Stillbirths, Miscarriages, and the Question of When Life Begins
Early Christian Reflections on the Moment of Ensoulment
From the earliest centuries of Christianity, theologians wrestled with the question of when the soul enters the body, yet the answers they offered varied widely. Those who embraced creation ex nihilo often concluded that the soul must originate at the same moment the body begins to form—typically understood as conception. Tertullian argued firmly that the beginning of life and the beginning of the soul occur together, with no separation between physical origin and spiritual animation. Clement of Alexandria took a slightly different view, teaching that although the body forms first, the soul is introduced later under the direction of an angel.
Other influential Christian thinkers, including Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, proposed stages of development, suggesting that the soul might enter the body after a period of forty or eighty days. A minority held that ensoulment occurred only at birth. With no universal consensus among early Christian writers, the question remained unsettled throughout the Christian world.
Brigham Young’s Teachings Within Latter-day Saint Thought
Within the early Latter-day Saint tradition, Brigham Young spoke openly about this subject, offering an opinion that the spirit enters the body at the moment a mother first feels the infant move—an experience long referred to as “quickening.” In sermons delivered in 1859 and again in 1874, Brigham expressed that this first sensation of life marks the moment when spirit unites with flesh. He also taught that whether a life lasts minutes, years, or decades, the time will come in the resurrection when the spirit and the perfected body will be reunited. His teachings were influential but never canonized, and thus remain theological opinion rather than binding doctrine in the Church.
The Smith Family’s Experiences With Infant Loss
The question of early death was not abstract for Joseph Smith or Emma; it shaped the earliest years of their marriage. Their first child died at birth or shortly afterward. In Kirtland, the twins Emma bore survived only a brief time. Another child, the Murdoch twin they adopted, died following the violent attack on Joseph in 1832. These tragedies left lasting wounds, and Joseph carried the emotional weight of these losses throughout his ministry. He sought understanding regarding the fate of those who die before receiving ordinances, especially as such questions touched the heart of his own family.
A Brother Lost and a Vision of Hope
The death of Alvin Smith in 1823, occurring before baptism was available, deeply troubled Joseph. When the vision recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 76 was received in 1832, Joseph learned that no one enters the celestial kingdom without baptism. This doctrine caused him to question how Alvin—good, faithful, and unbaptized—could be saved.
Four years later, in the Kirtland Temple dedication period of 1836, Joseph received a vision now preserved in Doctrine and Covenants 137. To his astonishment, he saw Alvin in the celestial kingdom. The revelation declared that all who would have received the gospel with full intent will inherit celestial glory, even if they died without baptism. This profound experience laid the foundation for the doctrine of salvation for the dead and opened the way for later revelations, including baptisms for the dead in 1840.
Suffering Without Explanation: Joseph Smith and the Missouri Persecutions
In 1833, while Joseph was in Kirtland, news arrived of violent persecution in Jackson County, Missouri. Mobs destroyed property, burned homes, whipped and terrorized families, and expelled the Saints from the county. Joseph received these reports in devastation. Writing to the suffering Saints, he expressed both grief and confusion. He insisted that Zion had not forfeited its promised blessings, yet he could not understand why the innocent were subjected to such brutality. Although he pleaded for answers, the only divine response he recorded was the quiet but firm command: “Be still and know that I am God.” This moment revealed that even prophets, despite deep spiritual gifts, are sometimes required to walk forward without full explanation.
Joseph Smith’s Teaching on Loss and Restoration
In the final years of his life, Joseph Smith offered one of the most significant reassurances in all Latter-day Saint history. He declared that every loss—no matter how painful or irretrievable—would one day be restored by the power of God. “All your losses will be made up to you in the resurrection,” he taught, “provided you continue faithful,” adding that he knew this not by theory but “by the vision of the Almighty.” This statement became a cornerstone of Latter-day Saint hope, affirming that no righteous desire, no broken relationship, and no life cut short is beyond the reach of divine restoration.
Historical Conclusions
The historical record shows that early Christian thinkers held widely differing views on ensoulment. Brigham Young provided a nineteenth-century Latter-day Saint perspective rooted in “quickening,” but his statements remained personal interpretation rather than canon. Joseph Smith’s experiences—marked by infant deaths, violent persecution, unanswered questions, and powerful revelations—demonstrate that God often reveals truth line upon line and sometimes withholds answers even from prophets. His vision of Alvin and his later teachings on restoration affirm the expansive scope of God’s mercy and the assurance that every righteous loss will be reclaimed through the resurrection.