I've been reading @Stan B and @charity about the breath of life from God.
I picture in creation when the Son of God kneels on the ground and gathers together a pile of dirt, pats it together into the shape of a man, then breaths life into the man.
We talk about Solomon's question, as he pondered the unknown,
Ecclesiaste 3
20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
Who knows? Dust returns to dust, and the breath of life returns to God?
Someone said this in a way I really liked.
The body is like the filament in a light bulb, and the breath of life is like electricity, and light is like the soul of man. Give breath to the body, and we are a living soul. Take away that breath, and there is no more soul, just like there is no light after you unplug the lamp.
I know Chris's view, as many share, is that this breath of life leaves, and life leaves with it, until it is restored in the resurrection.
I know that Stan's view is that until the breath of life arrives, at birth, the fetus is not yet a living soul.
So here is my question.
If you believe that the breath of life leaving at death is the cessation of the person, then doesn't this equally mean that until that breath of life is inhaled, there is not yet a person?
To be clear, I don't hold to this view. I believe God gives life at conception, and that the soul as we think of it survives the death of the body.
Much love!
I picture in creation when the Son of God kneels on the ground and gathers together a pile of dirt, pats it together into the shape of a man, then breaths life into the man.
We talk about Solomon's question, as he pondered the unknown,
Ecclesiaste 3
20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
Who knows? Dust returns to dust, and the breath of life returns to God?
Someone said this in a way I really liked.
The body is like the filament in a light bulb, and the breath of life is like electricity, and light is like the soul of man. Give breath to the body, and we are a living soul. Take away that breath, and there is no more soul, just like there is no light after you unplug the lamp.
I know Chris's view, as many share, is that this breath of life leaves, and life leaves with it, until it is restored in the resurrection.
I know that Stan's view is that until the breath of life arrives, at birth, the fetus is not yet a living soul.
So here is my question.
If you believe that the breath of life leaving at death is the cessation of the person, then doesn't this equally mean that until that breath of life is inhaled, there is not yet a person?
To be clear, I don't hold to this view. I believe God gives life at conception, and that the soul as we think of it survives the death of the body.
Much love!