Sandy, I believe you have hit upon the great argument between Calvin and the Roman Church. he, of course, took the line of justification by faith, rather than works.
I do sometimes wonder if I'm the only layperson who actually frequents R&S. I wouldn't be surprised if many of the other posters were ministers giving their dark side a run out via the medium of the internet.
For example, I struggle to put into words my humane faith and Seadogg readily knows that my poor words echo a centuries earlier struggle between Calvin and the RC Church, 'Justification by Faith'.
Makes you wonder.
"The line has to be drawn somewhere. Imagine our cousins, the Great Apes, had souls. Then why not baboons, dolphins, and the like. Where would it all end? How could a believer be anything but a vegan? "
how convenient.
Just reinforces my original point. If the fish had had souls it would have been nut cutlets or veggie burgers for the 5000 at the picnic.
An unfortunate human is often referred to as a poor old soul. Why?
When soles breed the female just swims over a small gravel pit she has dug and lays her eggs, and then the male passes over the eggs and sheds his milt over the eggs to fertilise the eggs. They never actually... er... you know, hence 'the saying poor old sole'. A cruel streak in the Creator?