When In Human Evolution Did We Gain A Soul?

Question

This is a question to 'sensible' christians who actually believe in the scientific fact of evolution. (In other words if any creationists are reading this then bug off!)

Given that Darwin's theory of evolution is now an established theory of how mankind came to be I wondered if you could explain to me when in our evolution did humans develop souls which are capable of going to heaven.

The only alternative is that we always had souls but that would mean that all other lifeforms (including bacteria) have souls too because we all evolved from the same place, ie. the primeval swamps of planet earth.

Was it a recent occurrence, say 6,000 years ago, or did it occur as soon as modern homo sapiens had evolved?

Answer 1

God has purposed every single person from since before the foundation of the world.

In His eye all have souls from that time.

When Adam was created, in a manner of speaking, all who will ever live were created in his loins.


From a practical human understanding the soul comes into existence at conception.


Why do you ask nonesense questions and require only nonesense answers?

Answer 2

And how do they explain intersexed people? Two souls in one body? What about identical twins? One soul split into two? So each twin has half a soul of the same soul?

The soul concept is so pathetic. Many say only humans have souls even though we're just animals like the other species.

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--Any "sensible" person knows that evolution is still a THEORY and NOT a "scientific fact".--

Actual sensible people realize that evolution is both a fact and a theory and that those are two different things.

Answer 3

The 'soul' appeared around 3000 years ago, when thinkers and philosophers at the time wondered what happened to us after death. There were many ideas banded around, but the one they decided fitted best was the 'soul' which was first written about by Plato. Before this, people like the ancient Egyptians thought the body would continue after death, hence the reason they put lots of crap in the graves or tombs to ensure they had adequate supplies for The the afterlife. Later, as scientific knowledge grew, they discovered that this was not the case, they had to come up with another idea. So they came up with the idea of a 'soul' an invisible entity that would leave your body when you died. This went through many variations, before becoming the intangible, inter-dimensional force that we know think of it. Of course, as more and more is learnt, the soul will continue to evolve in an attempt to evade science.

The soul is an historically and factually man made concept, but in answer to your question, it first appeared around 3000 years ago.

Answer 4

This is yet another example of how religion has been shown by modern science to be a lie.

They used to tell us that the earth was the centre of the universe. Many good men were burnt at the stake by the catholic church for arguing otherwise. These 'heretics' were proved right.

Luckily for Darwin the church had lost its power to burn heretics by the mid 19th century. All they could do was ridicule him. One even asked him whether he was descended from an ape on his mothers or fathers side. However Darwin had the last laugh!

Of course when you fully understand and accept evolution you realise that humans cannot have a soul because we are just animals like all the other species on planet earth.

Answer 5

Actually, I have two distinctly separate answers to your question:

1.) The soul is unreal..... The soul does not exist in physical reality and thus cannot be said to be real. The philosophical concept was invented about 390 AD by Augustine of Hippo. Augustine combined Plato's Idealism, Aristotle's Solipsism, and asserted that God loans each new human being a bit of His own immortal essence at the moment of their birth.

[Those who believe the soul begins at conception are perverting traditional theology with the much later scientific knowledge that both parents contribute equally to their offspring's genetics. Augustine believed only the male "seed" was heritable.]

Supposedly, the experience of being alive grew God's gift into an immortal human soul, which returned to God in Heaven, when the person died. Solipsism was discredited by Galileo's discovery that the physical realm is absolutely real (about 1590), which indirectly proved subjective experience (perception) is not the basis of reality. Idealism lingered until the dawn of the twentieth century, when vacuum tube technology finally proved all thoughts, memories, emotions, and perceptions originate in the neurological structures of an entirely self-contained living brain.

2.) The soul is real..... Chimpanzees and presumably our Hominid ancestors all have 24 pairs of chromosomes. Roughly fifty-thousand years ago, the first proto-human was born with 23 pairs of chromosomes. (This creature's mother was "Mitochondrial Eve.") Two pairs of chromosomes fused end to end and this unusual "macro-mutation" created the first genetically distinct human being. The site of this fusion is still visable on chromosome pair number two and is responsible for creating the human race. It is highly likely that all vertabrates possess at least a rudamentary form of consciousness, in that they seek pleasure and avoid pain. A few of the higher primates are thought to be self-aware because they can recognise themselves in a mirror. Only humans can reason abstractly, using symbols to stand for meanings, and are able to contemplate the end of their own existence. For some, but not me, this means humans have some sort of soul, though quite different than Augustine's creation.

Edit: Just noticed your question was directed to Christians. Somehow I missed that earlier. Ooops! Hope you don't mind if I let this answer stand.

Answer 6

Perhaps they might date the event back to the existence of "Mitochondrial Eve."

She is the common anscestor from whom we get all of our motochondrial DNA.

However that DNA has nothing to do with higher cognitive functions, which come from the Fox P2 gene for language, amongst others. Or the MGC8902 gene of the neocortex.

It will take a very clever or ingenious evolutionary theologian to place a fine boundary line on what was a fuzzy process of cognitive development.

Answer 7

good question. i've got self assurance we've continually had souls, its what could make us diverse from animals. that's our experience of right and incorrect that's continuously evolving and making us improve in direction of starting to be further and extra religious . i've got self assurance that it is what is going to substitute mankind thoroughly and with a bit of luck save the human race from destruction. God has given us The Holy Spirit as our helper, and Jesus stated "the dominion of God lies interior", rather effectual stuff.

Answer 8

If Evolution = truth then you are taking God and souls out of the equation why bother believing in heaven either? OR Genesis 2:7 Dust and breath, that is what a living soul is, not microorganisms, where else should we get our self worth from?

Answer 9

The concept of the soul is like religion itself a fiction. There is no soul or afterlife. The soul is a fictional concept. The evidence for a soul does not stand up to scientific scrutiny and would not be valid in a court of law.
Your question reveals the thoughts of an immature mind. Grow up.

Answer 10

I think every person received their souls at different times and therefore there are people on earth with newer and older souls. Never thought about everything having a soul before - hhhmmmm gives me something to ponder! Who are we to judge that pond scum does not have a soul??!!!