The Human Soul...
Where does it come from? ...When is it created? Does the soul exist before the body? ...How is it bound to my physical body?
These are some questions that I have not given much thought in any measure. That is until I found myself reading the book titled "The Conservative Reformation and it's Theology" by Charles Porterfield Krauth. An 830 page collection of his writings regarding the topic of the Lutheran Reformation.
Many things are amazingly explained for the lay-person to understand. And they bring a great light to our understanding of the Reformation, it's impact, its history, doctrine, and it's purpose. One area in particular has really stirred me to awaken, in a specific and rudimentary way. And that is the origination of my human soul, and no less important... it's condition.
I still love how Wordsworth so beautifully states the notion in his "Intimations on Immortality" that our souls come from afar, and are preexisting from our bodies. I've even quoted him myself in this blog in the past, and thought nothing of it really in terms of the origination of the human soul. But, no matter how beautifully he has put this thought into prose, he is ...to say it nicely ...not exactly correct.
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;
The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting
And cometh from afar;
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home: - William Wordswoth
About the middle of the book, he (Krauth) is writing about the "Specific Doctrines" of the reformation, startling with Original Sin. Specifically as a way of understanding how Original Sin is passed from generation to generation, from parent to child, all the way back from our original parents Adam and Eve. He discusses the human soul and it's creation.
The Apostle Paul asks us all the question, "What do you have, that you have not received?" In this book of C.P. Krauth we hear the echo of this same doctrine. Krauth rightly points out, that to imagine, like Wordsworth, the unique individual soul, pre-existent to the body ...just waiting in heaven, to at some point be joined with the body... that this notion would be to understand God, as having created perfect holy souls, that may yet be placed into a body that is profoundly sinful, and even on many occasion, damned to hell. This is akin to placing God as the "punisher" and destroyer of Holy Souls. Certainly not a Biblical understanding!
We are taught by Holy Scripture that our very souls ultimately come from God, but by means of our immediate parents. Not placed there from another location in Heaven. There was something very interesting with the way God created man "in His image" when we think about the creation of the soul. Also something very interesting about the way the son of Adam, Seth (and the rest of us) were created in Adam's likeness. and from Adam's image. Adam and Eve had Cain, and Able. But then after Able's death they had Seth, and the Scripture gives us some interesting detail about his creation. God has designed it, that when a man and a women come together and create another life "The two shall become one." a soul is created that DOES have a beginning, but doesn't have an end. ...from the combined souls of the mother, and the father, a new and entirely unique soul is created from the mother, and from the father. The mother and father are the means that God Himself uses to create a soul. I'm reminded of the farmer who plants the seed and waters, but it is God that gives the growth. As Adam and Eve were created "in Our Image" speaking of the Image of the Triune God... Seth (Adam and Eve's son) was created "in his own likeness, after his image" talking about Adam's image. Which was no longer the pure, righteous image of God any longer, after the fall. Seth received the image (likeness) of Adam. A man created in the image of God, but an image that is now marred, and an image that is bent in on itself, and at enmity with God.
When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. -Genesis 5:3
Adam sinned in the the Garden. Now his image was marred irrevocably, by that sin. He and all of man, were now cursed in the Fall. Adam's "likeness" was now, not what it used to be.
Now, to understand this "the two shall become one flesh" we see how undeniably, intrinsically and amazingly unique every human being is. And the amazing bond that is occurring between parent and child. Also between brothers, and sisters.
This understanding also helps us see clearly a lot of other things in Scripture when it comes to certain doctrines. For example, I think about the doctrine of Salvation. A lot of things that are already written and understood, but come to new light. ...Infant Baptism for example. Babies are not "innocent" if they are born from unholy things. To name one, Krauth points out the verse in Job 14:4
Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
There is not one. -Job 14:4
In the Psalms King David talks about his own conception and birth, when he confesses "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my Mother conceive me." -Psalm 51:5
Krauth asks the question, "Is a seed truly a tree" or better to ask "is it truly vegetable? Does the seed have truly the same nature as the tree? and the reply is "...it has. Nay, rather the tree is but a phenomenon of the seed; it is itself the parent seed developed, and it's own perfect potency ends in a seed." Krauth continues, by describing our sin nature by looking at a baby's face. Perhaps a baby is upset, and turns angry for a moment, (maybe someone has taken his toy away) and we see the cute little scowl on his precious face, and we might smile, and think, 'how cute'. We can imagine Cain as a baby (says Krauth) with the lines of anger on his baby face, and that is the same angry nature that murdered his brother, but was thought of as cute, and laughed at by his parents.
Sin, comes from, and is the fault of man, not God.
By understanding what happened from the first sin, and how that "original sin" is passed down to us, through the generations will lead us into truly understanding what is going on in our own time. Also it will lead us into correctly understanding SO MUCH of Biblical Theology. As a tree's roots grow deep, and wide beneath the soil, and also the branches expand, and grow tall and wide... so does our Biblical understanding of Original Sin reach into every facet of Biblical Theology. I've heard it said, that the Doctrine of Original Sin was the rudimentary doctrine of the entire Lutheran Reformation.
I'm not sure exactly about the following verse, but I think there may be something in there about Original Sin, and the Origination of the Soul from the parent to the child, that this verse may shed a little light on, to help us understand that idea, and help us (perhaps) understand the verse and what God is telling us in it. I'm checking with my Pastor about this. Stay tuned. This verse below has me thinking, because it is talking about the Command "You shall have no other gods before me". And visiting the iniquity of the fathers to the children etc. etc.
9 You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
-Deuteronomy 5:9-10
God's Love, Mercy and His Grace are truly unfathomable to our little minds, and our wicked and inward bent hearts.
Thanks be to God!
