I’ve posted on a Biblical basis for personhood of the preborn, and then most recently blogged on God’s ownership of us and His creation. The next thing to look at as we discuss a biblical/theological framework for the pro-life position is the question – who has the prerogative over human life and death?
“‘See now that I, even I, am he,
and there is no god beside me;
I kill and I make alive;
I wound and I heal;
and there is none that can deliver out of my hand,” (Deuteronomy 32:39, ESV)
The Lord in this verse and the surround passage speaks of Himself as the only true God who controls all of life and history. In the verse above he says – “See now” – this is a personal assertion and suggests strong feeling on God’s part. The Hebrew word is this passage means “understand.” What did God want the Israelites to understand as Moses was reciting the song that the Lord gave to him? That the Lord is God. This assertion is made even more emphatic by repetition of the first person pronoun. “I, even I and the assertion “am he”
The reality of the Lord being God is seen in what He does: He can put to death and He gives life – in that He can rescue and He creates. He is the one who wounded Israel due to their disobedience and He is the only one who can heal. No one can rescue Israel’s enemies out of his hand. He is God. He is in control.
In relation to abortion – God has exclusive prerogatives over human life and death. Not the mother (or in some instances, the state, like in China’s case which has practiced forced abortions to enforce their one child policy), but God alone.
Another passage that relates to this one;
The Lord kills and brings to life;
he brings down to Sheol and raises up, (1 Samuel 2:6, ESV)
Sung by Hannah who was considered barren as she prayed to God the only One who can change her circumstances. Throughout her entire prayer in 1 Samuel 2 you see that God is control.
“You shall not murder,” (Exodus 20:13, ESV)
The theological presumption behind this commandment is that all humans have been created in the image of God, (Genesis 1:26-27). Hebrew possesses seven words for killing, the word used in Exodus 20:13 is rasah and it appears only forty-seven times in the Old Testament. This is the only word that could signify murder where premeditation and intentionality are present.
Because of this, one can not rightly apply this command to accidental killing, self-defense, capital punishment or just war. Except when God specifically delegates that right to man (government – see Romans 13) God alone has the right to take a human life.
And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.
“Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed,
for God made man in his own image, (Genesis 9:5-6, ESV)
God demands the accounting, a reckoning for the taking of a life of another. He also requires it of the pre-born.
“When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe,” (Exodus 21:22-25, ESV)
Who has prerogative over human life and death? God does both for the born and pre-born. We put ourselves on shaky ground (to put it mildly) when we try to assert a right (mother’s choice) which belong to only Him.
It is refreshing to have come upon your blog today. Keep up the faith.
Greetings from Montreal, Canada
Good scripture basis Shane – what can one truly say – it is well done. Even if most of the passages do not relate directly to abortion per se – I think this is a good Christian stance to have…it seems loving of life.
You won’t find any scripture that directly deals with abortion since it wasn’t common. Infantcide was more common. What you have to do is look at what God says about life, His character, and principles from the Word that do apply.
The only challenge for it is that how can we save both soul: The mother and also the baby…. abortion off course killed the baby… but also the mother soul that will be punished by The Lord because of her sin…. both for killed the baby, and also commit adultery…. ( as i can see, most abortion come from the adultery)..
Hope GOD will raise us as a warrior to prevent those soul to go to the hell….
You make a wonderful theological argument, as usual, Shane! I couldn’t agree more that abortion is immoral and is unequivocally forbidden by the scripture. However, this isn’t enough to make the leap from “is” to “ought,” as it were.
Abortion is only one of many sins where the state usurps God’s authority for temporal purposes. It does not follow that this area of morality ought to be legislated any more than any other sin, say gambling or drunkenness. As sinful as these activities may be, the government regulates them within tolerable limits for the sake of the welfare of society as a whole.
Our democratic government has determined that safe abortions ought to be readily available. There are good, utilitarian reasons for this, and it is not the place for any religion to dictate government policy.
What’s truly tragic about the so-called pro-life movement is their neglect of another, more pressing issue stemming from the same sin as abortion, namely the death penalty, which most conservatives in my experience seem very comfortable with. The government has no more right to exercise power of life and death over criminals than foetuses, in fact it is far easier to make the case that condemned criminals are human beings (rather than single celled blastocysts).