The Traducian Doctrine and Abortion

The Bible says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Rom.5: 12).
The word “traducian” comes from the Latin verb “traduco,” which means, “bring across, lead over, transport across; transfer.”
The Traducian Doctrine teaches that each human soul is brought across, transported across, or transferred to offspring by parents through procreation.  It teaches that the body and the soul, both the material and immaterial, are propagated by the parents at conception.  It teaches that parents propagate entire human beings, not merely bodies.
Tertullian (160-215 A.D.) was the first to advocate the traducian doctrine.  And there is ample biblical support for the traducian doctrine.
Adam was the seminal and embryonic head of the human race.  And according to our text all humanity is seen as being in his loins when he sinned.  When he sinned there was a seminal participation by “all men” in his act of sin.  “Since sin is related primarily to the realm of the soul, the only way that all humans could have sinned in Adam when he committed the original sin is if their souls are related to or derived from him.”
In Hebrews 7:9, 10, Levi is seen as participating in Abraham’s giving tithe to Melchisedec, though “he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him.”  This passage indicates that it was Levi, a person, a soul, not just Levi’s body, who was present in seminal form in Abraham’s loins.  This implies that souls, as well as bodies, are passed on in seminal form from generation to generation through ancestral lines until procreated by parents at the moment of conception.
Another example is in Genesis 46:26 where it says, “All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were threescore and six.”  The soul; the immaterial part of a human being that leaves the physical body at death, came from Jacob’s loins.  The “loins” refer to the seat of procreative power.
Further support for the traducian doctrine is, the biblical use of the personal pronouns “me,” “them,” and “he,” and other words, like “a male child,” “children,” “son,” and “daughter,” (Job 3:3; Ps.51:5; Song 3:4; Lk.1: 36, 2:21) in conjunction with conception (when the male sperm fertilizes the female egg) indicating that a total person, including the soul and body, comes into existence.
Other views that are held as to how the immaterial aspect of man is passed from generation to generation are preexistence, and creationism.
The preexistence view states that from the beginning God created all human souls and confined them to physical bodies as punishment.  The soul then goes through many incarnations and in the process incurs sinfulness.  This reincarnation stands in direct conflict with the biblical teaching on eternal life or eternal punishment for every individual born, and that men die only once (Heb.9:27).
Creationism teaches that God created the soul at the moment of conception and unites it with the body.  But Genesis 2:1-3 states that God rested on the seventh day of Creation because His work of Creation was finished.  And no fresh starts, like creating souls, are indicated anywhere.  And if God did create the soul at conception, He would have to create a sinful one, (which He would not do), as the Bible says we’re born with.
Most women when they get an abortion mistakenly think they’re merely destroying a body of flesh and bone.  But according to the Bible they’re destroying a soul, another human being, and that is murder.
[email protected]
James H. Cagle

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *