but leaves before the birth of John the Baptist).
To: Verginius Rufus
Luke must have assumed that ensoulment took place at conception
Our Lord's conception and birth is different than other men's in many ways (1. His Divine Nature pre-existed His conception. 2. He had no Original Sin. 3. His conception was through the work of the Holy Ghost). I would not be willing to make a universal statement about all men's conception based on His.
The ensoulment question is tricky. To give but one example, identical twins are formed after a single fertilized ovum splits in two. If ensoulment took place at initial conception (fertilization), what happened to that soul? Did it "stick" with one of the new twins? It can't have been annihilated. I don't see how it could be divisible (despite some of the marvels that identical twins can perform). The church simply hasn't ruled on these things.
Some like to define conception as implantation (this also reduces the number of murders caused by IUDs and low-estrogen birth control pills). That seems to be the weasel's way out.
19 posted on
08/27/2008 4:03:37 AM PDT by
Dr. Sivana
(There is no salvation in politics)
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