In Orthodox Christian theology, there are several opinions about the origin of human souls. They appeared at different times, and some hypotheses were soon rejected by the Church itself, as contrary to Holy Tradition and Christian tradition.
The theory of the pre-existence of human souls
This theory was first articulated by the eminent Christian theologian of the first centuries Origen. Being an adherent of ancient philosophy, Origen tried to rework the teachings of Plato, Pythagoras and other ancient philosophers about the soul, putting Christian meaning in the theory. Thus, Origen argued that God originally created many souls who were in the contemplation of the Creator. Then, for some reason, the souls got tired of contemplation and deviated from it.
The most sinful souls became demons, and the least - angels. And when man was created, souls of "average sinfulness" entered him. This teaching was rejected by the Church in the 5th century, as contrary to Holy Scripture. If we consider the sending of the soul into the body as a punishment, then there would be no coming of Christ into the world. And sin itself appeared only during the fall of people.
The theory of the creation of human souls
According to this theory, souls are created by God out of nothing for each individual person. In this case, the question arises about the time of creation of the soul. There are two opinions. The first is the moment of conception, the second is the fortieth day. The Church adopted the doctrine of the creation of the soul at the moment of conception. The advantages of this theory are that it shows the immateriality of the soul, explains its high dignity. In addition, it is possible to explain the different talents of people, in accordance with the idea of the individual creation of souls by God for everyone. However, there are also disadvantages to this theory. It does not explain the ways of conveying the sinfulness of human nature. After all, if the soul is created by God every time out of nothing, then where does sin come from? Sin itself is in the will, the soul, not the body. Some discrepancy turns out.
The theory of the birth of human souls
The theory appears in the 4th century simultaneously with a second look at the origin of human souls. Thus, it is assumed that a person's soul is "born" from his parents. Figuratively speaking, souls are born from one another, like fire from fire or light from light. But this theory also has its drawbacks. It is sometimes difficult to explain the qualitative difference between children and their parents. Or, for example, a person does not know from whom exactly the soul is born - from the soul of a mother or a father, or maybe from both? Here we can say that a person does not know this to the extent of ignorance of the laws of the spiritual world, established by God. the positive side can be called the explanation of the transfer of the sinfulness of human nature from parents (original sin).
At the present time, the Orthodox Church accepts theories about the creation of souls by God and the birth of the latter from parents. These opinions complement each other and provide a possible view of the essence of the origin of human souls. For a Christian, one should know that at the moment of the origin of the soul, man is a co-worker with God. That is, it can be assumed that a person receives the spiritual nature of the soul precisely from his parents, but people become a unique personality under the direct influence of God, who is able to endow a person with various talents.
