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Solomon captures the aporia of beginnings in Ecclesiastes 3:15: "That which is has been already, and that which will be has already been, for God seeks what has passed by." This not only restates "there is nothing new under the sun" but also suggests that the search for an origin "uncorrupted" by a surplus is elusive, shrouded in the mist.
A human life begins when sperm unites with egg. But this human life would not begun unless the man whose sperm it is met the woman who contributes the egg. So even the beginning of a human life is not the beginning. And when we push back and back, we come finally to an infinite regress, the decree of an infinite God.
This too is vapor and shepherding wind.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Monday, January 02, 2006 at 01:25 PM
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