The Origin of the Soul Before we leave this subject entirely, something must be said about the origin of the human soul. With virtually unanimous rejection of the idea of the preexistence of souls put forward by Plato, by Origen, and by other Alexandrian Fathers, because it is devoid of scriptural support, the church has, throughout the history of dogma, framed the issue of the soul’s origin in terms either of “creationism” or of “traducianism.” The creationist view, emphasizing the vertical nature