View 1: Creationism
Creationism, teaches that each individual’s inner man is a fresh act of divine creation. According to this view, when a child is conceived and born, God creates the child’s inner man (the soul and spirit). The parents provide the physical body through reproduction, but the spiritual aspect of the person comes directly from God.
Since man was created in the image of God, the soul cannot be explained merely through biology. Genesis 2:7 supports the belief that life ultimately comes from God, because Adam became a living soul only after God breathed life into him. Jeremiah 1:5, says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” Creationism therefore strongly affirms that God is the ultimate source of human life.
However, one difficulty with strict Creationism is the problem of inherited sin. If God directly creates every soul, how should we explain the sinful nature present in every human being?
View 2: Traducianism
Traducianism teaches that each individual’s inner man is inherited from parents. According to this view, just as physical characteristics are inherited from parents, the immaterial aspect of human life is also passed on. Adam and Eve received their inner man directly from God, but later generations receive their souls through the reproductive process God established.
Traducianism explains the universal presence of sin. Since Adam’s nature was corrupted through the Fall, his descendants inherited a sinful nature. Psalm 51:5 says, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.”
Nevertheless, Traducianism can create theological difficulties if it appears to reduce the human soul to a biological product. The soul is not simply physical matter. Therefore, Traducianism must still acknowledge that God is the Creator and Sustainer of life. Human parents do not create life independently of God.
Myer Pearlman’s view
Teaches that God’s direct creative activity and the ordinary biological process of human reproduction work together. In this view, parents truly beget children, but they do so under the laws and sustaining power of God. Human procreation is therefore cooperation with the Creator.
Personal Evaluation
I agree most strongly with Myer Pearlman’s view because it gives a balanced explanation of the biblical evidence. Creationism correctly emphasizes that God is the source of the human soul and that every person is more than a biological organism. Traducianism correctly emphasizes inherited human nature, the transmission of sin, and the fact that children receive genuine human characteristics from their parents. However, each view becomes incomplete when it is presented in isolation.
This view recognizes that God and human parents do not function as competing sources. Parents participate in bringing forth a new person, but they do not replace God as Creator. This view preserves both God’s sovereignty and human participation.