Early Christian Views on Life in the Womb

Tertullian, De Anima (On the Soul) Direct teaching

Now we allow that life begins with conception, because we contend that the soul also begins from conception;

Lactantius, On the Workmanship of God Direct teaching

For it is not introduced into the body after birth, as it appears to some philosophers, but immediately after conception, when the divine necessity has formed the offspring in the womb;

Lactantius, On the Workmanship of God Supporting witness

We must also speak about the womb and conception, since we are talking about the inner parts of the body, so that we may not seem to have left anything out. Although these things are hidden from sight, they still cannot be hidden from understanding and thought. In males, the vein that holds the seed is double. It is somewhat farther inside than that container for the foul fluid. For just as there are two kidneys, and likewise two testicles, so also there are two seminal veins, though they are joined together in one structure. We can see this in the bodies of animals when they are cut open after death. But the one on the right holds the male seed, and the one on the left holds the female seed. In general, throughout the whole body, the right side is male and the left side is female. Some think that the seed comes only from the marrow. Others think it flows from the whole body to the sexual vein and gathers there. But the human mind cannot understand how this happens. Likewise, in females the womb divides into two parts. These parts spread out in different directions, bend back, and wind around like a ram's horns. The part that turns to the right is male, and the part that turns to t

Lactantius, On the Workmanship of God Supporting witness

Everything beyond this is the work of God — namely, the conception itself, and the moulding of the body, and the breathing in of life, and the bringing forth in safety, and whatever afterwards contributes to the preservation of man: it is His gift that we breathe, that we live, and are vigorous.

Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Supporting witness

but when it is formed into a compact consistency in the womb, by the natural and warm spirit by which the embryo is fashioned, it becomes a living creature.

Tertullian, De Anima (On the Soul) Supporting witness

However, even these have life, each of them in his mother's womb.

Lactantius, On the Workmanship of God Direct teaching

...or it is not put into the body after birth, as it seems to some philosophers, but immediately after conception, when divine necessity has formed the child in the womb. For it lives in its mother's womb in such a way that it grows and delights to leap with repeated movements. In short, there must be a miscarriage if the living child within dies. The other parts of the definition refer to this idea, that during those nine months in which we were in the womb, we seem to have been dead. Therefore, none of these three opinions is true. We cannot, however, say that those who held these views were so wrong that they said nothing true at all. For we live at once by blood, and heat, and breath. But since the soul exists in the body through the union of all these, they did not state what it was in its proper sense. For just as it cannot be seen, so it cannot be expressed.

Tertullian, De Anima (On the Soul) Supporting witness

...mes a proof of its real existence, since there is no disease where there is no soul or principle of life. Again, since sustenance by food, and the lack of it, growth and decay, fear and motion, are conditions of the soul or life, he who experiences these things must be alive. And so, at last, he ceases to live who ceases to experience them. And thus infants are sometimes still-born. But how could this be, unless they had life? For how could anyone die who had not previously lived? But sometimes, by a cruel necessity, an infant is put to death while still in the womb, when, lying awry in the orifice of the womb, he impedes childbirth and kills his mother, if he himself is not to die. Accordingly, among surgeons' tools there is a certain instrument, formed with a carefully adjusted flexible frame, first of all for opening the womb and keeping it open. It is further furnished with a ring-shaped blade, by means of which the limbs within the womb are dissected with anxious but unfaltering care. Its last appendage is a blunted or covered hook, by which the entire fetus is extracted by a violent delivery. There is also another instrument in the shape of a copper needle or spike, by whi

Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Supporting witness

Or how could his soul, or its images, be formed along with his body, who, while lying in his mother's womb, was filled with the Holy Ghost?

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Background

Is it whether what is in the womb grows and is nourished, or is it whether it possesses any sensation or movement by impulse?

Lactantius, On the Workmanship of God Supporting witness

for it so lives within the bowels of its mother, that it is increased in growth, and delights to bound with repeated beatings.

Luke 1:44 Direct teaching

For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

Luke 1:41 Direct teaching

And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Luke 1:42 Direct teaching

And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

Tertullian, De Anima (On the Soul) Supporting witness

... And all this, I suppose, because even then he was full of life! Consider again those extraordinary conceptions, even more wonderful, of the barren woman and the virgin. These women could only produce imperfect offspring against the course of nature, from the fact that one of them was too old to bear seed, and the other was untouched by man. If there was to be bearing at all in the case, then, as the philosopher would say, it would only be fitting that they should be born without a soul, since they had been conceived irregularly. However, even these have life, each of them in his mother's womb. Elizabeth rejoices with joy, for John had leaped in her womb, Luke 1:41-45. Mary magnifies the Lord, for Christ had stirred her within, Luke 1:46. The mothers each recognize their own offspring, and each is also recognized by her infant. Therefore those infants were clearly alive, and were not souls only, but spirits also. Accordingly, you read the word of God spoken to Jeremiah: "Before I formed you in the belly, I knew you." Jeremiah 1:5. Since God forms us in the womb, He also breathes on us, just as He did at the first creation, when "the Lord God formed man, and breathed into him the

Tatian, The Diatessaron Direct teaching

... She cried out with a loud voice and said to Mary, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit in your womb. Why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that what was spoken to her from the Lord would be fulfilled." And Mary said,

Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. James Supporting witness

blessed are you among women, and blessed the fruit of your womb, for you bore the Saviour of our souls.

Tatian, The Diatessaron Direct teaching

Luke 1:44 When the sound of your salutation reached my ears, 46 with great joy rejoiced the babe in my womb.

Tatian, The Diatessaron Supporting witness

Luke 1:41 And when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in 43 her womb.

Tatian, The Diatessaron Supporting witness

and cried with a loud voice and said to Mary, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the 44 fruit that is in your womb.

Jeremiah 1:5 Direct teaching

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Direct teaching

How could his soul and its images be formed along with his body, who, before he was created in the womb, is said to be known to God, and was sanctified by Him before his birth?

Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Supporting witness

and that the better soul is implanted within us from heaven, such as was that which, while Jacob was still in the womb, gave him the prize of victory in supplanting his brother Esau, and which in the case of Jeremiah was sanctified from his birth, and in that of John was filled by the Holy Spirit from the womb.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

For He that formed man in the womb out of a little seed, and created in him a soul which was not in being before — as He Himself somewhere speaks to Jeremiah, Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book V Background

Therefore do these men reject the commixture of the heavenly wine, and wish it to be water of the world only, not receiving God so as to have union with Him, but they remain in that Adam who had been conquered and was expelled from Paradise: not considering that as, at the beginning of our formation in Adam, that breath of life which proceeded from God, having been united to what had been fashioned, animated the man, and manifested him as a being endowed with reason;

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book III Supporting witness

..., O house of David," He acts as one indicating that He whom God promised David to raise up from the fruit of his belly as an eternal King is the same who was born of the Virgin, herself from David's lineage. For this reason, He promised that the King would be "of the fruit of his belly," which is the suitable term for a virgin conceiving, and not "of the fruit of his loins," nor "of the fruit of his reins," which is suitable for a man generating and a woman conceiving by a man. In this promise, therefore, the Scripture excluded any male influence; yet it does not mention that He who was born was not from the will of man. But it has established "the fruit of the belly," to declare the birth of Him who would be born from the Virgin, as Elisabeth testified when filled with the Holy Ghost, saying to Mary, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your belly;" the Holy Ghost pointing out to those willing to listen that the promise which God made, of raising up a King from the fruit of David's belly, was fulfilled in the birth from the Virgin, that is, from Mary. Let those, therefore, who alter the passage of Isaiah to "Behold, a young woman shall conceive," and who cl

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book III Supporting witness

But it has fixed and established “the fruit of the belly,” that it might declare the generation of Him who should be [born] from the Virgin, as Elisabeth testified when filled with the Holy Ghost, saying to Mary, “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy belly;” the Holy Ghost pointing out to those willing to hear, that the promise which God had made, of raising up a King from the fruit of [David’s] belly, was fulfilled in the birth from the Virgin, that is, from Mary.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book III Supporting witness

For on this account also, He promised that the King should be “of the fruit of his belly,” which was the appropriate [term to use with respect] to a virgin conceiving, and not “of the fruit of his loins,” nor “of the fruit of his reins,” which expression is appropriate to a generating man, and a woman conceiving by a man.

Matthew 1:18 Background

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.

Luke 1:35 Background

And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.

Ignatius, Epistle to the Trallians (LongVersion) Direct teaching

He who forms all men in the womb, was Himself really in the womb, and made for Himself a body of the seed of the Virgin, but without any intercourse of man.

Tertullian, On the Flesh of Christ Direct teaching

...ed Jesus in her womb not as her son, but only as a stranger, then how does she say, "Blessed is the fruit of your womb"? What is this fruit of the womb, if it did not receive its beginning from the womb, if it did not have its root in the womb, if it does not belong to her whose womb it is, and if it is not, without doubt, the true fruit of the womb, namely Christ? Now, since He is the blossom of the stem that springs from the root of Jesse; and since the root of Jesse is the family of David, and the stem from the root is Mary, descended from David, and the blossom of the stem is Mary's son, who is called Jesus Christ, will He not also be the fruit? For the blossom is the fruit, because through the blossom and from the blossom every product moves from its first beginning to full fruit. What then? They deny the fruit its blossom, and the blossom its stem, and the stem its root. So the root fails to secure for itself, through the stem, that special product that comes from the stem, namely the blossom and the fruit. For every step in a genealogy is traced from the last back to the first. So it is now a well-known fact that the flesh of Christ is inseparable not only from Mary, but

Tertullian, On the Flesh of Christ Direct teaching

...ywhere in the Holy Scriptures. You say that He was born through a virgin, not of a virgin, and in a womb, not of a womb, because the angel said to Joseph in the dream, "That which is born in her is of the Holy Ghost," in Matthew 1:20. But the fact is this. If he had meant "of her," he must have said "in her," since what was "of her" was also "in her." Therefore the angel's phrase, "in her," has exactly the same meaning as the phrase "of her." It is also a fortunate thing that Matthew, when tracing the Lord's line down from Abraham to Mary, says, "Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Christ was born," in Matthew 1:16. But Paul too silences these critics when he says, "God sent forth His Son, made of a woman," in Galatians 4:4. Does he mean through a woman, or in a woman? No, more than that, for the sake of greater emphasis, he uses the word "made" rather than "born," although the use of the latter word would have been simpler. But by saying "made," he not only confirmed the statement, "The Word was made flesh," in John 1:14, but he also declared the reality of the flesh that was made of a virgin. We will also have the support of the Psalms on this point. No

Tertullian, On the Flesh of Christ Supporting witness

What is this fruit of the womb, which received not its germ from the womb, which had not its root in the womb, which belongs not to her whose is the womb, and which is no doubt the real fruit of the womb — even Christ?

Ignatius, The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians (Long Version) Direct teaching

For the Son of God, who was begotten before time began, and established all things according to the will of the Father, He was conceived in the womb of Mary, according to the appointment of God, of the seed of David, and by the Holy Ghost.

Methodius, Oration Concerning Simeon and Anna Supporting witness

But the womb of this virgin, without being opened before, or being impregnated with seed, gave birth to an offspring that transcended nature, while at the same time it was cognate to it, and that without detriment to the indivisible unity, so that the miracle was the more stupendous, the prerogative of virginity likewise remaining intact.

Ignatius of Antioch, Connection to Matthew 1:18 Background

Might it have been, then, an economy for her to conceive while having a betrothed, so that it might not appear as a disgrace upon her body for her to conceive? For it is rightly written in one of the letters of a certain martyr—I mean Ignatius, the second bishop of Antioch after the blessed Peter, who fought with beasts in Rome during the persecution—“and the virginity of Mary escaped the notice of the ruler of this age.” So, if it had not been for what seemed to be a marriage, it would not have escaped his notice, but the ruler of this age would have known that Mary, having never slept with a man, conceived, and thus the conception must be divine.

Hippolytus, Treatise on Christ and Antichrist Supporting witness

45. He, on hearing the salutation addressed to Elisabeth, leaped with joy in his mother's womb, recognising God the Word conceived in the womb of the Virgin.

Ignatius, Epistle to the Trallians (LongVersion) Supporting witness

He was carried in the womb, even as we are, for the usual period of time;