Thomas Nelson - What Does the Bible Say About...

(see Forgotten)

The contemporary debate over abortion usually pits pro-life advocates against those who hold to the pro-choice position. To prolifers, life in the womb begins at the moment of conception. This life, like all human life, should be respected as a gift from God. They speak of the fetus as an unborn child, and they see abortion as the killing of that child.

Pro-choicers, on the other hand, do not recognize the fetus as a person until it becomes viable (able to live on its own) or until the moment of birth. Thus the fetus has no rights apart from the woman. Only the woman who carries the fetus has the right to decide whether it will be born or not. If carrying the fetus to full term will have a negative effect on her physical or emotional health, abortion may be medically warranted.

There are other considerations in the abortion issue that need to be taken into account along with the when-does-life-begin question. Many people of faith cite biblical principles that they believe speak directly to this controversial subject.

1. Human beings are made in the image of God. Genesis 1:27 declares, So God created man in His own image. We are more than a batch of random cells thrown together in haphazard fashion. As human beings, we reflect the eternal God, who called us into being with design and purpose. Each person, even the unborn, has the right to achieve the potential for which he was created.

2. Children are a blessing from God. The psalmist declared, Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is His reward (Ps. 127:3). Parents cooperate with God in bringing human life into the world. We have the right to participate in the creative process but not to take the life of the innocent unborn.

3. Life is sacred to God. Because life is sacred to God, we are commanded not to murder (Ex. 20:13). No life is to be taken without a justifiable reason. God is the Creator and giver of life. Only He has the sovereign right to take life away.

Psalm 139 speaks of Gods intimate knowledge of each individual. He has that knowledge because He has created each person from the womb (Ps. 139:13).

The Hebrew word translated formed (or created in some translations) is not bara, which conveys the idea of creation from nothing (compare Gen. 1:1), but qanah, which has to do with ownership. God knows us intimately because He owns us. He is like the inventor who carefully designs and builds a device and then becomes the owner of its patent.

Paired with qanah is a word translated covered (or knit together). This language communicates the idea of a persons body and soul being intricately molded and crocheted together in the mothers womb. It is a process that involves time, skill, and craftsmanship.

People are not thrown together haphazardly, even less do they come together through random processes. Rather, God intentionally and masterfully creates human life in the womb. He works everything together into a whole, according to His will.

The same God whose mind and power fashioned the stars, the seas, the animals, and all other human beings has carefully, intentionally, and individually crafted you. That means you are unique. No one else has been given exactly the same makeup as God has given you.

(see Standards; Truth)

Abstinence is the voluntary self-imposed, and deliberate denial of certain pleasures, such as food, drink, and sex. The noun abstinence is found only once in the KJV (Acts 27:21), where the apostle Paul is described as having experienced long abstinence. The verb abstain is found six times in the KJV (Acts 15:20, 29; 1 Thess. 4:3; 5:22; 1 Tim. 4:3; 1 Pet. 1:11).

Abstinence is basically of two kinds: (1) a total abstinence involving an absolute renunciation of a forbidden thing, such as in a

Nazirite vow; and (2) a temporary abstinence as, for example, the mutual consent of husband and wife to give up sexual relations for a time, in order to give themselves to fasting and prayer (1 Cor. 7:5).

The Israelites were commanded to abstain from eating meat that contained blood (Gen. 9:4). They were to refrain from eating certain animals (Leviticus 11). Priests could not drink wine while exercising their holy ministries (Lev. 10:9). Others abstained from drinking wine (Jer. 35:6).

The apostle Paul taught that Christians live by the laws of love and freedomand that they should voluntarily abstain from food sacrificed to idols if it caused a weaker brother or sister in Christ to stumble (Rom. 14:123; 1 Cor. 8:113). The believers body, said Paul, is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19) and should not be polluted by unclean things.