Blog Abortion, the Bible and Guns
Some cherry-pick passages in order to claim the Bible allows for abortion. The question is, do passages such as Numbers 3:15 and Leviticus 27:6 really support abortion—the taking of a preborn baby’s life? Is a child of less than one month in the womb of less value?
Numbers 3:15 “Number the children of Levi after the house of their fathers, by their families: every male from a month old and upward shalt thou number them.” -KJV
Leviticus 27:6 “And if it be from a month old even unto five years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male five shekels of silver, and for the female thy estimation shall be three shekels of silver. –KJV
Actually, one has to force a meaning on these passages to assume they refer to abortion. According to the WELS Center for Mission and Ministry, these passages refer to “…the amount of money a person would pay the priests in order to redeem, to buy back, an infant who had been dedicated to the Lord in a solemn vow (Leviticus 27:6) and the minimum age for the census of the Levites that Moses was going to undertake (Number 3:15).”
Another passage used is Exodus 21:22-25. If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. --KJV
Some Bible versions translate the passage as miscarriage and is used by the pro-abortion crowd. Other versions translate the phrase as premature birth. There is a word used for miscarrying, but the word here is not that word, but the word used refers to a live birth. Either way, when taken within the text and original word uses, this passage has nothing to do with abortion.
Even if the first translation is correct, the passage does not support abortion. This is about an accident. Abortion is a deliberate act. Because a penalty is attached, this shows the value of the child. In this and other passages, an accidental death engenders lesser consequences than a deliberate killing. This affirms not destroys the humanity of preborn children and human life itself. Further, many who seek to twist Scripture to prove abortion don’t even believe in the Bible as God’s Word. The sole intent is to harm not deal honestly with the issue.
The overall message of Scripture is about a Creator who loves and acknowledges and values His creation even in the womb. Scripture backs up the value of life even for the preborn. "Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.'" --Jeremiah 1:4-5
"The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name."--Isaiah 49:1b
“For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works…. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret” --Psalm 139:13-15, NASB
In the New Testament, Jesus has bad things to say about those who harm His little ones. The Bible is not a book that promotes abortion. Instead, the Bible affirms life from a caring, deliberate Creator, and Jesus who came to heal and set free those in bondage, to the Savior who chose to give up his life to save His human creations, offering life in Him. Jesus is about life and love.
Abortion, on the other hand, is about torture and violence against the most innocent among us. Too many abortions, which is the deliberate killing of a preborn child, are done when that child could survive with medical care.
Planned Parenthood likes to abort in a way, when possible, to produce an intact child with a still-beating heart. These living babies are cut up, with no anesthesia, to sell for parts to be used for experimentation or for cell lines. There is big money in the sale of baby parts. Why? Because these babies are living and are fully human.
Abortion is a basic outcome of not believing in the preciousness of each human life. It discounts the value of life itself. This comes from pretending knowable truth doesn’t exist and there is no higher being who values life.
This affects the gun argument. Again, guns don’t kill, people do. It is a choice. When our young people are taught that life doesn’t matter, that it is ok to kill unborn babies, the sick, the elderly, why should they value life? What difference if society or they kill? Murder becomes simply another outlet. After all, those killed might legally have been killed before, and now in some states, even after birth.
The problem is not owning guns nor is it about abortion per se. It is what we feed our and our children’s minds and hearts. Why not instead, teach our children they are precious and special— because they are. Why not lift up a God who loves and cares for them, cares about life, and cares enough to be there for those who follow Him? Why not promote a culture that treats every person born or preborn, disabled or elderly with care and respect? Allow our culture a foundation of faith and the mental and physical health of the nation will rise. We’ll once more become a nation of life instead of death.
© 2022 Carolyn R Scheidies
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https://wels.net/faq/bible-passages-used-to-support-abortion/
https://abort73.com/abortion/exodus_2122_25/
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-misuse-of-exodus-21-22-25-by-pro-choice-advocates
Blog Jesus Values Each Life—Do I?
Our society has gone from valuing the individual to valuing what each individual can contribute. The further our culture moves away from its Judeo-Christian foundation, the more it tends to devalue human life.
After all, as evolutionists point out, we are merely the product of evolutionary processes with little or no intrinsic value. Some even question whether a human is of more value than a horse or a cow or an endangered tree.
But this nation, and this people, was founded on the belief that we do matter; that God created a world in which every human life has meaning, and each person, regardless of size, age, or physical abilities, has the right to be alive and free.
Over the last couple of decades, human life has become more and more expendable. The news media has reported stories of parents killing their own handicapped children instead of loving and caring for them as long as they live. Others have taken the life of another when they considered the person to be suffering too much. Still others have taken their own life when they could not face life without all their abilities. Life itself seems to be of little value.
What would have happened if these people had given up or society decided they weren’t worth keeping alive and decided for them?
A husband and wife with serious health problems are expecting another child, yet three of their four children also have serious health problems. Today, many would have suggested abortion for this latest pregnancy. But, if that baby had been aborted, generations would never have been inspired by the music of composer Ludwig von Beethoven.
What about a poor, thirteen-year-old black child carrying the product of rape? Surely, this baby should be aborted. What possible future would there be for this child? The future was Ethel Waters who inspired millions by her story, her acting and her blues and gospel music, which included “Stormy Weather” and “His Eye is on the Sparrow.”
Polio paralyzed Walt Davis when he was nine years old. If his parents had decided his “quality of life” meant they should let him die, he never would have become the Olympic high jump champion in 1952, inspiring many.
Often, it is those who have risen above almost insurmountable odds that give us the greatest encouragement and provide motivation to live life to the fullest.
Often it is someone who cares about another with a disability that has led to scientific breakthroughs that end up benefiting any number of people.
Only a people that cares and protects the most vulnerable citizens, will continue to grow because they understand the fundamental truth of being a human—compassion.
Each person is unique and special and should be treated with dignity and worth--regardless of age, location, or health. It is time we stop playing God and realize we don’t know what the future holds for any one of us. It is time we protect the most vulnerable among us by, once more, valuing each human life.
Easter is all about the intrinsic value of life. Jesus believed each of us is so valuable that He came to earth, lived, allowed Himself to be tortured and murdered for us, and rose again to offer us new life. What a different perspective faith in Jesus offers. How can we not follow the One who created and loved us so much He died for you and me?
Happy Easter!
© 2003, 2020 Carolyn R. Scheidies
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