Hi Dave, you wrote:
> It sounds bad if one takes a silly physicalist position.
Well, you mentioned "mating" which is a purely physical process. So when
chimps do it no soul is transeferred because the parents didn't have souls,
but when humans reproduce a non-physical spirit through a magical
indescribeable action, not part of the sperm or egg, passes from parents to
offspring. Is that how it works?
What happens if the child is aborted in the seventh month? Stillborn?
Lives for a few days and expires due to severe birth defects? Dies of
leukemia before reaching two? Since these are real life situations, I
would just be interested in knowing what the rules are.
> If one is Christian and the soul is not physical (unless you're a
non-reductive
> physicalist, when it is), then it does not have to be transferred
> physically. Note that in my discussion, "natural" is not equated to
> "physical" or to being studied by the scientific method. Also, the law
> may decide that an American is an adult at age 18, but that kind of
> arbitrary specification does not have to describe reality. Don't ascribe
> nonsensical views to others when they reside only in your opinion.
Testy.
Dick Fischer - Genesis Proclaimed Association
Finding Harmony in Bible, Science, and History
www.genesisproclaimed.org
Received on Tue May 3 15:22:58 2005
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