Creationism is a
doctrineDoctrine is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the body of teachings in a branch of knowledge or belief system...
held by some
ChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
s that
GodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
creates a
soulA soul in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions is the incorporeal essence of a person or living thing or object. Many philosophical and spiritual systems teach that humans have souls, and others teach that all living things and even inanimate objects have souls. The...
for each body that is generated. Alternative Christian views on the origin of souls are
traducianismIn Christian theology, traducianism is a doctrine about the origin of the soul , in one of the biblical uses of word to mean the immaterial aspect of human beings . Traducianism means that this immaterial aspect is transmitted through natural generation along with the body, the material aspect of...
and also the idea of a
pre-existence of the soulPre-existence , beforelife, or pre-mortal existence refers to the belief that each individual human soul existed before conception, and at conception one of these pre-existent souls enters, or is placed by God, in the body...
.
Augustine of HippoAugustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
was undecided between creationism and traducianism, while
JeromeSaint Jerome was a Roman Christian priest, confessor, theologian and historian, and who became a Doctor of the Church. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Stridon, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia...
condemned traducianism and held that creationism was the opinion of the Church, though he admitted that most
Western ChristiansWestern Christianity is a term used to include the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church and groups historically derivative thereof, including the churches of the Anglican and Protestant traditions, which share common attributes that can be traced back to their medieval heritage...
were traducianists. The question has never been authoritatively determined, but creationism, which had always prevailed in
Eastern ChristianityEastern Christianity comprises the Christian traditions and churches that developed in the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Middle East, Northeastern Africa, India and parts of the Far East over several centuries of religious antiquity. The term is generally used in Western Christianity to...
, became the general opinion of the medieval theologians, and
Peter LombardPeter Lombard was a scholastic theologian and bishop and author of Four Books of Sentences, which became the standard textbook of theology, for which he is also known as Magister Sententiarum-Biography:Peter Lombard was born in Lumellogno , in...
'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 LutherMartin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
, like Augustine, was undecided, but Lutherans have as a rule been traducianists.
John CalvinJohn Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530...
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" . 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 . 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 ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, most notably in the instruction
Dignitas Personae, in consistency with the Church's desire to defend the personhood of
embryoAn embryo is a multicellular diploid eukaryote in its earliest stage of development, from the time of first cell division until birth, hatching, or germination...
s and to oppose abortion in a
pro-lifeOpposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...
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...."
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