I went to a Catholic high school where I distinctly remember being taught that only humans have souls to the exclusion of all other animals. I have also seen this assertion repeated on yahoo answers several times (only humans can go to heaven, only humans can sin, etc, etc...).
Now, if you recognize and understand evolution, which many of you do of course, then do you believe that human ancestors did not have a soul? They were much simpler forms of life after all. Also, if you believe they didn't, at what point did humans begin having souls? How human did our ancestors have to get before their soul sprung into existence?
I guess what I'm asking is what criteria does an organism have to meet in order to have a soul? At what point do you think our soul came into existence? Is there an official answer to this from the Catholic church? If other great apes have been proven capable of reasoning does this mean they too can have a soul? I'm curious if the church has a stance.
2007-08-09
02:13:22
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15 answers
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asked by
Anonymous
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Religion & Spirituality