Where do souls come from?

With this being Christmas, I’ve been thinking about the incarnation (Immanuel – God with us in human form). 

And that got me thinking about all humans. 

Where do we humans come from?  I’m not talking about the birds and bees; I’m talking about our souls.  Where did the eternal part of us come from?  Or is there an eternal part to us?    

Broadly, there are three options, and each have significant ramifications.

The first option is that humans do not actually have a “soul” in the sense that there is some part of us that lives on after death.  The is the view of naturalism—the belief that there is no God or anything else beyond the natural realm.  Of course, the ramification for that view are pretty stark, for life would have no ultimate meaning, direction, or purpose. 

Another option (this is stated very non-technical!) is that human souls exist before conception and at the moment of conception, the body and soul are joined together.  The Christian worldview, of course, believes that God created all human souls and, in his infinite wisdom, decided which soul goes with which body.

The final option is that at conception, both body and soul are created. 

We’ll delve into this a little deeper over the next few days.  For now, what do you think?  Which is it?  And why does it matter?

The ONE THING for today: The birth of Jesus (God in human form) is a reminder that humans must be a big deal to God.  If humans are a big deal to God, perhaps we should ramp up our own value of human life.