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Abortion, infanticide and euthanasia in Christian perspective
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This comment doesn't deal directly with biblical or theological principles, as such, that impact the abortion debate, but it shares some factual information that's useful for Christians to have, and which the secular news media won't share. Since my previous post, abortion advocates have pushed the claim --which at least a number of them know to be false-- that laws against abortions forbid life-saving medical treatment for an "ectopic pregnancy"(that is, a fertilized egg that attaches to the Fallopian tube instead of the uterus, where the baby cannot possibly survive and where his/her growth would also kill the mother).Prior to 1884, ectopic pregnancies were always fatal; but in that year Robert Lawson Tait developed the first successful surgical treatment for removal of the egg, and that became the standard treatment. (Eventually techniques were developed for doing this without surgery.) This was at a time when abortion was universally illegal in the Western world. Treatment of an ectopic pregnancy is no more an "abortion" than extracting a tooth, and nobody in the medical community or legal profession ever imagined or suggested that it was for the next 138 years. No state law prior to the Roe vs. Wade decision ever criminalized treatment of ectopic pregnancy (which was, and is, offered by all medical personnel, including pro-life personnel, engaged in pregnancy care, and always will be). No state law passed since then criminalizes it; no state law passed since the recent Doe vs. Bolton decision criminalizes it. Nor is such a law contemplated, by anybody. That isn't an "opinion;" it's a fact.
This blog post by Randy Alcorn provides helpful information on this topic: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog... . (See also
https://www.liveaction.org/news/plann... .) It's important for Christians to be able to debunk disinformation when it's deployed, with ulterior motives, as a weapon to subvert public policy discussions.
Thank you for commenting on this important topic. The murder of the most innocent members of society is the number one issue facing our culture today. The fact that most Christian’s don’t seem to be moved by this atrocity is sad beyond belief. We all need to be praying that God would break our hearts over the murder of innocent babies, and cause His people to call out to Him in repentance.
Werner wrote: does not specifically prohibit abortion.....infanticideYes, it did, the cult of Baal, Chemosh, and Molech worship practiced infanticide, and God called it an abomination. Deuteronomy 12:31, Deut. 18:9-10, 2 Kings 21:6, Jeremiah 19:5, and more. Ezekiel 23:37, and more.
Moloch, also spelled Molech, a Canaanite deity associated in biblical sources with the practice of child sacrifice.
and:
https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2014-01-23-...
Werner wrote: "Nathan wrote (on a different thread): "I was encouraged to see your Supreme Court reversal of Roe v Wade after nearly 50 years. We are all made in God's image, and as image-bearers every human life..."I remember when abortion was correctly viewed as shocking and wrong. Unborn babies are innocent humans. Innocent. Proverbs 6:16-19
King James Version
16 These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
Franquie wrote: "Thank you for commenting on this important topic. The murder of the most innocent members of society is the number one issue facing our culture today. The fact that most Christian’s don’t seem to b..."I completely agree with you. The carnal apathy among today's Christians is appalling.
Nancy wrote: "Werner wrote: does not specifically prohibit abortion.....infanticideYes, it did, the cult of Baal, Chemosh, and Molech worship practiced infanticide, and God called it an abomination."
Nancy, the point of my post (message 1) is that the Bible very definitely does condemn abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia, and that defenders of those practices who claim to be Christians --or who don't necessarily claim to be, but who want to drum up support from those who do-- make their case by misrepresenting or ignoring the Bible's teaching. A linchpin of their argument, of course, is that the word "infanticide," like the others, doesn't occur in the Bible. Professed "Christian" defenders of infanticide claim that the "abomination" in the passages you cited only consists of the idolatrous aspect --that is, that the prophets weren't objecting to the killing of children as such (which, in this view, would have been perfectly okay if it had been done for a secular purpose, like reducing the number of mouths to feed); it supposedly only becomes a no-no if it's done with the avowed intention of offering the child to a pagan god.
You and I (and, I would surmise, most members of this group) can recognize that argument for the intellectually dishonest sophistry that it is. And by "intellectually dishonest," I mean that most of those who peddle it do not themselves actually accept the authority of the Bible, nor actually believe that their claimed "interpretation" of this part of it really represents what the prophets were saying. They only hope it will be convincing to other nominal Christians, or to Christians poorly grounded in the Bible, who are tempted to grab on to any plausible-sounding excuse for going with the flow of a selfishness-based, anti-God surrounding culture.
Unfortunately, in the entire Western world in 2022, the preceding sentence pretty well describes vast numbers of the membership of most denominations and local churches --which is why the witness of the church is compromised, muted and confused. What is needed in our day and time (as it is in every day and time) is a church culture that teaches people to study the whole Bible faithfully, that proclaims truth lovingly without hedging and soft-peddling it, and that isn't afraid to admonish sin, to counsel the sinners for repentance, and to excommunicate impenitent sinners and de-platform false teachers who aim to enable sin. (Some pertinent Scriptures to ponder here are Acts 17:11, II Timothy 3:16, Matthew 18:15-17, I Corinthians 5:9-15, Titus 1:10-13, and I Peter 4:17.)
Werner wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Werner wrote: does not specifically prohibit abortion.....infanticideYes, it did, the cult of Baal, Chemosh, and Molech worship practiced infanticide, and God called it an abominatio..."
Well, it bothers me immensely if someone says "the bible does not say this..." when it does. I know what you mean about false teachers and false Christians twisting Scripture to make it fit their sins comfortably. I also am very well acquainted with Christians who don't read their bible, and have no idea what it says, I've dealt with those types for years. Years. (but they keep spouting off about how the bible does not say or does say something) I'm precise when it comes to the Word of God, or I don't say anything at all. We will all be held accountable for every idle word we speak. All of us, so we have to be careful when we talk about such a perfect, holy, and pure book as the King James bible.
Werner wrote:I mean that most of those who peddle it do not themselves actually accept the authority of the Bible, nor actually believe that their claimed "interpretation" of this part of it really represents what the prophets were saying. They only hope it will be convincing to other nominal Christians, or to Christians poorly grounded in the Bible, who are tempted to grab on to any plausible-sounding excuse for going with the flow of a selfishness-based, anti-God surrounding culture.EXACTLY! I agree with you. It's astounding, how few Christians actually read their bible. They ARE the ones who will end up in Hell, due to their own ignorance, or they will end up in a false religion, and those abound IN the churches now. New Age mysticism, etc.
Werner, THANK YOU for your well thought out response. How anyone can argue with you (or more importantly GOD who makes it very clear in the Bible that murder is SIN… and considering it’s clear in the Bible that He knew us while still in the womb, then it follows that we are unique human beings before birth and it is MURDER to kill another human being!). Keep preaching the truth! 🙌
Thanks to those who've commented so far! Your thoughts are appreciated (especially since many threads in this folder don't elicit much comment!). It's encouraging that --at least in this group, going by the posts above-- the consensus recognizes that God's love command includes the unborn (as well as other vulnerable members of the human race), and that it's not acceptable to make up fashionable exemptions.Carrying the discussion forward, another area I'd like this thread to explore is: how can we, as individuals and as a Christian community, best incorporate this understanding into our own personal discipleship, and into our witness to the gospel (which both calls for repentance, and offers forgiveness) and Christian education of believers? And how can we best promote just and decent treatment of the unborn, and of pregnant mothers, in a heathen society that's profoundly hostile to both of them?
Werner wrote: "Thanks to those who've commented so far! Your thoughts are appreciated (especially since many threads in this folder don't elicit much comment!). It's encouraging that --at least in this group, goi..."Support pro-life groups, help unwed mothers, adopt/foster children, volunteer at crisis pregnancy centers, etc. Those would be my initial thoughts.
Werner wrote: "Thanks to those who've commented so far! Your thoughts are appreciated (especially since many threads in this folder don't elicit much comment!). It's encouraging that --at least in this group, goi..."Supporting Abby Johnson's ministry, And Then There Were None, which reaches out to abortion workers to support them in leaving the abortion industry (which can be very difficult and filled with reproductions) and find new jobs is another good option.
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I am reminded that elections have consequences. While I do not for one second imagine Donald Trump to be a person worth emulating, I am thankful that God appointed him as President of the US in 2016 and that he in turn appointed three conservative justices to the USSC."
Surprisingly, we've never had a thread in this folder devoted specifically to the "life issues," the basic question of whether innocent human life should be protected, by individuals and by civil society, simply because it's human. I say "surprisingly," because this is one of the most obvious areas where classical Christian morality, grounded on the ethical teaching of the Bible, clashes with the aggressive ideology of the secular world, as it organizes itself politically and socially in militant opposition to God and His kingdom. The recent Supreme Court decision in the U.S. and the resulting furor (including the epidemic of pro-abortion arson and vandalism directed against churches and crisis pregnancy centers) makes this a particularly timely subject to address.
The claim is sometimes made that "the Bible doesn't mention abortion." True, the Bible doesn't specifically prohibit abortion (or infanticide or euthanasia) as such, using that precise terminology. Likewise, it doesn't specifically prohibit arson, anywhere from Genesis 1:1 all the way through to Revelation 22:21 (you can look it up). Nor does it ever state explicitly that the command "You shall not murder" prohibits murdering Gentiles, females, males, red-haired people, persons born on Tuesdays, etc. Nor does it have to.
Taken as a whole, the Bible proclaims the theme that the entire human race was directly created by God and is the particular object of his love, care and grace (and indeed, as Nathan noted above, made in his own image), and the love commands that embody the whole law are both addressed to all humans and embrace all humans. As the parable of the Good Samaritan makes clear, every member of the human race is our neighbor, whether they're Samaritans or babies in the womb. So yes, the "mere biological humanity" that abortion apologists sneer at entitles your fellow biological humans to the same consideration to which it entitles you. And the general ethical principles for how humans should be treated, laid down in commands like the Golden Rule and "You shall not murder" are understood to be universal in scope for that reason. That's the basic core of the issue, and the Bible's message is unequivocal.
There's a great deal of helpful material written on the life issues; but the only entire book I've personally read on the subject is an older one, Handbook on Abortion (I read the 1972 edition) by John C. Wilkie. Despite its age, I'd still recommend it as a worthwhile resource on the subject (the moral issues are the same in 2022 as they were in 1972). If anyone's interested, my review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .