Creationism (soul)

This article is about a concept about origin of the soul. For beliefs about the origin of the material world, see Creationism.

Creationism (sometimes spelled creatianism) is a doctrine held by some Christians that God creates a soul for each body that is generated. Alternative Christian views on the origin of souls are traducianism and also the idea of a pre-existence of the soul.

Augustine of Hippo was undecided between creationism and traducianism, while Jerome condemned traducianism and held that creationism was the opinion of the Church, though he admitted that most Western Christians were traducianists. The question has never been authoritatively determined, but creationism, which had always prevailed in Eastern Christianity, became the general opinion of the medieval theologians, and Peter Lombard's creando infundit animas Deus et infundendo creat ("in creating, God pours in the soul, and in pouring, He creates") was an accepted formula. Martin Luther, like Augustine, was undecided, but Lutherans have as a rule been traducianists. John Calvin favoured creationism.

Peter Lombard's phrase perhaps shows that even in the twelfth century it was felt that some union of the two opinions was needed, and Augustine's toleration pointed in the same direction, for the traducianism he thought possible was one in which God "'works' in maintaining those natures which He has created, not in creating new natures" ^[1]. Modern psychologists teach that while "personality" can be discerned in its "becoming," nothing is known of its origin. Hermann Lotze, however, who may be taken as representing the believers in the immanence of the divine Being, puts forth - but as a "dim conjecture" - something very like creationism ^[2]. It is still, as in the days of Augustine, a question whether a more exact division of man into body, soul and spirit may help to throw light on this subject.

This view is generally held by the contemporary magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church, most notably in the instruction Dignitas Personae, in consistency with the Church's desire to defend the personhood of embryos and to oppose abortion in a pro-life perspective. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 366, states that "The Church teaches that every spiritual soul is created immediately by God- it is not "produced" by the parents...."

References

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

1. ^ Ep. 166.5.11
2. ^ Microcosmus, bk. iii. chap. v. ad fin

External links

• Creatianism and Traducianism

This Christian theology article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Christian theology Philosophical schools and traditions Christian theology stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую Jaimie Alexander Gondelbahn Grindelwald-Männlichen Look at other dictionaries: Creationism — • (1) In the widest sense, the doctrine that the material of the universe was created by God out of no pre existing subject (2) Less widely, the doctrine that the various species of living beings were immediately and directly created or produced… …   Catholic encyclopedia Creationism — can also refer to creation myths, or to a concept about the origin of the soul. For the movement in Spanish literature, see Creacionismo. Part of a series on Creationism …   Wikipedia Soul — • The question of the reality of the soul and its distinction from the body is among the most important problems of philosophy, for with it is bound up the doctrine of a future life Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Soul     Soul …   Catholic encyclopedia Creationism — Cre*a tion*ism ( ?z m), n. The doctrine that a soul is specially created for each human being as soon as it is formed in the womb; opposed to traducianism. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English creationism — 1847, originally a Christian theological position that God immediately created a soul for each person born; from CREATION (Cf. creation) + ISM (Cf. ism). As a name for the religious reaction to Darwin, opposed to evolution, it is attested from… …   Etymology dictionary creationism — [krē ā′shəniz΄əm] n. Theol. 1. the doctrine that God creates a new soul for every human being born: opposed to TRADUCIANISM 2. the doctrine that ascribes the origin of matter, species, etc. to an act of creation by God, specif. to God s creation… …   English World dictionary Soul — For other uses, see Soul (disambiguation). A soul – in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions – is the incorporeal essence of a person or living thing or object.[1] Many philosophical and spiritual systems teach… …   Wikipedia creationism — creationist, n., adj. creationistic, adj. /kree ay sheuh niz euhm/, n. 1. the doctrine that matter and all things were created, substantially as they now exist, by an omnipotent Creator, and not gradually evolved or developed. 2. (sometimes cap.) …   Universalium creationism —    This term is used to describe two different views: (1) modern creationism, as a reaction to the theory ofevolution, maintains that the Creation accounts in the Book of Genesis are scientific explanations and so literally true; and (2)… …   Glossary of theological terms creationism — noun a) The doctrine that each individual human soul is created by God, as opposed to traducianism. b) Any creationary belief, especially a belief that the origin of things is due to an event or process of creation brought about by the deliberate …   Wiktionary 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”