Do aborted babies have spirits? What does the Bible say?

Bible Question:

Bible Answer:

Crosses Representing Aborted Babies

The question, “Do aborted babies have spirits?” is identical to asking, “Are babies that are conceived in the womb human?” The answer to the question is “Yes!” for multiple reasons. The first reason is that God gave animals souls, but He gave spirits to humans. The Hebrew word for soul, nephesh, in the Old Testament is better translated as “life” or life force. It is used exclusively in Genesis 1 for the animals. In that chapter, nephesh is translated as creature and not soul. We are never told that animals have a “spirit.” So, only humans have spirits.

Second, we are told God gives humans spirits and at death they return to God. Ecclesiastes 12:5b-7 is a clear passage.

For man goes to his eternal home while mourners go about in the street. Remember Him before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the well is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed; then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. Ecclesiastes 12:5b-7 (NASB)

Then humans go to their eternal home. For some humans their eternal home is hell. For others it will be heaven. So, humans start life when God gives them a spirit; and when they die, the spirit goes to God. This passage does not teach that our souls existed in eternity past. So, God gives humans spirits and at death their spirits depart and go to God. The spirit is the real person – not the body. The apostle Paul taught this principle in 2 Corinthians 5:1-5. He refers to our bodies as an “earthly tent” and also as a “house.” Then he references our immortal bodies as being “clothed with our dwelling from heaven.”

The third reason we know that aborted babies have spirits is that life begins at conception. Some claim that conception does not occur when the mother’s egg is fertilized by a sperm. But that statement is in opposition to the science of biology. The American College of Pediatricians agrees, as revealed by the following quote which states that “human life starts when the sperm and egg bind to each other in a process of fusion.”

The American College of Pediatricians concurs with the body of scientific evidence that corroborates that a unique human life starts when the sperm and egg bind to each other in a process of fusion of their respective membranes and a single hybrid cell called a zygote, or one-cell embryo, is created.¹

That is a scientific statement and the Bible states the same thing. The Bible said it first. Psalm 139:13-16 describes the fetus in a mother’s womb as a person. Only people have spirits.

For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
Psalm 139:13-16 (NASB)

King David wrote this psalm, and here he describes himself as already existing in his mother’s womb. He refers to his soul or nephesh. That is, his life had already begun. The Hebrew word for “unformed substance” is golem. It literally means “embyro.” Conception had taken place, but his bones, organs, and the various parts had not taken form. He constantly refers to himself as already existing. We know from this psalm that his existence did not begin when he exited his mother’s womb. He tells us that even though his days outside the womb had not begun, God had ordained them.

In Isaiah 49:5 we are told

And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb. . . Isaiah 49:5 (NASB)

That is, God forms every human while they are in the womb. Job 31:15 echoes that truth.

Did not He who made me in the womb make him,
And the same one fashion us in the womb?
Job 31:15 (NASB)

Conclusion

The conclusion is that God forms every human while in the mother’s womb. At conception the embryo is formed, the spirit is given, and God begins to give the human being form. The embryo is like wet clay and God is the potter. God takes the wet clay and forms the human being. Scripture says life began in the womb. Conception gives us life, and then life outside of the womb begins at what we call “birth.”

References:

1. Original author: Fred de Miranda, MD, March 2004. Updated: Dr. Patricia Lee June, MD, March 2017. When Human Life Begins. American College of Pediatricians – March 2017. https://acpeds.org/when-human-life-begins/

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