Human life: what distinguishes it from other life forms?
A view of the different religions on the ensoulment of the human

When does human life start? In science there are no clearcut answers to this question: in what way distinguishes human life itself from all other forms of life.  

The ‘soul’ has not always been considered as a single and inseparable entity as has always been done by the Catholic Church. The Greek philosopher Aristotle (384- 322 BC) postulated three ‘Souls’: a Vegetative Soul, starting at the moment of life, a Sensitive or Animal soul, starting at the moment the woman first felt foetal movements and a Rational- divine- Soul, that was considered to enter from without. He did not even hazard a guess as to when in development this might be (ref) In the 13th century Thomas of Aquino accepted this view, considered a Carnal sole and an Animal sole, and stated that human life only started 40 days after conception or so, and it was only- after some previous attempts that were overturned by successive popes- in 1869 that Pope Pius IX declared that the 'divine' soul entered the body at the moment of conception and that therefore abortion was punishable with excommunication. He had declared himself infallible in matters such as these in 1852, so no-one was considered to question his judgement.

Various religions define human life by the entrance of the 'divine soul' into the body. However many religions do not agree on the time this 'ensoulment' takes place: from the moment of fertilization (Roman Catholic Religion) to twenty-one days after birth (Greek Orthodox Religion). All other religions place ensoulment somewhere in between. Judaism even makes a difference between male and female offspring. The table depicts the view of the different religions on the point of time the ensoulment takes place .

All religions above state the existence of the soul as a separate entity from the body, featured by an eternal persistence. At some point in time this soul enters the body, and exits at the time of death. Although all agree on the latter, there are considerable differences of opinion on the time of entry, as you have seen.

We will add more information in this assay in due time.

CAM Jansen MD, PhD.

Ref:  Potts M, Short RV, Ever since Adam and Eve. The evolution of human sexuality. 1999, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521644046

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