The death of the Pope has relit a number of arguments, few more contentious than the status of the foetus. Naturally, on a subject about which the Bible has almost nothing to say, the Church has taken its cue mostly from pagan thinkers.
For the early Church, Pythagoras (6th century bc) set the tone, arguing that from the moment of conception the foetus was body and soul with every innate human capacity intact.
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