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THE ABORTION CONTROVERSY CHAPTER ELEVEN Puzzling Passages Made Plain
The
prevailing belief that man has an immortal soul has given rise to a
great deal of confusion and misunderstanding. Some of the
speculation that emanates from this falsehood is that since God
predicted the birth and life of some persons, it is automatically
assumed that they already exist somewhere other than on the earth.
Hence, the non-biblical belief that when an "immortal soul" is
infused into the fertilized egg, it has full standing as a person
and abortion is tantamount to killing or, as some say, murder.
God predicted, through the prophet Isaiah, that an emperor by the
name of Cyrus would someday make it possible for the Jews to return
to their homeland and be freed from their Babylonian captivity. In
the following passage, God likens Cyrus to a faithful shepherd who
cares for his sheep:
"Who says of Cyrus, 'He is my shepherd, and he shall perform all My
Those who hold to the teaching of the natural immortality of the
soul can easily draw the conclusion that since God foreknew Cyrus,
that he was indeed a person prior to his birth. The question to be
asked and answered is: Was Cyrus a person one and a half centuries
before he was conceived, simply because God knew about him and his
future life and activities? If one does not hold to the doctrine of
the natural immortality of the soul, which originated in paganism
and found its way into early Christianity, the answer would be
simply and obviously, no.
Then how is it that God knew him before conception if Cryus did not
yet
168
exist? After all, God is
omniscient—all-knowing. "Remember the former things of old, For I
am God, and there is no
other; I am God, and
there is none like Me,
declaring the end from the beginning:' Human beings have plans for
their children before they are born, even before they are conceived.
Great plans are laid. Parents often even name their children before
birth. In imagination, parents even conjecture up pictures and
experiences they believe the future might hold. But we as humans are
not all-knowing, so our plans do not materialize consistently. The difference between God and a parental couple is that God is the Creator, and He can bring His plans to pass. A man and a woman are not creators but partners with God in procreation. Again, personhood cannot be assigned to the preconception period.
Another passage used by those supporting this premise of a
pre-existing soul before birth is found in Jeremiah: "Before I
formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified
you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations:' Was Jeremiah a person
before he was conceived and formed, simply because God knew him? Or
was he a person because God sanctified him and ordained (assigned)
him to be a prophet? The biblical answer is a resounding no. God planned Jeremiah and his sanctification—that is his wholeness or holiness, and his future role as a prophet—before he was conceived, even as He did with Jesus, John the Baptist, Moses, Samson, Isaac, and others. But that did not make Jeremiah a living person before his conception or birth. Nor was that true of the others, except for Christ, who has lived from eternity with no beginning and no end.
Another text sometimes used is found in Hebrews. Levi was a great
grandson of Abraham. In a picturesque manner, the passage in Hebrews
states that Levi paid tithe before his birth. The ministry in the
Old Testament was paid from the tithe given by the people, which
represented 10 percent of their increase and was limited to sacred
use. "Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham,
so to speak, for he was still in the loins of his father when
Melchizadek met him."' The phrase, "so to speak" reveals it is only
a figure of speech, showing the Levitical priesthood was established
by birth in the lineage of Levi, differing from the new priesthood
of Christ.
Being in the loins of his great grandfather was the contemporary way
of referring to hereditary genes passed on from one generation to
the next. But to be in the genes does not equal the status of
personhood. If that were the case, an abrasion of the skin
containing DNA would be the same as killing countless babies,
because the genes in the cells have the genetic code in them. That
argument in favor of personhood is readily rejected by most people.
In the book of Hebrews, the ancestry of Christ is traced back to
Judah. "It is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe
Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood."'
God predicted through King David that future generations would rise.
David stated: "This will be written for the generation to come, that
a people yet to be created may praise the Lord:'' Praise to God
cannot take place until the creative process is complete, as with
Adam, who began life as his nostrils were supplied with the breath
of life, and he started breathing. The biblical record is most clear
on the beginning of personhood at the point of independent
breathing. "And the LORD God formed man
of the dust of the ground,
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a
living being."'
If an immortal soul existed prior to birth, then creation would be
prior to birth, but the passage is clear that praise would come
after creation, which would be after birth. It becomes complicated,
confusing, and inconsistent to believe that an immortal, invisible,
and intelligent soul is waiting to be implanted in the womb to
become a human being, yet that it would be capable of praise before
that time—the time of conception. All of God's creation praises Him.
Thus we can safely and confidently conclude that there is no
preexistent soul that is implanted in the womb to become a person at
that point of conception, but rather, taking the obvious and clear
meaning of Scripture, we conclude that personhood takes place when
the breath of life enters the lungs and one begins to breathe
independently. If there were a preexisting immortal soul, it would
surely praise God, but that is rejected by the plain and obvious
meaning of God's Word.
Most people are aware that King David of Israel planned to build a
sanctuary to God. But because of his wars and the shedding of much
blood, God revealed this to him:
"Whereas it was in your heart to build a temple for My name, you did
well in that it was in your heart. Nevertheless you shall not build
the temple, but your son who will come from your body, he shall
build the temple for My name."8
If the entirety of Solomon—body, soul, and spirit—came from heaven
and earth, it would be improper to state that Solomon would come
from David's body. The only thing that comes from outside the
parents' bodies and the body of the baby that is born is the air
that is breathed, oxygen. No immortal soul comes from God in heaven
to be placed into the fetus at conception or at any time. The body
and the breath are the two components of the entire being—no more,
no less. When breath comes to the baby at birth, it lives. When
breath is removed, the person dies.
The word
knew is most meaningful and was used in a broader extent than
how it is generally used today. Today it simply relates to knowledge
and information. But the biblical significance goes deeper, so that
knew means that they both
experienced one another. Adam entered Eve, and Eve received Adam.
They became one not only physically and emotionally, but
spiritually, which is the most important element in sexual intimacy.
If that element is not present, then human intimacy is no different
from the mating of any of the lower animal creature.
The Scriptures reveal the three stages of procreation, which the
prophet Hosea delineates: "As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly
away like a bird—no birth, no pregnancy, no conception:'1°
The Word of God defines these three phases in the development of a
human being, beginning with birth—the beginning point of personhood.
Then it goes back to the prior stages—pregnancy, which in turn
follows conception. The birth process is the culmination of the
other two, when life, independent life, actually enters the baby,
and personhood begins. The process that brings life is birth. When
there is no conception, there is no pregnancy; consequently, there
is then no birth and no person.
The same teaching is found in the spiritual sense. "They conceive
evil and bring forth iniquity:'11 Conception is the
cause, and bringing forth is the effect, in both the physical and
spiritual life.
Universal agreement exists, that the womb is the place where the
baby is formed prior to birth. It is important to search the
Scriptures to discover what God has to say about the growth and
formation period in the womb, which lasts about nine months prior to
the time of the birth. The ancient book of Job has a wealth of
material on the nature of man—on human beginnings, formation, and
growth—and even on miscarriage and stillbirth.
Job states a truth by asking an obvious
question—a common form he and other writers of the Bible adopted.
Prior to asking the question, he raises the issue that if he
mistreated his servants, God would hold him accountable. "Did not He
who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one fashion us
in the womb?"' Note that in his compassion he gives recognition to
his male and female servants as having equal standing before the
Lord. In making that point he uses the creation process as evidence
of that fact. God creates the servant and the master. And He does
it alike. He starts with nothing, and with no preexistent material
except the sperm and the egg. No invisible, immortal, intelligent
soul is involved. If it were introduced, then the creation process
would be different than what He stated. "He fashioned their hearts
alike,"" is the Scriptural record.
The following words are recorded by this same
writer and clearly reveal God's fairness in the development process
prior to birth and life: "Yet He is not partial to princes, nor does
He regard the rich more than the poor; for they are all the work of
His hands:"14
He has the answer. It is imperative for every individual to go to God's
Book and study these deeper issues for himself, as he will
ultimately have to answer for himself in the judgment. It will be of
no useful value to be found coming short and state that one got his
information from theologians and religious leaders. Once one knows
that God is love and that He is just and not partial to individuals
but counts all as having equal value, one will with confidence study
God's Word, knowing that it was written not only for every human
being—and certainly not simply for theologians and religious
leaders—but especially for him. The Holy Spirit is given to us to
lead us into all truth and understanding, so that we can order our
lives in the best possible manner.
We may sense the movement of the wind, as it makes its impact on
vegetation and even inanimate objects, yet we are unable fully to
see and understand it. It is still an unsolved mystery. We feel the
changes that take place as heat and cold affect the movement of the
air, but we cannot fully explain it; neither can we fully predict
the movements of the air or control them. The old saying reveals
our frustrations: "We all talk about the weather, but none of us do
anything about it:'
So the same is true when it comes to the conception, formation, and
growth process of the fetus. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived,
freely admitted that he did not understand the intricacies of the
process. He declared, "As you do not know what is the way of the
wind, or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, so
you do not know the works of God who makes everything16
The word translated "wind" is
Ruwach (roo-akh) and is also used for breath. i.e., an
inhalation or an exhalation—the substance of which life is made. The
God who makes and watches over developing babies in the womb watches
over the lower creatures as well—tame and wild animals, fish,
birds—and after the formation period gives them breath and life.
One of the most
profound texts is found in the Psalms:
"For you formed my inward parts; you covered me in
my mother's womb, I will praise You, for I am fearfully and
wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows
very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in
secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book
they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there
were none of themf17
God forms us in the womb, the most amazing life-support system ever
imagined.
The development process is a marvel. The intricacies of the nervous
system, the optic and hearing nerves, the complicated processes that
make for a person—all are under the control of God. Of course, as
human beings, we do pass on our genetic codes, and we all have
faulty genes that we pass on, but it is a marvel that babies are
born so consistently in normally good health and with relatively few
genetic defects.
The Psalmist again refers to our life as days. "Indeed You have
made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before You;
certainly every man at his best state is but vapor!' Handbreadths
are used as measurements of time and life, and days are part of that
reality. The word vapor is
helpful in enabling us to understand that life comes from breath,
and with the end of the breathing process comes death. Without
breath, the moist air that comes into and out of our bodies as a
vapor comes to an end, and the cessation of breathing marks the end
of man's existence. And he will not exist again until he is
resurrected by Christ upon His return to the earth.
Although God sees and knows the developing baby in the womb and
matures it for birth, that does not qualify an unborn baby as being
a person. The key explanation is found in the reference in the
text, "The days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of
them!' This clearly refers to the fetus as a non-existent person.
The 90th Psalm revealed man's lifespan long before our time, about
1000 B.C.: "The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by
reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only
labor and sorrow, for it is soon cut off."19 Days are the
measure of the span of life, from birth to death. In the 139th
Psalm, the developing baby has no days; hence, it has no life, other
than mother's borrowed life, and no personhood.
Breath is synonymous with power and life. The Word of God makes
that abundantly clear. "The channels of the sea were seen, the
foundations of the world were uncovered at Your rebuke, 0 Lord, at
the blast of the breath of Your nostrils:" The breath of the
nostrils is the source of life and power. Without life, three is no
power. Genesis tells the story of creation. Repeatedly, God speaks a
command, and it happens. He spoke all things into existence with His
breath. We have further evidence of how God's breath brought
creation into existence: "By the word of the Lord the heavens were
made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. . . . For
He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast."21
Life, creation, and breath are inseparable. Life begins at birth,
when the baby begins to breathe.
Most encouraging is the knowledge that God never abandons us. He
watches over us and cares for us throughout our lifetime. "For this
is God, our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even unto
death."' Death marks the end of life, with one's last breath, and
then God is no longer our God, because we do not exist. Neither is
He our God before our first breath, at birth, for we are not persons
until that moment. In fact, we are not even children until we are
born.
Let us take a look at the original language. Since Sarah, wife of
Abraham, could not conceive, she urged her husband to have a child,
an heir, by her handmaid, Hagar. The angel of the Lord came to
Hagar after she and Abraham were together and said to her, "Behold
you are with child."' The term
with child comes from the Hebrew word
harah. But literally, the
word means "to have conceived:' And the word is used five times. To
be accurate, it should have been translated,
"Behold you have conceived,"
or "you have become pregnant" The actual word
child is not found in the
original documents. For they all understood that one did not have a
child until it was born. It was a developing child-to-be, but not
yet a child. If it were to go to full term, then it would become a
child.
"To be with child"—harah,
hariyyah is the term in Hebrew—literally means "to conceive:'
This term is used two times. For instance: "Thus both the daughters
of Lot were with child by their father" A more accurate translation
is "Thus both the daughters of
Lot conceived by their father."'
The phrase "to travail with child: or "labored with child: uses the
Hebrew word chul,
literally, "to be pained" Isaiah uses it: 'Sing, 0 barren, you
who have not borne! Break
forth into singing, and cry aloud, you
who have not labored with
child! For more are the
children of the desolate than the children of the married woman:
says the LORD:'25
"You did not pain" is the better translation, for the word
child does not appear in the original but was added by translators.
Another use of "to travail with child: uses the Hebrew word,
yalad, literally, "to
bring forth" "The woman with child"' is more accurately translated,
"The woman that was bringing
forth."
"Woman with child: comes from the Hebrew
hariyyah, literally, "to
conceive:' This term is found six times. "As a woman with child is
in pain and cries out"27 more correctly is,
"As a woman who has conceived
is in pain and cries out."
Seven times the phrase "travail with child" is found. The Greek
word is echo, literally,
"to have in the womb:' An example is the instance of the angel
coming to Mary to announce that she was expecting: "She was found
with child of the Holy Ghost:28 A more accurate
translation would be, "She was
found to have in the womb, of the Holy Ghost:'
One can now better understand the status of the developing fetus
prior to birth, as not being a child. If it were, God would have
influenced the prophets to make that clear. They used God-inspired
words. But the absence of the word
child in connection with
the growth prior to birth is indicative that it is not then a child
or a person. As we have examined the usage of the term
child prior to birth in
the Scriptures, we've discovered that the original language,
inspired by the Holy Spirit does not give the status of a child to
the pre-born fetus but simply refers to it as a conception, or to be
in pain in delivery, or to have in the womb. Remember, the Word of
God is truth according to God, for all Scripture is inspired by God.29
Then why the dilemma? Translators of the Bible were simply human
beings who held a theological view that the soul was naturally
immortal and that at conception the conceptus was indeed a child
and a person.
This, the Scriptures simply deny by usage of unmistakably clear
language. Emotionally, probably all human beings consider the fetus
a child and talk fondly of it being their child, but according to
God, it is not a child or a person until it is born and breathing
independently, having achieved independent and not borrowed, life.
At that point it advances to the status of a child and a person.
The New King James Version
does translate it correctly in the book of Ruth. "So Boaz took
Ruth and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, the LORD
gave her conception, and she bore a son:'3° You will note
the translator could have simply inserted the word
child for conception, and
most people would never know the difference, as they don't in other
similar cases. But the truth is that it is a conceptus until it is
born, and not a child until it is born. God gave Ruth a conception,
and the next phrase is that she bore a son.
The popular belief of an intelligent, immortal spirit gives rise to
the idea that a pre-born child has the ability to think and act
rationally. Some use a story from the Gospel of Luke in an effort to
prove this indeed to be fact. Mary, the mother of Jesus, given
conception of the Holy Spirit, arose in those days to see Elizabeth
and went in haste. Jesus had only been conceived for a matter of
days. "And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary,
that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the
Holy Spirit" Elizabeth personally tells Mary what took place. "For
indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears,
the babe leaped in my womb for joy."'
John the Baptist, as a 6-month-old unborn
developing baby, could not have recognized the just-conceived Jesus
to be the Son of God.32 Even Jesus did not Himself
recognize that He was the Son of God until He was 12 years old, on
the occasion of His visit with His parents to the temple in
Jerusalem at the time of the Passover. They left to return to their
home in Nazareth, when they realized that Jesus was not with them.
They returned and sought their son in the temple. When they
chastised Him, He responded, "Why did you seek Me? Did you not know
that I must be about My Father's business?" But they did not
understand the significance of that statement. In answering His
mother, Jesus showed that for the first time He understood His
relation to God.33
This babe-leaping record is an example of
poetic and picturesque speech. It does not teach that an unborn baby
experiences a conscious joy in recognizing a just-barely-conceived,
unborn, developing baby Jesus. The six-month pregnancy of Elizabeth
had been long enough for quickening, or fetal movement. Elizabeth
was the one filled with the Holy Spirit—not her unborn, developing
baby. Often, deeply felt emotions trigger movement in the abdominal
or other areas. David recorded such an instance, and even now it is
a contemporary phenomenon. "Let their eye be darkened, so that they
cannot see; and make their loins shake continually."' The prophet
Daniel records a similar experience. "The king's countenance
changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joint of his
hips and his knees knocked against each other."' Emotions can cause
strong movement in the body, particularly in the abdominal area, and
in Elizabeth's case, the womb. These movements can be caused by
happy, sad, or even troubling emotions. We have probably all
experienced them.
The pertinent question that has to be asked is how could a
6-month-old
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fetus recognize Jesus as the Son of
God, who had been conceived just a few days before, when Christ
Himself was unaware of His mission until He had reached the age of
12? The answer, obviously, is that John could not have possibly
known. Compounding the situation is the uncertainty in the mind of
John the Baptist when he was imprisoned by Herod for pointing out
Herod's incestuous and adulterous relationship, even though he had
married his brother's wife, the mother of Salome. On that occasion,
John revealed his doubts. He sent two of his disciples to question
Jesus. "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"36
Earlier, on the occasion when he baptized Jesus in the Jordan
River, John the Baptist testified that he did not until then know
Jesus; much less that He would be the Messiah. At that time, John
did testify that Jesus was indeed the Son of God, but not from any
human standpoint. It had been revealed to him. "I did not know Him,
but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you
see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who
baptizes with the Holy Spirit:"37 Clearly, efforts to
utilize a few isolated Scriptures to prove personhood at the time
of conception, or even prior to birth, fall flat and fail when
tested against the clear and complete testimony of the Scriptures.
Manipulating and twisting Scripture to prove personal views and
beliefs is forbidden, and a final punishment awaits those who do
so.'
Many people are under the impression that the
fetus has rational ability to think and make choices. Scripture
reveals the opposite: "... for the children not yet being born, nor
having done any good or evil..
:'39 An unborn child, not being a living person
yet, is incapable of doing good or evil. That cannot start until
life and personhood, and that is at the time of birth, according to
the Scripture. The unborn child cannot make rational choices, and
any movements it makes are instinctive and spontaneous and without
any rational basis on its part. The practice of some religious
bodies to baptize a miscarried, stillborn, or aborted fetus has no
Scriptural foundation, since these fetuses are not persons prior to
live birth. Even a dying baby needs no baptism, for it has not
reached the age of personal accountability and cannot be found
guilty of having chosen to commit sin.
Spiritual life has similarities to physical life. Both reveal the
design of the process of life and death. "Behold the wicked brings
forth iniquity; yes, he conceives trouble and brings forth
falsehood:' The physical process of conception and growth is applied
as well to planned evil, and when it comes forth, it is likened to
birth.
The early Christian church leader, James, the brother of Jesus,'
stated clearly the process of sin. Some believe in fatalism, a
system that considers everything that happens as being the will of
God. But a difference exists between God causing something to
happen and His allowing it to happen. As long as God gives us
choice, and as long as we live in an imperfect world, tragedies will
take place that disturb and trouble us. God cannot be blamed for
sin.
Here is how James handles the issue:
desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin;
and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be
deceived, my beloved brethren. 'Every good gift and every perfect
gift is from above, and comes down from the father of lights, with
who there is no variation or shadow of turning41
"Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we
might be a kind of first fruits of His creatures"' A thought is not
a sin until it is nurtured and born. Then it brings death.
The concluding thought in this passage is that you were created to
be the first-fruits of His creatures. With countless planets and
angels, no one can even guess how many creatures God has created.
Yet we who have sinned have the possibility immediately before us of
being redeemed and becoming the first-fruits of all His creation.
The first-fruits in quality—the best. Why? Because Christ has become
our Brother, has joined our human race, and we are a part of Him,
even as He is a part of us. And don't forget. We are part of each
other. We are all family. If we prevail and overcome sin, that will
be our reward.
The thought of sin enters the heart of man, just as the sperm
enters the womb. Once the thought becomes a desire and is accepted,
that is like an egg receiving the sperm, and once the temptation has
been accepted, sin has been conceived. Once it has developed, it
gives birth to sin, but not before. Then it matures, and at the end
of the maturation process, it brings death, just as the physical
process brings life. God, through the Holy Spirit, causes
conception, or impregnates goodness, and Satan impregnates evil. God
is consistent, doesn't change, and is the Source of every good and
perfect gift. And all of this takes place because of His love and
respect for those He made in His image and for whom He paid the
infinite price of redemption; hence, man is of immeasurable value.
While it may come as a new thought to many, it is nevertheless true
that God is not our God until we are born and become persons drawing
in the breath of life. The reason for that is clear. "But You are He
who took me out of the womb; You made me trust while on my mother's
breasts. I was cast upon you from birth, from my mother's womb You
have been my God:"43 God is our God from the time we are
cast out of the womb—the time of birth, the beginning of
personhood—and not prior to that time. In answering the Sadducees
on a point of doctrine they were viewing incorrectly, Jesus stated:
"He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are
therefore greatly mistaken."'
Isaiah's life adds to our understanding of God's care for the
development of the fetus prior to birth and the further development
of babies and children on into adulthood following the birth
process. He records this testimony from his experience: "The Lord
has called me from the womb . . . . And now the Lord says, Who
formed Me from the womb to be His servant."45 God has
far-reaching plans, but they do not become a reality until birth
and living for a period of time in order to develop into the people
God plans us to be, just as parents make plans for their children
and look forward toward development to that end.
The prophetic record states that at the appointed time Christ would
be conceived in a virgin and His name called Immanuel. The only
terminal stages in the forming of a human being are conception and
birth. Jesus was to be conceived; then at birth, He would be a son.
Not before. If it is that simple with
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Christ in His pre-birth stage, then we have to
accept that the rest of the human race is also the same. We too
share the terminal points of conception and birth, after which we
become sons or daughters. In between is the development period.
"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin
shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."46
Consequently, if we use the Word of God as the source of truth, and that
is what Christians profess to do, then we have to recognize that
while the fetus is fearfully and wonderfully developed, it is not a
person until it is born, nor does it have the capacity to think, to
be rational, or to make judgments or choices.
God watches over us even more intently once we are born and become
persons. "The LORD looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men.
From the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of
the earth; He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all
their works:47 Try to consider that awesome interest
God has in you as an individual. He fashioned you in a unique
manner. No one else has ever been like you or will ever be like you.
You are custom created. Furthermore, He has special plans for every
human being, and that includes you. Finding out what that is will
make your life infinitely better. You are fashioned by God, not
inhabited by an immortal soul that invades your fertilized egg and
takes over. Such a process would make you controlled by that
imaginary invisible, immortal, and intelligent soul. But it does not
exist.
In God's plan you are totally in command of your destiny. You are not
programmed, having been taken over by an alien from outer space.
You are uniquely different from conception onward in the
development process, growing in the womb with your mother serving as
the most intricate, most beautiful life-support system ever
imagined. Finally, when your first breath is taken, you have begun
life and your umbilical cord is cut, and thus you've begun your
journey into a special life experience. Christ not only has created
you and given life to you at birth, He has made provision for the
spiritual re-creation of your life that will lead to eternal life—a
life without pain, sorrow, sickness, death, or any of the other
earthly, troublesome experiences to which you may be subjected
presently.
In this life we can expect to live about seventy years, more or
less. It was King David, the psalmist, who wrote:
"The days of our lives
are seventy years; and if
by reason of strength they are
eighty years, yet their boast
is only labor and sorrow;
for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knows the power of Your
anger? For as the fear of You,
so is Your wrath. So teach
us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom:48
entire biblical teaching on the nature of man would have to be
changed, and this passage would have to read: "We fly away to
heaven, the home of God:' But the atmosphere is the first heaven,
the stars are the second heaven, and the third heaven is paradise,'
the home of God.
Once birth takes place and rational choice may
be exercised, sin can take place. The prophet makes this clear in
the words of God: "Surely you did not hear, surely you did not know;
surely from long ago your ear was not opened. For I knew that you
would deal very treacherously and were called a transgressor from
the womb25°
Now that we have covered conception and development in the womb, we
need to address sexual intimacy within the sacred circle of husband
and wife. Many Christians follow some religious body's teachings
that proclaim that sexual intimacy should never occur except for
the purpose of bringing a child into the world. Scripture is
diametrically opposed to such a concept. God made sexual intimacy
not only pleasant but a means of expressing unity and love. It was
to be used for that purpose as well as for procreation. The apostle
Paul stated:
"Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and
likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have
authority over her own body, but the husband
does. And likewise the
husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife
does. Do not deprive one
another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves
to fasting and prayer; and come together main so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of
self-control:
Husbands and wives remain so, long after they have passed their day
of reproductive ability, but the act of intimacy is to be shared.
Intimacy should not always end up in a live birth, for if it did,
the mother would be overburdened with bringing children into the
family and caring for them, and the father would be overly pressed
to provide the necessities for a large family. It makes good sense
to limit one's family to what one can afford financially as well as
care for emotionally and physically. Family planning is of paramount
importance. In the days before effective family planning women were
so overburdened with numerous children that it was not uncommon for
a young mother to die. That surely cannot be construed to be God's
will, for He wants us to be in health and to prosper spiritually,
socially, and emotionally.' A family that follows these biblical
principles will indeed have fulfilled God's will in their life of
love.
Notes:
1.
The Holy Bible, New King James Version
(Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers),
1994. Isaiah 44:28 —45:1.
2.
Ibid., Isaiah 46:9, 10.
3.
Ibid., Jeremiah 1:5.
4.
Ibid., Hebrews 7:9, 10.
5.
Ibid., Hebrews 7:14.
6.
Ibid., Psalm 102:18.
7.
Ibid., Genesis 2:7.
180 - THE ABORTION
CONTROVERSY
8.
9.
Ibid., Genesis 1:28; 4:1.
10.
Ibid., Hosea 9:11.
11.
Ibid., Isaiah 59:4.
12.
Ibid., Job 31:15. 13. The Holy Bible, King lames Version (Cambridge: Oxford University Press), 1970. Psalm 33:15. 14. The Holy Bible, New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers), 1994, Job 34:19.
15.
Ibid., Isaiah 44:24.
16.
Ibid., Ecdesiastes 11:5.
17.
Ibid., Psalm 139:13-16.
18.
Ibid., Psalm 39:5.
19.
Ibid., Psalm 90:10.
20.
Ibid., Psalm 18:15.
21.
Ibid., Psalm 33:6, 9.
22.
Ibid., Psalm 48:14.
23.
Ibid., Genesis 16:11.
24.
Ibid., Genesis 19:36.
25.
Ibid., Isaiah 54:1.
26.
Ibid., Jeremiah 31:8.
27.
Ibid., Isaiah 26:17.
28.
Ibid., Matthew 1:18.
29.
Ibid., 2 Timothy 3:16.
30.
Ibid., Ruth 4:13.
31.
Ibid., Luke 1:41, 44.
32.
Ibid., Luke 1:34 44.
33.
Ibid., Luke 2:40-50.
34.
Ibid., Psalm 69:23.
35.
Ibid., Daniel 5:6.
36.
Ibid., Luke 7:19.
37.
Ibid., John 1:26-34.
38.
Ibid., Revelation 22:18, 19.
39.
Ibid., Romans 9:11.
40.
Ibid., Matthew 27:56; Galatians 1:19; 2:9;
Acts 15:13; 1 Corinthians 9:5.
41.
Ibid., James 1:13-17.
42.
Ibid., James 1:18.
43.
Ibid., Psalm 22:9, 10.
44.
Ibid., Mark 12:27.
45.
Ibid., Isaiah 49:1, 5.
46.
Ibid., Isaiah 7:14.
47.
Ibid., Psalm 33:13-15.
48.
Ibid., Psalm 90:10-12.
49.
Ibid., 2 Corinthians 12:2-4.
50.
Ibid., Isaiah 48:8
51.
Ibid., 1 Corinthians 7:3-5.
52.
Ibid., 3 John 1. |