When are souls infused in twins?

[SoonerforChrist]

This question was asked on another board and I have pondered this for the last couple of weeks.

Any help would be appreciated.

*Correct me if I am mistaken, Catholic theology says that the soul enters the body at the moment of conception. Is that correct?

What happens in the case of identical twins? Prior to twinning, there is a time where there is a single cluster of cells. After twinning, there are two clusters. What happens to the soul in this case? Does it split as well? If not, Does a second soul enter one of the sets of cells? How does the original soul decide which set to remain with?

Thanks in advance for your (name removed by moderator)ut. *

 

[jbuck919]

St. Augustine wrote a very complicated theology on the phenomenon of twinning. Look it up. It will be great fun for you, if it doesn’t kill you first.

 

[mchale]

Well, I don’t know about the theology of the church on this one, but I would guess that both souls would occupy the custer of cells from the moment of conception; after all, God had planned from the beginning for the twins to exist.

–
Bill

 

[Della]

AFAIK, the Church has no official teaching saying when the soul becomes a part of the body–because we don’t know that.

The argument that it happens at conception may be wrong, but since we cannot know that we cannot say when twins become individual souls. All we know for certain is that they do.

If you are asking this question in regards to abortion, the Church teaches that abortion is intrinsically evil at any stage of the development of the human fetus for the very reason that we cannot know at what precise stage the conceived embryo has become a living human soul.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

This question was asked on another board and I have pondered this for the last couple of weeks.

Any help would be appreciated.

*Correct me if I am mistaken, Catholic theology says that the soul enters the body at the moment of conception. Is that correct? *

*What happens in the case of identical twins? Prior to twinning, there is a time where there is a single cluster of cells. After twinning, there are two clusters. What happens to the soul in this case? Does it split as well? If not, Does a second soul enter one of the sets of cells? How does the original soul decide which set to remain with? *

*Thanks in advance for your (name removed by moderator)ut. *

Of course we have no way of knowing exactly how God deals with this. I would guess (MY opinion) is that there is one soul in the beginning and at the time of the split God simply supplies another soul.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

AFAIK, the Church has no official teaching saying when the soul becomes a part of the body–because we don’t know that.

The argument that it happens at conception may be wrong, but since we cannot know that we cannot say when twins become individual souls. All we know for certain is that they do.quote]

The Church teaches that the soul is infused into the person at the moment of conception, it’s not an argument, but a teaching.

Exactly when the second twin is “conceived as a separate person” is unknown.

 

[JamesD]

Sooner,
I do not know if the church has defined when the soul is infused to the body.

I myself consider that it is at conception.
Regarding twinning, it seems to me that there are several possibilities.
First lets assume that the soul is infused at conception.
If twinning occurs:
either the original embryo continues to exist and the second embryo then is infused with a soul (granted not at conception but at its creation).
Or
The original person (embryo) dies and two new persons (embryos) exist and are infused with souls (granted not at conception but at their creation)
I prefer to accept the former.

However, it does seem possible to consider that God (knowing that twinning is to occur) infuses two souls into the original embryo (persons) at conception.
My take is that ***normally ***infusion of the soul occurs at conception but in the rare cases of twinning the soul might be infused at the moment of twinnig.

How’s that for being non-committal?
Jim

 

[Della]

Della;1598560:

AFAIK, the Church has no official teaching saying when the soul becomes a part of the body–because we don’t know that.

The argument that it happens at conception may be wrong, but since we cannot know that we cannot say when twins become individual souls. All we know for certain is that they do.quote]

The Church teaches that the soul is infused into the person at the moment of conception, it’s not an argument, but a teaching.

Exactly when the second twin is “conceived as a separate person” is unknown.

I stand corrected. Thanks!

 

[estesbob]

This question was asked on another board and I have pondered this for the last couple of weeks.

Any help would be appreciated.

*Correct me if I am mistaken, Catholic theology says that the soul enters the body at the moment of conception. Is that correct? *

*What happens in the case of identical twins? Prior to twinning, there is a time where there is a single cluster of cells. After twinning, there are two clusters. What happens to the soul in this case? Does it split as well? If not, Does a second soul enter one of the sets of cells? How does the original soul decide which set to remain with? *

*Thanks in advance for your (name removed by moderator)ut. *

I am sure God can sort it out.