RE: Why did Jesus suffer for sinners and not victims
June 7, 2021 at 10:55 pm
(This post was last modified: June 8, 2021 at 12:17 am by John 6IX Breezy.)
(June 7, 2021 at 9:39 pm)vulcanlogician Wrote: Read up on totipotent cells. In humans, they are formed after fertilization, but BEFORE any one individual person becomes inevitable from the gestation process. I think they say something important about the issue. Whether you agree or disagree, I'd like to hear your thoughts on the matter.
Here are my initial thoughts after a brief reading. I didn't realize that totipotent cells where stem cells, or that stem cells were categorized by potency. So totipotent cells in humans are what we call a zygote—the fertilized egg. (The first 4-8 divisions remain totipotent; which means a zygote can produce more zygotes if I understood correctly.)
Your initial question was: "How is fertilization (ie. the event that creates the collection of totipotent cells) responsible singly for any of these three potential lives?"
I think the simplest response is just to say that fertilization is the creation of a new organism/organisms (singular or plural). If two organisms arise from the same fertilized egg you would be having monozygotic twins. So I think that part of the equation doesn't change, fertilization is just creating more organisms when it comes to twins (I may amend this position later). But I think the issue at the root of your question has more to do with identity. There is a period of time during which there is one organism before there are two. And I think you're asking whether the identity of that organism is lost and replaced, or divided and shared, or perhaps even preserved and added to.
Amendment: I now think its better to say that fertilization creates a new organism (singular) but that cleavage can produce more (plural). This does not mean the act of cleavage cancels out fertilization. In other words, fertilization always produces a new organism, but with an asterisk that cleavage can then produce more.
