A pregnancy is a powerfully emotional experience. If you really want a child, then the baby in the womb in precious and you feel connected to this child very early in the pregnancy. If you didn’t want a child, the same connection can be felt, but sometimes the desire to be free of the upcoming responsibility can trump any recognition of the pregnancy being your child.
As we know, whether for human reasons or biological reasons, not every pregnancy results in a live birth. Is the deceased child a person with an eternal existence? If so, when does it start? Even more important, what happens to them?
I will be up front. The Bible doesn’t give us much information about these questions, so definitive answers are elusive. The Bible teaches that a human is both a body and a soul. These aspects of ourselves are separable. Because of sin, our body dies and remains dead until the resurrection. Our soul assumes a different body in Heaven or Sheol depending on the status of our relationship to Jesus. Can a body and soul be separate at the beginning of life as well? We don’t know, for sure.
The Bible speaks of us being “sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” (Psalm 51:5) This is an acknowledgment that sin is part of our nature and therefore a part of our genetics and body. Does it automatically mean that we have a soul from conception? It could, but it’s not clear. The Bible also speaks of God knowing people in the womb (i.e. Jeremiah, John the Baptist). You don’t need the Bible to tell you that being born doesn’t make you into a human. You are a human before you are born. But when?
Science tells us that the fertilized egg is genetically distinct from the parents. It is not a “part” of the mother. But science as a whole struggles with what consciousness is and what is the unique value of a human being. We have no way to measure a soul.
To fill the void that the Bible leaves on this emotional question, the doctrine of the “Limbo of the Unborn” was created by the Roman Catholic church. This is a place of comfort, but without the visible presence of God meant for those who die unbaptized. Such a place is not found in Scripture, but it acknowledges our human conundrum. We are born sinners. We are not born saved. But God is merciful. That is His character. Still God operates strictly by His Law. So what does He do?
I can share a bit of anecdotal evidence from a relative of mine. He experienced an out-of-body experience following a truck accident. In this experience he met someone in Heaven who identified himself as a biological brother. The only problem is that he didn’t have a deceased biological brother to his knowledge. He had arrived at the hospital as DOA (Dead on Arrival) but doctors were able to revive him. Later, he relayed the experience to his mother. She revealed that she had a miscarriage of a male child that she had never told to him.
Make of this what you want. I personally don’t think that all of the unborn are saved. The Bible shares that a relative few are saved among the living. However, I also believe that God has His way to reach those who haven’t or can’t be reached by the power of the Gospel during their lives, however brief. This thinly attested belief will have to do for now.
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How does Exodus 20:5-6 speak to this discussion?
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I think it is hard to say. This passage could be understood as saying that the salvation or lack of it is somehow connected to the status of the parent before God, but without a clarifying passage I would be hesitant to make that conclusion.
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