19
votes
What is the ultimate goal of a human according to Bible?
One of the most famous answers to this question comes in the Westminster Shorter Catechism, question 1:
Q1. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ...
- 1,609
15
votes
Accepted
At what point is a new soul created according to the Catholic Church?
It seems clear that Catholic Church debunked Origen's claim that souls were created and existed before conception and birth.
It is more accurate to say "rejected" than "debunked" but there is ...
- 6,645
11
votes
Accepted
Why did human lifespans drop after the Flood?
Answers in Genesis and Creation Ministries International, two young-earth creationist organizations, have similar answers to this question. They don't attribute a direct supernatural cause, but ...
- 41.6k
10
votes
Is Mary's human soul pre-existent in eternity?
In 1661, Pope Alexander VII released the Bull "Sollicitudo omnium eccl.," which reads in part:
The devotion to the most blessed Virgin Mary is indeed of long standing among the faithful of Christ ...
- 41.6k
8
votes
Accepted
What is the biblical basis for humans becoming angels after they die?
This answer is from the perspective of the theology of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772), and of the various denominations that accept his theology, commonly called "New Church" or "Swedenborgian" ...
- 7,765
8
votes
Where did our spirit come from? (Overview)
The discussion of the origin of the human soul/spirit (on this topic they are generally spoken of as one immaterial part) is a very old one in Christian history. There are many serious implications ...
- 2,084
8
votes
At what point is a new soul created according to the Catholic Church?
The Catholic Church has not issued a definitive teaching on this topic. There are certain boundaries that have been established, e.g. that our souls have not always existed but rather were created by ...
- 1,533
8
votes
According to the LDS faith, if our spirits lived with God before this life, why is spiritual birth during life on earth required?
You seem to have a misunderstanding of what death is. Death is separation, not ceasing to exist. Spiritual birth is required because of spiritual death.
spiritual death- separation from God (the ...
- 8,320
8
votes
St. Augustine and woman sexuality?
This quote is often attributed to one of the early church fathers, usually to Bernard of Clairvaux or Saint Augustine, although the earliest reference in print was in 1896. There is no historical ...
- 1,359
7
votes
Did any other early church fathers besides Origen teach the pre-existence of souls?
It's at least true that others in the early church taught doctrines that resembled Origen's. However, not all who did would normally be considered "church fathers," and even among those who ...
- 41.6k
7
votes
Accepted
If baptism cleanses original sin then why do the children of baptised parents still need to be baptised?
According to the Catholic Church (Council of Trent's Decree Concerning Original Sin):
this sin of Adam…in its origin is one, and being transfused into all by propagation, not by imitation [of the ...
- 33.2k
7
votes
Do any denominations teach that humans exist before birth?
I'm not sure if you'd include Mormonism as a Christian denomination, but the Mormon church definitely believes this. They believe that people were "Heavenly Father's" spirit children in heaven, who ...
- 79
7
votes
Accepted
How to reconcile the original creation of every soul (Creationism) by God with original sin?
By yielding to the tempter, Adam and Eve committed a personal sin, but this sin affected the human nature that they would then transmit in a fallen state. It is a sin which will be transmitted by ...
- 19.3k
6
votes
Are we avatars (incarnations) of God?
An "avatar" is a Hindu term and is a "deliberate descent of a deity to Earth", the coming of a Hindu god in the flesh, if you will. For Christianity, Jesus Christ would fulfill this purpose, not ...
- 2,156
6
votes
Accepted
In Reformed Theology, what are seen as the implications of Traducianism versus Creationism (of the soul)?
First, let's have some slightly more in-depth definitions. Charles Hodge describes what traducianists believe as follows:
Traducianists on the one hand deny that the soul is created; and on the ...
- 41.6k
6
votes
Is there any substance to the claim that Origen supported reincarnation?
The challenge in answering this question is that we do not have most of Origen's original work. Proponents of reincarnation argue that translators and scribes made Origen's works more palatable to ...
- 41.6k
6
votes
Are there other denominations that believe in pre-human existence?
There are no other common Christian denominations that believe in a pre-mortal existence of man.
There are instances of individual Christians with this belief.
Clementine, quoting Peter, said in ...
- 2,655
6
votes
We will judge angels? But we are lower than the angels
The simplest way to reconcile these passages is to dispute the KJV's translation of βραχύ as "a little." This is, in fact, what most other translations have done, including those that have no interest ...
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6
votes
How does the LDS church back up the statement "I'm stronger than Satan"?
Frankly, according to the Bible Christians are NOT stronger than Satan, and that is not because he is a spiritual being and they are physical/spiritual beings. If anything, having bodies makes ...
- 8,998
6
votes
According to the LDS faith, if our spirits lived with God before this life, why is spiritual birth during life on earth required?
I think a distinction is required between being a child of God (the Father) and being adopted as a child of Christ (the Son).
According to LDS doctrine, all people are spirit children of God, our ...
- 1,753
6
votes
Accepted
According to Catholicism, why do we need a resurrection if we have an immortal soul?
Although I am not a Catholic, I feel confident that I can answer this, as the answer is shared by all Chalcedonian Christians.
This question really gets to the heart of what it means to be a human. ...
- 18.3k
6
votes
Did Jesus believe that the human soul lived on after death?
Judaism in Jesus' time certainly did believe in a spiritual part separating from the physical body at the death of the body. Check out the rabbinic schools of Shammai and Hillel for proof of that. ...
- 17.1k
5
votes
What is the biblical basis for the Dual Nature of Man as opposed to the Tripartite Nature?
Wayne Grudem's defense of dichotomism in his Systematic Theology, chapter 23 is particularly helpful in this regard. He lays out several kinds of biblical evidence, cleanly organizing the arguments ...
- 41.6k
5
votes
Heart, Mind, Soul and Spirit
Your question contains a small irony. Each component in your quartet (viz., soul, spirit, mind, and heart) is invisible, and you are asking for a diagrammatic representation! (My observation is just ...
- 8,998
5
votes
What is the Biblical basis for saying that God can annihilate human souls?
First, the idea of the immortality of the soul comes from the Greek dualistic view of body and soul as separate, with a mortal body and an immortal soul.
Immortality belongs to God alone (I Tim. 6:16) ...
- 71
5
votes
Accepted
Thomism, Natural Law and our Fallen Nature
I don't agree that this statement (that committing sin is contrary to human nature) is the basis of natural law. Natural law is a consequence of the way God constructed humans and the rest of the ...
- 18.3k
5
votes
Accepted
How does the mainstream Christian view of the physical body differ from that presented in The Gospel of Thomas?
Mainstream Christianity views the body as the temple of Christ. The tool with which God uses to do good on the Earth He created.
1st Corinthians 6:18-20 my friend...
18 Flee immorality. Every ...
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5
votes
Accepted
What prominent Christian thinkers (if any) held to polygenism and if so how did these thinkers view original sin?
Yes. In his book, The Problem of Pain, popular Christian author C.S. Lewis discusses Adam's sin in the context of Scientific understanding of his time, which included Darwinism. He presents an ...
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