Across 2022 we’ve chosen to look at some of the more controversial topics during the holidays. Last week we looked at abortion, which arguably causes the most heated debates in society today. The questions we asked were, (i) what does the Bible say about abortion, and (ii) what can the church do to improve the current abortion statistics in which over 50,000,000 babies are killed every year. That’s twice the population of Australia being killed every year.
The way the Bible does ethics is called ‘teleology’, which looks at the (a) nature, and (b) purpose of a thing. For example, according to Gen 9:1-6, the nature of a human is an image bearer of God. The purpose of a human is ‘to bring glory to God and enjoy Him forever’. This is why murder is wrong. It destroys an image bearer of God, and prevents them from bringing God glory. Yet how does this apply to unborn babies?
An argument can be made that for the first 4 weeks of pregnancy, the zygote is nothing more than a bunch of cells, making it difficult to argue against abortion using the nature and purpose of a human. But what is the nature and purpose of that zygote? Well it is a living being (growing and multiplying cells), with human DNA. What then is the purpose of this life form that is human in kind? To grow into an image bearer of God. So to behave towards an unborn baby in accordance with it’s nature and purpose means giving that baby what it needs to fulfil it’s purpose; not kill it. From this perspective, the Bible is clearly against abortion in all it’s forms, unless the life of the mother is at risk.
Yet how should we treat a mother (or couple) who have chosen to have an abortion. Well given they too are image bearers, they are to be treated with the same dignity, respect, forgiveness and love that God has shown to you and me, who are also grievous sinners. As such, Christians should (i) strongly counsel mothers against abortion, (ii) offer to assist these scares women in raising or adopting out their child, and (iii) do everything we can to care for the mother (and her baby), no matter what decision she makes.
