A question about ensoulment

[L.Kraiger]

I understand that a baby is alive and has a soul from the moment of conception. But what about the case of identical twins? The zygote has a soul, but then it splits into two. So when does the ensoulment of the twin occur?

 

[jonk]

Not answering this authoritatively, though my guess is that it’d be as soon as the twin starts to exist physicially, in the same way as during conception. So it’d be when it and its DNA become physically separate from the other twin, when it becomes a separate being.

I’m sorry if this isn’t helpful, but I think that it follows that since ensoulment occurs when an organism, a human, separate from the mother and father with its own genetic code comes into existence during conception, so it would occur again when upon cell divison there is a physical split between the twins and when another human, separate from the mother, father and the other twin comes into existence.

Here’s a tough one - what about Siamese twins?

 

[wjp984]

God being all knowing would already have the zyogte have two individual souls at the moment of conception knowing the outcome of 2 individual people. The same would go for cojoined twins.

 

[dsb1808]

There is a very good, if a bit technical, article by Robert P. George (Princeton University) and Patrick Lee (Franciscan University of Steubenville) at The New Atlantis that addresses this. The title is “The First Fourteen Days of Human Life” in case the link doesn’t work.

thenewatlantis.com/archive/13/leegeorge.htm

 

[jonk]

God being all knowing would already have the zyogte have two individual souls at the moment of conception knowing the outcome of 2 individual people. The same would go for cojoined twins.

That’s good. I’m glad I brought that up. Thanks.