Close Topic Options

Mormon View On When Life Begins - Page 2

We are encouraged to continue our learning as we progress in life. I also heard somewhere (I think from a talk by Jack H. West) that knowledge brings us closer to Heavenly Father. Brain waves are detectible in 42 days, along with a full skeleton and reflexes and the heart has begun to beat on its on since the 10 day mark. By 7 weeks the child can suck his/her own thumb, and by 8 weeks all body systems are present. At the 11 week mark all body systems are working.
My wife and child are on week 23 of the pregnancy and our son has a 15% chance of viability at this stage.
By what we've learned so far and the information accumulated on this thread it would seem the spirit enters the body quite early in the pregnancy.
A couple of more things:
1. Dr. Hymie Gordon, Chairman of the Department of Genetics at the Mayo Clinic, said:

2. Dr. McCarthy de Mere, a medical doctor and law professor at the University of Tennessee, testified:

Begins Life When View Mormon

Having experienced two miscarriages, one where I definitely felt I had "lost" a child (as much as anything is ever lost, but we all know better) and once where I believe the pregnancy was merely a chemical reaction...a fluke if you will, I have come to the belief that each spirit enters each body in utero at different times for different reasons. There is no "magic moment" that can be standardized and identified. This conclusion has been formed after much thought and prayer, and I feel that a majority of the time, this is the case.

Mormon View On When Life Begins Studies Doctrine Mormon

I think we are dealing with two separate issues here. When does life begin? A better question would be at what point does it cease to be? It doesn't. You have a living egg fertilized by a living sperm that create a living embryo. Life is there from the very beginning, at the moment of conception.

The second issue is when does the spirit enter the body? From what has been discussed here, what I have read, and what I believe to be so I agree with AZRN2000 - each spirit enters the body at an individually appointed time. When the body is ready and when the spirit is ready it will enter the body in the womb.

A related question I have is - does the spirit remain in the womb continually throughout the gestation period or does it "travel" or at least communicate between this earth life and the pre-existence life? And this may be fodder for a different topic but at what time does the veil draw closed? Many children seem to have a knowledge of their life before.

Page 2 Begins Life When View Mormon

For me life begins when its part of the body. When a perm enters an egg isn't that a living process?

Begins Life When View Mormon

My wife and I have talked about this many times. My wife is very sensitive to the spirit and she felt that during her pregnancies the spirit of our children were coming and going for the first and second trimesters. But by the third trimester they were with her all of the time.
I think that it is very possible for our spirits to be in a state of transition from our pre-existence and this world were they are allowed to go back and forth for a period of time.
In the same way I think that my father was here at times and at other times I felt that his spirit was not in his body during the last few years of his life. My father had advanced Alzheimer's disease. I think my dad was reluctant to die and needed some encouragement from family members who had already passed on. I would visit him and I could feel a difference in his responses to me. My mom and I would talk about whether he was "here" or not on a particular day. My dad was strongly devoted to his family and we really felt that he wanted to make sure we could be alright without him.
It is hard to describe how I was able to discern were my dad's spirit was but you got to know that he spent the last five years of his life in a nursing home,and he couldn't talk. I believe that he was being comforted and guided during those years. And this comfort and guidance was given to him at times when I thought he wasn't "here".

Mormon View On When Life Begins

So, maybe a body is inhabited by a spirit when it is able to sustain life. Interesting topic.

I think that there is an exchange of life at a certain time, when the flesh may cease to be governed by godly intelligence (similar to that of cells, protoplasm, other involuntary organisms) and start to be governed by individual spirits.

Mormon View When Life Begins - Page 2

Again I do wonder why the First Presidency does not give a definitive answer or at least explain how the process works.

Mormon View When Life Begins Mormon Doctrine Studies - Page 2

I believe the First Presidency has said all they need to say on the matter. Abortion is a seriously sinful act, and leaves a scar on the soul of those that willfully receive it, encourage it, or perform it, with very few exceptions.

When does life begin? I guess that depends on your definition of life. There exists in infinite quantities something known as intelligence. This intelligence itself, before it is organized into spirits in the image of deity, could be considered raw life. A spirit is life, and can be viewed as an evolutionary process. The life evolves further when the spirit is fused with a body of flesh and blood. As the blood corrupts the body and the body decays, the spirit is eventually ripped apart from the body, although the life itself persists in the spirit. When considering the resurrection, physical death can be considered the pupal stage of humanity.

On the subject of treatment of stillborn infants or miscarriages, I consider it a moot point when considered from an eternal perspective. All of those intended to receive an earthly body will do so, and will have the chance to receive all the experiences necessary for eternal progression. My god is an equal opportunity God.