Abortion is often compared to the practice of child sacrifice practiced by many ancient cultures, including those in OT times. It is not a 1:1 comparison, of course. Those who get abortions are not doing so for religious reasons, and the age of the children are different. However, in both cases, human beings are choosing to kill their own children. God hates murder, whatever the reason or the age of the victim.
I find it interesting, then, that God not only condemned those who committed child sacrifice, but also those who stood by silently and did nothing to those who sacrificed their children. Consider Leviticus 20:1-5. God begins with a condemnation of those who commit child sacrifice:
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. 3 I myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary unclean and to profane my holy name. (Lev 20:1-3)
He goes on, however, to condemn those who sit idly by and do nothing:
And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, 5 then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in whoring after Molech.
If the people of Israel closed their eyes to what was going on, God held them responsible as being complicit in the crime. While I recognize that the penalty of death was unique to the Mosaic Covenant and does not apply today, the principle remains. If we sit idly by and stay silent regarding the issue of abortion, God may hold us accountable. We are not just commanded to good rather than evil, but commanded to do something about evil.
It’s time for pro-life Christians to stand up in the public square and make their case against abortion. When we know someone is contemplating abortion, we should counsel them against it and do what we can to help them care for the child. It’s time for pro-life Christians to translate their moral theology into political and personal action. At the very least, we should be voting for those who will use their political power to work toward ending this morally atrocious practice. We can’t close our eyes to abortion any longer.
Thinking to Believe 
February 11, 2021 at 5:16 pm
One key clarification here is the Bible is peaking of giving your children not your fetuses. The Old Testament implies clearly that fetuses do not have the same status as living, as the accidental destruction of a fetus during a fight only requires money damages.
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February 11, 2021 at 7:10 pm
Hi Jason,
I’m actually guilty of drawing this comparison. Yes, they are doing this out of religious motivation but isn’t it not basically the same when referring it to idolatry. After all both are worshipping this flesh regardless if they have a physical image setting in front of them to worship or just worshipping their imagination. The prophet Jeremiah touches on this. He was confronting the people that they were guilty of worshipping thier imagination not the actual idols themslves. The idols was only the manifestation of their imagination, witch wasn’t the main issue.
Like for instance, whether your worshipping on the altar of Molech or on the altar of the idea of modern day liberalism, they both are idolatry.
Your thoughts?
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February 12, 2021 at 4:07 pm
This claim that abortion kills a human being is relatively new. When Roe v. Wade was passed in 1973, many Christian denominations actually SUPPORTED abortion rights (until Republicans made it a political issue: https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/05/religious-right-real-origins-107133). Even now, most people, including most Christians, are pro-choice. In fact, Christians obtain 70% of abortions even though they’re only 65% of the population (http://www.christianpost.com/news/70-of-women-who-get-abortions-identify-as-christians-survey-finds-150937/). I suspect that it’s likely because many Christians are against birth control and sex education, which of course leads to more unwanted pregnancies and thus more abortions.
But is there anything in the Bible that can be used to infer whether abortion is considered morally acceptable? Well, there is some evidence that life does not begin at conception. For instance, Adam wasn’t considered a “living soul” until God put the breath of life into him, implying that a person isn’t fully human until taking his first breath:
• Genesis 2:7 Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
And when a widowed woman was discovered to be three months pregnant, she was accused of being a prostitute and ordered put to death WITHOUT waiting for the baby to be born:
• Genesis 38:24 About three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of prostitution, and as a result she is now pregnant.” Judah said, “Bring her out and have her burned to death!”
Indeed, it’s not only fetuses that are not treated as human beings, but born babies less than one month old are also assigned no value and they are not counted as a person on a census at all:
• Leviticus 27:3-7 “Set the value of a male between the ages of twenty and sixty at fifty shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel; for a female, set her value at thirty shekels; for a person between the ages of five and twenty, set the value of a male at twenty shekels and of a female at ten shekels; FOR A PERSON BETWEEN ONE MONTH AND FIVE YEARS, set the value of a male at five shekels of silver and that of a female at three shekels of silver; for a person sixty years old or more, set the value of a male at fifteen shekels and of a female at ten shekels.”
• Numbers 3:15 “Number the sons of Levi by their fathers’ households, by their families; every male FROM A MONTH OLD AND UPWARD you shall number.” So Moses numbered them according to the word of the LORD, just as he had been commanded.
In both cases, the only children who apparently matter are those one month of age and older.
But probably the most convincing evidence that the Bible considers abortion morally acceptable is that God teaches priests to use abortion as a form of punishment for infidelity:
• Numbers 5:24-27 He shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and this water that brings a curse and causes bitter suffering will enter her … he is to have the woman drink the water. If she has made herself impure and been unfaithful to her husband, this will be the result: WHEN SHE IS MADE TO DRINK THE WATER THAT BRINGS A CURSE AND CAUSES BITTER SUFFERING, IT WILL ENTER HER, HER ABDOMEN WILL SWELL AND HER WOMB WILL MISCARRY, and she will become a curse.
Also, because Christianity shares basically the same Old Testament books as Judaism, Hebrew texts can shed light on early Christian beliefs. According to the Babylonian Talmud (which is a rabbinical discussion of the meaning of the first five books of the Old Testament), the early embryo is not considered human life:
• Yevamot 69b If she is pregnant, until forty days from conception the fetus is merely water. It is not yet considered a living being.
More directly, abortions are acceptable if the mother’s life is in danger. And the fetus isn’t even considered a person until it is half-way emerged from its mother:
• Ohalot 7:6 (ah-he-lot) If a woman is having trouble giving birth, they cut up the child in her womb and brings it forth limb by limb, because her life comes before the life of the child. But if the greater part has come out, one may not touch it, for one may not set aside one person’s life for that of another.
Since Christians follow the same God and the same Old Testament books as the scholars, I think those passages should be given some consideration.
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February 17, 2021 at 11:55 am
Michael, obviously there is dissimilarity in the timing and purpose of the killing, but I noted that. The similarity is that in both cases a human child is being murdered. You try to avoid this by speaking of the difference between the “fetus” and “children.” “Fetus” is just a word used to describe a particular stage of development for a human child, in the same vein as “infant” and “toddler.” “Fetus” does not mean it’s a non-human.
As for your claim about the status of the unborn in the OT, while you did not attempt to justify your claim, I’m pretty sure you are referring to Exodus 21:21-25. Four things should be noted:
1. This is talking about premature birth, not a miscarriage. The normal Hebrew word for miscarriage is shakal. Here Moses used yasa’, a term used in connection with live birth.
2. Verse 23 is often interpreted to referring to the woman’s fatal injury, but the Hebrew does not use feminine pronouns, so there is no stated subject of the “injury.” It could be speaking of the woman, or the unborn. Only the context can tell. Given the fact that verse 23 is a contrast to verse 22 (“if no injury” vs “if there is injury”), and the subject of the injury in verse 22 is the unborn child (or arguably both the mother and unborn child together), it stands to reason that verse 23 is speaking of the death of the unborn child (or both the unborn child and the mother).
3. The Law normally did not require capital punishment for an accidental death (Ex. 21:13-14, 20-21; Numb. 35:10-34; Deut. 19:1-13), so the punishment for killing the child was severe. If anything, that tells us of the value the unborn was seen to have.
4. This verse, even if it is were referring to a miscarriage, could not be used to justify elective abortion because the situation described in the text is accidental, while elective abortion is purposeful.
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February 17, 2021 at 11:57 am
Scott, I’m not a big fan of the expanded definition of idolatry to mean putting anything in place of god. The Biblical usage is clearly related to the worship of divine beings other than the one true God. An idea can be false and harmful, but that doesn’t make it idolatry.
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February 17, 2021 at 12:00 pm
derekmathias, there is so much to say regarding your post, but I won’t bother because it’s irrelevant. Even if I agreed that Christians in the past supported abortion, that the Bible allows for it, etc., it’s irrelevant. My case against abortion is based entirely on science and moral reasoning, not on the Bible. That’s not to say I don’t think a case against abortion can be made from the Bible (it can). It’s just to say that the Bible need not even be brought into the debate. That’s why the pro-life community consists of many more people than just Christians. Even atheists are pro-life. It has nothing to do with religion.
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February 19, 2021 at 5:26 pm
“My case against abortion is based entirely on science and moral reasoning, not on the Bible.”
Well, we discuss the scientific and moral arguments about abortion elsewhere, so I’ll just provide the link:
https://theosophical.wordpress.com/2021/02/19/pro-life-no-religion-needed/
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