Man
|
The traducian theory |
|
The
traducian theory holds that ‘the immaterial part of man is imparted through
procreation so that the individual receives his whole person from his
parents.’ In other words, this theory holds that when God created Adam and
Eve, He endowed them with the power to reproduce after their own image, and
this power includes both the material and immaterial parts of man, that is,
both the body and the soul. This theory was accepted by Tertullian (2nd and
3rd centuries AD), by Augustine (354 - 430 AD), by Lutherans, and by most
modern theologians (Chafer, Bancroft, Delitzsch). |
|
|
|
Confutation |
|
|
|
The
Scripture teaches that the soul is created by God, as it is written: “For I
will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit
should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.” (Isaiah 57:16). |
|
Those
who hold the traducian theory affirm that the creation theory (the one I
accept and teach) can’t be accepted because Genesis 2:1-2 tells us that God
ceased creating after the sixth day, while this theory says that God creates
the soul of every child who is to be born. Well, then, how is it that Elihu,
one of the descendants of Adam, said: “The Spirit of God has made me ….” (Job
33:4 – NKJV)? Is it not because he believed that God had created both his
body and his soul? Therefore, it is true that God gave man and woman the
power to reproduce after their own image, but this reproduction always
involves the work of God. In other words, it is God who makes our body and
soul. However, while the body is from the earth (for it is the product of the
union of man and woman), the soul is from God (for it is not material), thus
the soul can’t come from the parents. The soul is not material, that’s why
physical parents can’t produce it. |
|
The
argument according to which God ceased creating after the sixth day, and
consequently He can’t create the soul of every child who is to be born, is
nullified by what the prophet Amos says: “For behold, He who forms mountains,
and creates the wind ….” (Amos |