Is an Embryo a Baby? | Biblically

| Conception’s Significance |

1. Is an Embryo a Baby? | Scientifically
   • When Does Life Begin? | Scientifically
   • When Is a Person a Person? | Scientifically
2. Is an Embryo a Baby? | Biblically (this post)
   • When Does a Person’s Life Begin? | Biblically

| Resolved series |

• Resolutions That Matter
• God and Reason
• How to Know If I Am Saved
• Is an Embryo a Baby? | Scientifically
• Is an Embryo a Baby? | Biblically

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When Do We Have a Soul?

We have shown that an embryo is a human individual from conception using just objective scientific observation. As a social concept, history has taught us that every human individual is a person and should never be regarded as soulless. However, since the soul is primarily a spiritual concept, what does the Bible have to say?

The Hebrew word for ‘soul’ in the Bible is ‘nephesh’. When used in reference to a human soul, this word is also translated as “person”. So, in asking if an embryo is a person in the fullest sense of that word, this is precisely the word to study. So, how does the Bible use this word? When do we have a ‘nephesh’?

In studying the use of this word throughout the Bible, the Hebrew and English Lexicon explains that the soul (nephesh) “departs at death and returns with life”. This explains the second most common translation for ‘nephesh’ which is “life”. In other words, the concepts for ‘life’, ‘soul’ and ‘person’ are all the same concept in the Bible. Our life is inseparable from our soul; they are one in the same. To be alive is to have a soul. From the first moment we are alive to the last moment before our death, we have a soul. The instant that a human is first alive, they are a person.

Scientifically, we saw that an embryo is a living human individual at conception. Biblically, that implies that the embryo is a person, is a baby at conception. While it is that simple, let’s test this a little further. If conception truly is the beginning of a person’s life biblically, then we would expect to see an emphasis on this event in Scripture. Does the Bible talk about conception? When it does, is it a person that’s conceived? Let’s take a look.

Is a Person Conceived?

Consider these examples from Scripture:

Let the day perish on which I was born, and the night that said, ‘A man is conceived’.

Job 3:3, emphasis added

Essentially, Job is saying “I wish I was never born” and then, to take his lament even further, “I wish I was never conceived”.  The biblical language here affirms that it was “a man” (a person) that was conceive, not a thing.  Further, if we consider the context of this passage, we can see that Job is pointing back to his conception as the beginning of his unique existence.  It was not a “thing” that was conceived but it was indeed Job who was conceived – a unique person who had a unique calling from God. 

in sin did my mother conceive me

Psalms 51:5, emphasis added

into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her who conceived me

Song of Solomon 3:4, emphasis added

We again see that it was not a “thing” that David’s mother conceived but it was David himself who was conceived – a unique person with a unique calling from God. Similarly, it was the Shulamite woman herself who was conceived. From these examples, we can each rightly say, “I was conceived”.  It adds an element of personal connection where we recognize that each of us did indeed exist at conception (just as we existed at birth and just as we do now).

We’ve provided a more detailed discussion on this question with more examples and a more detailed discussion on the word for ‘conception’ in the Bible on a separate page: When Does a Person’s Life Begin? | Biblically

The Beginning of Every Story

The most frequent use of conception in the Bible is in the context of a narrative historical account – a story. The Bible tells us about a total of 42 different people who were conceived. Many of these examples are where major Biblical characters are introduced like Moses or Samuel or John the Baptist. Each of their stories begins with their conception. Some of these stories even have vivid illustrations of their life in the womb. I’ll provide just two examples here, but we’ve provided a few more on our more detailed page: When Does a Person’s Life Begin | Biblically.

Sampson

“…be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. … for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb”

Judges 13:3-5, emphasis added

Notice how Sampson’s calling begins while he is in the womb: “the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb” (emphasis added). His mother was commanded not to violate the Nazarene vow (i.e. not to drink alcohol or eat anything unclean).  Why? The reason the angel gives is this: “for behold, you shall conceive”.  In other words, she must honor the Nazarite vow because Sampson was to honor it even when from his conception (not just when he was born).  Sampson’s calling to be a Nazarite was set at conception and he was to honor this calling from conception to birth to death – that is, his entire existence.

Jesus

“behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.”

Luke 1:30-33, emphasis added

The Father chose how Jesus would be incarnated.  He could have had Jesus come to earth as an adult; He could have had Jesus come as a child; He could have had Jesus come as a newborn; He could have had Jesus come at any point in pregnancy from implantation to when his heart started to beat to when his brain began to register activity on an EEG.  However, the Father chose that Jesus would be conceived.  The story of Jesus’ incarnation begins here with conception. Why did He choose this point?  He chose conception because Jesus was to be fully man, because Jesus “had to be made like his brothers in every respect” (Hebrews 2:17).

In other words, God did not skip conception because it is essential to the human existence and Jesus was to be fully human.  So then, was Jesus any less of who He was when He was conceived but not yet born?  Was He any less Immanuel when He was conceived but His heart had not yet begun to beat?  Was He any less ‘fully God, fully man’ when He was conceived but had not yet implanted into Mary’s womb?  No. Unequivocally, Jesus was Jesus at the instant He was conceived, not a moment later.

In His divine inspiration of the Scriptures, God draws our focus in each story of the men and women that line the halls of our faith at first to their conception.  Is it not because conception is the beginning of each of their stories?  Indeed, it is.  It is seen in the pattern of these verses that conception is the beginning of the person’s story.  God is not quiet in the Scriptures about the importance of conception as the beginning of our personhood – from Moses to John the Baptist to Jesus.

The Weight of This Answer

Scientific observation, human history, and the Bible all demonstrate conception’s significance. Everything we can objectively observe leads to one unequivocal answer: an embryo is a baby from the moment of conception.

I realize this answer might be offensive to many who are reading this. There are other posts that do a better job of expressing my heart on the matter and my heart for those for whom this answer feels heavy or offensive. For example, I’d love for you to look at our post for Mother’s Day where I tell the story behind our search for an answer to this question. Because I worry that you may not take me up on that invitation, I’d like to briefly take a step back from the intellectual discourse and tell you how I feel.

Please don’t misunderstand me here, my desire is in no way to condemn anyone. My heart couldn’t possibly be further from this. I can only hope that I haven’t offended you, because I don’t mean to. If you have found yourself ending a pregnancy, I understand how even considering this answer can feel insurmountable.  If you have been through IVF and have found yourself reluctant to implant an embryo at the end of the process, please understand that I know this is a difficult topic to even think about.

The weight of this answer though is not yours to bear. God’s unreserved love and acceptance of us and His strength to help us can overcome this weight. If it’s in your past, know that weight has already been borne for you by Jesus and God has only love for you. Like we discussed in our post on Mother’s Day, I hope that you can take comfort in knowing that God is caring for them now and that one day we will see them again.

If it’s in your present or your future, Christ offers His help to bear the weight that choosing life represents. The fear of being rejected by our loved ones for an unplanned pregnancy is real, but He overshadows it with His promise of unreserved love and acceptance for us. The responsibility of having more children or having children sooner than we expected is scary, but He is ready to strengthen us through the challenges. He sees us as capable, having entrusted them to us.

I long to save you from the pain that ignoring conception’s significance represents. I long to set you free from the cycle of convincing yourself it didn’t mean anything over and over. I hope that knowing it was real allows you to grieve as it allowed us to grieve. We are here for you however we can be, please reach out. Please know that you are loved.