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Rescue those being led away to death; Hold back those staggering towards slaughter If you say “But we knew nothing about this”, Does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?
Proverbs 24:11–12
Last summer an estimated half a million people were massacred in one of the worst holocausts ever witnessed. the civil war in Rwanda and the brutal bloodshed that we, through daily media coverage witnessed, caused many Christians and non-Christians to offer both financial and voluntary help to all those involved in the relief effort. And rightly so as Rwanda was and still is a massive human tragedy. Few would think or accept, however, that another human tragedy of similar proportions occurred last year in the U.K. During that period an estimated 200,000 unborn children lost their right to life. The figure worldwide greatly exceeds that of any human tragedy in recent years, yet the response to those who feel the need to uphold the dignity of human life in the womb is that of condemnation.
As a Christian I have to ask why the response to the abortion issue from people of faith has been so muted? It is clear that abortion is not an easy issue. It is a tremendously emotive and extremely complex subject; it often seems easier not to get involved. People feel confused, and are often frightened by the intensity and ramifications of the argument. Yet I feel that not getting involved and not speaking out creates a very guilty silence. For as Ezekiel said “If the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn people, and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.” (Ez 33:6). It is widely recognised however that there is a division within the Christian community on the abortion issue, and those Christians who do not accept the authority of the Pope are often confused as to what God has to say about abortion. For as Paul says in 1 Cor. 14:8 “If the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle?”. In a society that has turned issues that are black and white into ones which appear grey, it is important as Christians for us to discover what God has to say to us with regards to the problems of this world. Using various Christian orientated texts; notably Love Your Unborn Neighbour by S.P.U.C, I will try to present a scriptural argument against abortion. Before I outline the argument, I would like to make clear that I accept that this argument rests on my interpretation of scripture, and is therefore subjective. I am not trying to say that my belief is the authoritative Christian belief on abortion, I am simply trying to present a case against abortion that will appeal to Christians.
There is only one clear reference to abortion in the Bible and that in Exodus 21:22–25; it discusses the miscarriage of a child caused by a pregnant woman being accidentally hit by two men fighting, stating that the husband of the woman can claim damages against the plaintiff. Although this passage does not place the unborn child on a par with the adult, there is still a significant value placed upon the child, and we must remember that we are reading about an accidental miscarriage, and not a deliberately induced abortion. This is the only direct command within the Bible, but both the Old and New Testaments contain valuable insight into God’s message on the abortion issue.
The sanctity of human life is established for us in the sixth commandment, and there is no dispute that to take human life is a sin. I believe that there is an underlying trend throughout the Bible which confirms that the human life begins at conception, and as a result the unborn child is covered by the sixth commandment. Perhaps one of the best known examples of this is Psalm 139:13–16 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb … My frame was not hidden from you, when I was made in the Secret Place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body.”. The psalmist is clearly stating that God is very much involved in the development of the child in the womb. In Abortion, a booklet by John Stott, the concept of continuity is discussed. In Psalm 139 the writer, “thinking and writing as a grown man has the same personal identity before and after birth as embryo, baby, youth and adult, he is conscious of being the same person.” (page 15). Stott goes on to mention the covenant that the psalmist has with God, the I-You relationship, began not after birth but at the very moment of conception. This theme of Creation, Continuity and Covenant is clearly seen throughout the Old Testament. In Job 10:18–19 “Why then did you bring me out of the womb? I wish I had died before any eye saw me.” In Genesis, Rebecca asks the Lord why the children jostle with each other within her, God’s reply is “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated.” (Genesis 25:22). In Jeremiah 20:16 the prophet asks “May he hear wailing in the morning, a battle cry at noon. For he did not kill me in the womb.” And in Jeremiah 1:5 we are told “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.”. What can Psalm 22:10 mean “From my mother’s womb you have been my God”, other than that the covenant starts in the womb? Further evidence of the relationship with God starting in the womb can be found in Isaiah 44:2, 44:24, 49:5 indeed the beautiful Isaiah 49 has in the first verse “Before I was born the Lord called me”.
But perhaps the most striking evidence of the sanctity of the unborn child comes in Luke’s Gospel. In Luke 1:15 we are told that Elizabeth’s womb will be filled by the Holy Spirit, and in 1:41–44 the unborn John leaps in the womb. In Luke 1:35 and Matthew 1:20 the incarnation of Jesus Christ takes place, and it is important to note that it is not at Jesus’ birth that he becomes the Son of Man, but at the very moment the Holy Spirit enters Mary. In Luke 1:43 Elizabeth acknowledges that the unborn Jesus is already her Lord. Indeed Luke is extraordinary in his reference to the unborn, and it is interesting that Luke uses the Greek ‘brephos’, for the unborn John, which is the same word as is used to describe the newborn baby Jesus, and the little children Jesus later blesses. The examples in Job, the Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Luke all go to confirm according to Nigel Cameron and Pamela Simms that “there is a complete continuity between life inside and life outside the womb … The point of conception is the moment at which there comes into existence a person who bears the image of God, who joins in the guilt of his race and who is capable of being filled with the Holy Spirit” (page 22 Abortion: the crisis in morals and medicine). It seems that God certainly is trying to present us with guidance on this issue, and as Christians is it not important for us to respond to that? I am certainly not trying to say that you have to accept my arguments, but I do think that it is vital that you at least attempt to discover what God has to say to you about the abortion issue.
I feel that the evidence in scripture with regard to the unborn is very challenging, and as a Christian I have come to the personal conclusion that abortion is wrong, and that as a Christian I should defend the rights of those who are weakest and marginalised in our society. After all what rights do you have if you do not have the basic right to life? As part of my Pro-life work I am involved with a group on campus called Choose Life who campaign against abortion and euthanasia. We feel that the need to express an alternative view on abortion, in a place where it is widely believed to be right, is vital. We are not party-political, we have equal numbers of male and female members, and we do not specify any religious denomination. We are not exclusively Christian nor do we wish to be, but we do feel that there are many Christians on campus who can help us with our work. We need people to participate in what we feel is a tremendously important campaign. If you could help or would like more information then could you contact Michael Comac (Langwith) or Email mc104@tower.york.ac.uk. I will finish with a wonderfully apt quote from Deuteronomy “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” (Deut.30:19).
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Last modified: 25th November 2005