What Does the Bible Say About Abortion?
1 view
Ryan Turner of www.carm.org discusses the biblical view of abortion
- 00:12
- What does the Bible actually say about abortion? The Bible does not specifically mention the word abortion, but it has a number of significant things to say about unborn children.
- 00:22
- These biblical statements indicate that the unborn are persons, therefore abortion is wrong since it is killing a human being.
- 00:30
- A simplified form of our argument is the following. Premise 1. It is wrong to murder a person.
- 00:37
- Premise 2. The unborn is a person. Conclusion. Therefore, it is wrong to murder the unborn.
- 00:44
- Let's unpack those three premises a little bit more. Premise 1. It is wrong to murder a person. There are a few objections to the notion that it is wrong to murder a person.
- 00:54
- Murder is the unlawful taking of someone's life, while killing is the lawful taking of someone's life.
- 01:00
- For just a small sample of the biblical passages forbidding murder, see Genesis 9 .6,
- 01:06
- Matthew 15 .19, and Matthew 19 .18. So, with that said, the premise number 2 is
- 01:12
- I think where we're going to have to spend more time. The unborn is actually a person, according to the Bible.
- 01:18
- It is this premise which is disputed by many in our culture today, however the Bible clearly teaches that the unborn is a person due to the following seven reasons.
- 01:27
- First of all, the unborn possesses personal attributes such as sin and joy. In Psalm 51, verse 5,
- 01:35
- David says, In Luke 1 .44,
- 01:42
- it says, Second, the
- 01:50
- Bible also uses personal pronouns to describe unborn children. Jeremiah 1 .5
- 01:55
- says, Matthew 1 .20
- 02:05
- -21 also says, Third, Jesus was a baby from conception.
- 02:30
- Regarding the conception of Jesus, Matthew 1 .20 says, The fact that the angel tells
- 02:47
- Joseph that the child who has been conceived is of the Holy Spirit indicates that Jesus certainly was a person at the moment of conception.
- 02:57
- Fourth, the unborn are called children. Luke 1 .41 states, Fifth, and perhaps one of the stronger arguments against abortion from scripture is the fact that the same punishment is applicable to someone who kills or injures an unborn child as for one who kills or injures an adult.
- 03:23
- Exodus 21, verses 22 -23 states, This strongly indicates that the
- 03:48
- Mosaic Law viewed the unborn as persons worthy of the same protection and rights as adults.
- 03:55
- Sixth, another reason that the unborn child is a person is the fact that the unborn are called by God before birth.
- 04:02
- Almost echoing the prophetic commission of Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1 .5 where God says He knew Jeremiah before birth,
- 04:09
- Isaiah 49 .1 says something interesting. It says, That's again in Isaiah 49 .1.
- 04:25
- Another reason, which is the seventh reason, the unborn are known personally and intimately by God in the same way
- 04:31
- He would know any other person. Describing David, Psalm 139, verses 15 -16 says,
- 04:55
- Describing the prophet Jeremiah, Jeremiah 1 .5 says, So in conclusion, the
- 05:07
- Bible definitely teaches that the unborn are persons because the unborn possess personal attributes, are described by personal pronouns,
- 05:15
- Jesus is called a child at conception, the unborn are called children, are protected by the same punishment as for adults, are called by God before birth, and are known personally by God just like any other person.