February 2012
The issue of abortion is never directly dealt with in Scripture. It’s true that if you read the bible from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation, you will never come across the word “abortion.” However, the bible is explicit in its condemnation of murder, and the bible says plenty about children inside and outside of the womb. Since the bible expressly condemns the shedding of innocent blood, recognizing the injustice of abortion is fairly easy.
There are a number of examples where Scripture uses the exact same words to describe babies before birth and babies after birth. In Genesis 25:22 we read, “The children struggled together within her,” speaking of the twins in Rebekah’s womb. The word children is the ordinary word used for children (or sons) outside the womb. Luke 1:41 tells us that “when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb”. This is the same word for babe (brephos) that is used in Luke 2:12 and 16 for the baby Jesus and in Luke 18:15 for infants. Even more significant than the word usage is the description of what this unborn child did. John the Baptist, still in the womb, leapt for joy in recognition of the presence of Christ, who was also still in the womb.
There is also testimony in the bible of biblical authors describing themselves in the womb in very personal terms. In Psalm 51:5, David refers to himself in the womb as “I” and “me”. It was David in the womb of his mother, it wasn’t an it or a thing. It wasn’t a “pre-David”. Isaiah speaks the same way in Isaiah 49:1. He says, “The LORD called Me from the womb; From the body of My mother He named Me.” God’s call upon Isaiah came before he was born. When the prophet was in the womb of his mother, God called him. Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Before Jeremiah was even formed, God knew him. His consecration came before birth, not after. Luke 1:15 states that John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit “while yet in his mother’s womb”. There is no biblical evidence of “non-persons” being filled with the Holy Spirit, and John the Baptist was, before he was born. Finally in Galatians 1:15, Paul says that God “set [him] apart even from [his] mother’s womb”. God’s calling comes before birth.
Another insight into the bible’s view of unborn life comes through the various passages like Psalm 139:13 that speak of God’s “unique, person-forming work” in the womb. In Job 31:13-15, Job argues that it is God’s work in the womb that compels him to not mistreat his servant. “Did not He who made me in the womb make him, And the same one fashion us in the womb?” Even though Job was born to a free-woman and his servant was born to a bond-woman, they were both formed by God in the womb and this becomes the basis of their mutual dignity and worth.
Abortion destroys something that God is actively creating, and as Job 1:21 tells us, God alone has the right to give and take life.
Psalm 82:3-4 is a passage which parallels Proverbs 24:11-12 in many ways: “Vindicate the weak and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and destitute. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.” Through passages like these, God is calling his people to intervene whenever the vulnerable are threatened, be it an individual or an entire group.
…I hope that helps. God bless!
Sorry so random lately, my baby brother had a heart attack so I’m spending a lot of time on that.
February 1, 2012
I have made several calls to the Republican Party of Iowa in the past few weeks asking about the name of the mystery “telecom” that was involved in the January 3 caucus. Today, I spoke with Ryan Gough, organization director of the party. Once again I asked Gough if he could tell me the name of the telecom involved in the caucus. He asked me to hold on “a second” and went to meet with his boss, I assume.
I thought references to the “Creator” were specific enough, but I guess not…
The vast majority of Americans identify themselves as Christian.
The Church of the Holy Trinity vs. the United States in 1892 declared, “These, and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial…
Ron Paul wants the UN out of the US and the US out of the UN …
Our Congress worked diligently to change our Constitution’s Natural Born Citizen Clause and failed eight times between 2003 and 2008 – all in an effort to pave the way for their rising star, and unconstitutional candidate, Barack Obama. Fortunately, others in Congress worked just as diligently to kill the legislation, but have remained silent on other issues of Obama’s standing
