Why do christians believe that a fetus is a person?

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Nasor

Valued Senior Member
Why do christians believe that a fertilized egg is a person?

I’ve always wondered about this. There seems to be no evidence for it one way or the other in the Bible.
 
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One way to look at it is that the majority of fetus' (don't know statistically, but would guess it to be 90% of fetus' grow into babies. by grow, i just mean develop naturally.

If it were a case that 90% of fetus' die, then maybe they wouldn't be considered babies.


It is a matter of perspective I guess. Does one look at an apple seed and see a seed or see what they seed will become?

Just an observation.
 
Quigly said:
One way to look at it is that the majority of fetus' (don't know statistically, but would guess it to be 90% of fetus' grow into babies. by grow, i just mean develop naturally.

If it were a case that 90% of fetus' die, then maybe they wouldn't be considered babies.
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It is estimated that 50% of pregnancies end in spontaneous abortion - usually before the woman is ever even aware that she was pregnant.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001488.htm
 
It isn't considered a fetus until the 9th week and from your site:

rate of spontaneous abortion is approximately 10% and usually occurs between the 7th and 12th weeks of pregnancy
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So are we talking about fertilized eggs or fetus'?

That 50% stat is for fert. eggs.

Here is the actual quote from your site:
It is estimated that up to 50% of all fertilized eggs die and are lost (aborted) spontaneously, usually before the woman knows she is pregnant
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I guess I should change it to be “fertilized egg” instead of fetus. In fact, I will. Thanks for the correction.
 
Our belief is based on theology, not scripture, though we also find evidence in scripture.
 
Quigly said:
One way to look at it is that the majority of fetus' (don't know statistically, but would guess it to be 90% of fetus' grow into babies. by grow, i just mean develop naturally.

If it were a case that 90% of fetus' die, then maybe they wouldn't be considered babies.


It is a matter of perspective I guess. Does one look at an apple seed and see a seed or see what they seed will become?

Just an observation.
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yes you see the seed.
but sorry, quigly your figures are wrong, approximately 50% of all fertilized eggs die and are lost (aborted) spontaneously, most go unnoticed because most happen very early in the pregnancy, before a woman may know she is pregnant, however that which can be measured, found that 25% miscarry before the 6th week, the risk is far greater the old the woman at thirty 1 in 5 chance of a miscarriage, and forty a 1 in 4.
so you cant say with any certainty that 90% become babies, you can only say you dont know.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miscarriage#Experience
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001488.htm
it would seem this statement is more sensible. " If it were a case that 90% of fetus' die, then maybe they wouldn't be considered babies."

it seems you dont concider a fertilized egg a fetus, A consultant specialising in the care of pregnant women writes: "Life does not begin with birth. When born, we are already nine months old... we have a responsibility to learn how to study the life in utero, and how to care for it" http://www.spuc.org.uk/ethics/abortion/human-development

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miscarriage#Experience
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001488.htm
 
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what differences do your staticstics make to the child, the person in danger?
 
Again, 50% of fertilized eggs die. not 50% of fetus'. And the 90% was just a guess, It seems from that web site that 10% are more likely to die between week 7 through 12.

Again preacher. Fertilized egg is different than fetus. Get with the facts if you are going to argue.
 
it seems you dont concider a fertilized egg a fetus, A consultant specialising in the care of pregnant women writes: "Life does not begin with birth. When born, we are already nine months old... we have a responsibility to learn how to study the life in utero, and how to care for it" http://www.spuc.org.uk/ethics/abort...man-development
incidently I'm not a pro lifer just pointing out your facts are wrong.
 
individual human Life begins at the moment of conception. that is the fact.
 
Nasor said:
Ok, what is the theological basis for it?
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The theology is that God is the author of all life. God creates the human soul from nothing at the moment of conception. The soul is the life principle of the body. God is co-creator with the natural parents.
The human soul does not pre-exist before conception.

Personhood is an innate reality, a property not seperable from gender or the soul.
It is an invisible and spiritual reality, similar to the intellect, and is profoundly related God.
 
Science has already proven it.
unless you show me that its something other than human,
or something other than life,
than the pictures speak for themselves.
 
Lawdog said:
Science has already proven it.
unless you show me that its something other than human,
or something other than life,
than the pictures speak for themselves.
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uhhh, you might want to cite a source :rolleyes:
 
Lawdog,
Why would god create a soul if 50% of the time it dies before even developing into a fetus? By your account, half of all souls are never even known to have existed. Are these souls up in heaven or something?
 
Lawdog said:
Science has already proven it.
unless you show me that its something other than human,
or something other than life,
than the pictures speak for themselves.
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I was thinking of an embryo created for stem-cell research. A large blob of stem cells does not look especially like a person, so it's not clear to me how pictures could prove anything.
 
fadingCaptain said:
Lawdog,
Why would god create a soul if 50% of the time it dies before even developing into a fetus? By your account, half of all souls are never even known to have existed. Are these souls up in heaven or something?
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They are in the hands of the loving God. Somehow they were so pleasing to our Lord that he spared them the evils of this terrestrial life.
 
Nasor said:
I was thinking of an embryo created for stem-cell research. A large blob of stem cells does not look especially like a person, so it's not clear to me how pictures could prove anything.
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Thats just my point: you are not considering that there are invisible realities.
The fertilized egg looks no different than a modern art light show or something. Yet activity is a sign of life.
the end result, a baby, tell us what was going on.
 
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