The Origin Of The Soul And Spirit

THE ORIGIN OF THE SOUL AND SPIRIT
The Bible tells us that Adam became a living soul at the time God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. This explains the origin of Adam's soul, but it leaves the question of from where do our souls come? There are two common answers to this question:

Creationism. This view states that all souls are created by God and thus produced from nothing and without pre-existing materials.

Ecclesiastes 12:7 describes physical death as that time when then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. When Adam sees the woman, he says, “This is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh,” but he does not say, “This is soul of my soul.” In Isaiah 57:16, the Lord speaks of “the breath of those I have made.”

Zechariah 12:1 introduces the Lord who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him, Hebrews 12:9 refers to God as the Father of our spirits and contrasts Him with the “fathers of our flesh.”

One branch of Creationism states that God created the souls of all men in the beginning. Those who hold to this view would therefore maintain the pre-existence of all souls since the creation of Adam.

Traducianism. This view is taken from the Latin and speaks of the propagation (Latin: traducem) of the soul. This view sees those verses that speak of God giving and forming the spirit of man as being descriptive of God as the Creator through Adam and not necessarily creating each individual soul. For example, the Scriptures teach that God sends the rain upon the just and the unjust, but most would agree that God does this through secondary causes and would not deny the reality of clouds and weather patterns and evaporation and water vapor and the part they play in the bringing of rain.

Just as all animals reproduced after their own kind, so also man is said in the Scriptures to reproduce after his kind. In Genesis 5:3, Adam bore a son who was in his own image and likeness.

God has rested from His work of creation and is not actively creating either bodies or souls. The Hebrew of Genesis 46:26 speaks of “all the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, who came from his loins” (see the KJV which gives a more literal translation).

Hebrews 7:9-10 speaks of how Levi was in the loins of Abraham and thus was involved in giving the tithe to Melchizedek.

Indeed, the Scriptures describe not only God's creating and forming of our souls, but also the creating and forming of our bodies.

13 For Thou didst form my inward parts;
Thou didst weave me in my mother's womb.

14 I will give thanks to Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Thy works, And my soul knows it very well. (Psalms 139:13-14).

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
And before you were born I consecrated you;
I have appointed you a prophet to the nations. (Jeremiah 1:5).