Humans have souls and not any other animals?

[BigToque]

Here's a question I have that nobody seems to have an answer to.

Evolution is a fact (edit: a very good theory).

(My opinion based on theory of evolution)
All life on this earth evolved from the most basic unicellular organisms. Humans are just one of millions of variations that have come since the beginning.
(/opinion)

According to the Bible, only humans have souls.

Now, based on the fact (edit: my opinion) that humans evolved like everything else on this planet, you can come to 3 conclusions:

1. Every animal on this planet has a soul.
2. No animal on this planet has a soul.
3. God interveined at a specific point in time and said "I like this species. You will be humans and I will give you a soul".

Every religious person I have spoken to does not think that God just picked us at a certain time and decided to give us souls. If that is true, where did souls come from?

My answer: Humans like to feel special. Why not have another reason to make us feel elevated over everything else.

I get very confused why people who are quite intelligent, are students of science, or people that have any desire to seek truth, can believe in religion without asking questions like these. They say "I don't just believe because "god says so"" yet when you ask them questions such as this they believe the asnwer the Bible gives without any looking for a reason.

 

[StageLeft]

Er, evolution is not necessarily a fact, but carry on.

More accurately - there is evidence for humans having evolved from lesser organisms, but tracing all the way back from a single-cell to humans is simply not possible, because there is not enough evidence for it. So, saying it, is merely conjecture. It may be a good guess, but it sure as hell can't be proven by anybody.

 

[CPA]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Er, evolution is not necessarily a fact, but carry on.

 

[Fausto]

/popcorn

/lawnchairs

/:beer:


Okay...I'm ready.

 

[Booster]

I think the opposite. Every living being has a soul except humans.

 

[maziwanka]

omg. cant there be a nice friday

 

[Viper GTS]

Your logic is severely flawed, you assume (for the sake of your argument) that evolution is fact yet you also seem to put some weight on the bible (who's account of creation directly contradicts evolution).

I think you're trolling.

Go away.

Viper GTS

 

[MazerRackham]

I am a human being and I don't have a soul! Neither do any animals. Nor insects. Nor plants!!!

/end agnostic mode

 

[Mo0o]

Is it getting hot in here?

 

[BigToque]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Er, evolution is not necessarily a fact, but carry on.

How do you believe it is not a fact?

We know exactly how it works and why. Just because we can't see it happening doesnt mean it isnt true. If we could watch a species with a time lapse camera for a few million years we would definitely see evolution happening.

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: Stefan
Here's a question I have that nobody seems to have an answer to.

Evolution is a fact. All life on this earth evolved from the most basic unicellular organisms. Humans are just one of millions of variations that have come since the beginning.

According to the Bible, only humans have souls.

Now, based on the fact that humans evolved like everything else on this planet, you can come to 3 conclusions:

1. Every animal on this planet has a soul.
2. No animal on this planet has a soul.
3. God interveined at a specific point in time and said "I like this species. You will be humans and I will give you a soul".

Every religious person I have spoken to does not think that God just picked us at a certain time and decided to give us souls. If that is true, where did souls come from?

My answer: Humans like to feel special. Why not have another reason to make us feel elevated over everything else.

I get very confused why people who are quite intelligent, are students of science, or people that have any desire to seek truth, can believe in religion without asking questions like these. They say "I don't just believe because "god says so"" yet when you ask them questions such as this they believe the asnwer the Bible gives without any looking for a reason.

Youre already making the assumption that a soul, or sentience is something that you entirely have, or entirely dont have.

Seeing that we have no idea how to define it or what it is in the first place, Id say that that first assumption makes the entire argument baseless.

My personal feeling is that its somehow a function of brain size and complexity...to think that humans have sentience and chimps dont is unbelievable, but whether an ant is as sentient as a monkey just because theyre both not human is also a little unbelievable.

 

[sash1]

you're combining fact with fiction, doesn't work buddy

`K

 

[crystal]

Are you sure human have souls?

 

[gistech1978]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS
Your logic is severely flawed, you assume (for the sake of your argument) that evolution is fact yet you also seem to put some weight on the bible (who's account of creation directly contradicts evolution).

I think you're trolling.

Go away.

Viper GTS

i dont think hes trolling at all.
you cannot answer the question, therefore you think hes trolling?
i cannot either, no one can answer this question.

he never said he believed in the bible, he said according to the bible.

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: Stefan

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Er, evolution is not necessarily a fact, but carry on.

How do you believe it is not a fact?

We know exactly how it works and why. Just because we can't see it happening doesnt mean it isnt true. If we could watch a species with a time lapse camera for a few million years we would definitely see evolution happening.

You are definitely trolling, or you're a complete and total idiot.

Evolution is a THEORY at best.

Viper GTS

 

[CPA]

Originally posted by: Stefan

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Er, evolution is not necessarily a fact, but carry on.

How do you believe it is not a fact?

We know exactly how it works and why. Just because we can't see it happening doesnt mean it isnt true. If we could watch a species with a time lapse camera for a few million years we would definitely see evolution happening.

You know, religious folk could use this same argument. Just change a couple of words, that's all.

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS

Originally posted by: Stefan

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Er, evolution is not necessarily a fact, but carry on.

How do you believe it is not a fact?

We know exactly how it works and why. Just because we can't see it happening doesnt mean it isnt true. If we could watch a species with a time lapse camera for a few million years we would definitely see evolution happening.

You are definitely trolling, or you're a complete and total idiot.

Evolution is a THEORY at best.

Viper GTS

If evolution is a theory at best, so is newtonian physics.

 

[BigToque]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS
Your logic is severely flawed, you assume (for the sake of your argument) that evolution is fact yet you also seem to put some weight on the bible (who's account of creation directly contradicts evolution).

I think you're trolling.

Go away.

Viper GTS

I'm not trying to start anything, I'm just confused with people's beliefs.

I know that much of the Bible is open to interpretation, and I don't believe that the story of creation is to be taken literally. However, no religious person I have met has ever told me that they believe that the idea of a soul is something that could be left to interpretation.

 

[fredtam]

Originally posted by: CPA

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Er, evolution is not necessarily a fact, but carry on.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Most flavors of Christianity believe only humans have a soul, but they also do believe humans are a special case in God's creation of the universe. Other faiths do say animals have souls.

The Catholic church acknowleges the evidence of Natural Selection (not the same as Evolution), but again says humans were produced through God's will rather than the force of Natural Selection. There is no contradiction or lapse in logic since the creator of the universe has the ability to "override" the laws that normally operate in it (e.g. miracles).

Since souls (and God's existence) can't be proved (or disproved) scientifically or logically, Stefan's feelings of intellectual superiority are baseless.

That's one reason I'm an agnostic, I know enough to know that I don't know

 

[monk3y]

Originally posted by: BD2003

Originally posted by: Stefan
Here's a question I have that nobody seems to have an answer to.

Evolution is a fact. All life on this earth evolved from the most basic unicellular organisms. Humans are just one of millions of variations that have come since the beginning.

According to the Bible, only humans have souls.

Now, based on the fact that humans evolved like everything else on this planet, you can come to 3 conclusions:

1. Every animal on this planet has a soul.
2. No animal on this planet has a soul.
3. God interveined at a specific point in time and said "I like this species. You will be humans and I will give you a soul".

Every religious person I have spoken to does not think that God just picked us at a certain time and decided to give us souls. If that is true, where did souls come from?

My answer: Humans like to feel special. Why not have another reason to make us feel elevated over everything else.

I get very confused why people who are quite intelligent, are students of science, or people that have any desire to seek truth, can believe in religion without asking questions like these. They say "I don't just believe because "god says so"" yet when you ask them questions such as this they believe the asnwer the Bible gives without any looking for a reason.

Youre already making the assumption that a soul, or sentience is something that you entirely have, or entirely dont have.

Seeing that we have no idea how to define it or what it is in the first place, Id say that that first assumption makes the entire argument baseless.

My personal feeling is that its somehow a function of brain size and complexity...to think that humans have sentience and chimps dont is unbelievable, but whether an ant is as sentient as a monkey just because theyre both not human is also a little unbelievable.

Amazingly put... I really wanted to reply to this post but I think you've voiced what I tried in vain to say...

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: CPA

Originally posted by: Stefan

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Er, evolution is not necessarily a fact, but carry on.

How do you believe it is not a fact?

We know exactly how it works and why. Just because we can't see it happening doesnt mean it isnt true. If we could watch a species with a time lapse camera for a few million years we would definitely see evolution happening.

You know, religious folk could use this same argument. Just change a couple of words, that's all.

That's true. There are certain parts of evolution which contradict directly with the bible, and other parts which may not, though I've not read enough on either topic. But, to assume that evolution is fact in its purest sense (we came from a single-cell being) means that one can't wholeheartedly believe in the bible. So, if they believe in evolution, they can't believe in the bible. And, if they believe in the bible, they can't believe in evolution's initial assertion that we all came from a single cell being.

So, one is left to choose, or try their best to mix the two. There is a lot of evidence to lead one to a good conclusion that evolution is true AND there is a lot of evidence to logically believe in the bible as well. I won't even try and touch on the second statement, but I have come upon a couple of books which do a fine and simple job at undermining what the masses have wrong with the bible (not to say that it's still factual based upon only this, but most of the simple arguments you ever hear against the bible are just not very good).

 

[TMPadmin]

I am not sure if I will be answering your question in any way, but I just might give you more questions.

When you look at the human species we are different from the animals in the capacity that we have rational thought, we are self aware and so on. Some animals do have these things but stick with me, this is not my point. We needed to grasp onto the reality that we will one day die. What happens after that? Who knows... Religion tells us that we all have a purpose in God's great plan. Expanding that all animals have a purpose if only to server us. Expanding even further each planet, star, black hole etc, have a purpose if only to spark our curiosity. Therefore, God must have a purpose. What is his purpose? Why does he exist? Was there a need for a god and he was here? Religion says he is without beginning or end. Our human minds can not grasp that concept.

I think my question has nothing to do with yours so I'll end here.

If you look at a soul as a physical or metaphysical presence, every animal has a soul. There is plenty of room in Heaven! Come on in!

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Most flavors of Christianity believe only humans have a soul, but they also do believe humans are a special case in God's creation of the universe. Other faiths do say animals have souls.



The Catholic church acknowleges the evidence of Natural Selection (not the same as Evolution), but again says humans were produced through God's will rather than the force of Natural Selection. There is no contradiction or lapse in logic since the creator of the universe has the ability to "override" the laws that normally operate in it (e.g. miracles).



Since souls (and God's existence) can't be proved (or disproved) scientifically or logically, Stefan's feelings of intellectual superiority are baseless.



That's one reason I'm an agnostic, I know enough to know that I don't know

I could have saved myself some typing if I'd read this first. I like it

 

[iamme]

OWWW!!!

*moonwalks*

i've got plenty of soul.