Christian View on Abortion
Christian view on abortion has had a complex and long history because the Christian Bible does not prohibit abortion explicitly in the New Testament or Old Testament. The view of Christians on abortion is simply the opinion of Christians or followers of Christ about abortion. The view of most Christians is that abortion is a wrong practice because it is all about murdering the unborn baby. Since this practice is wrong, it is a sin to most Christians because the bible condemns taking the life of another person. Most Christians take this position although some people argue differently about conception and fetus’ viability. Thus, whether abortion is right or wrong depends on a Christian’s believe on whether aborting a fetus amounts to murder or not.
Why is this Christian view on abortion common?
According to most Christians, the bible provides a clear teaching that aborting an unborn baby is wrong. This teaching can be seen in different ways and for various reasons.
Among the reasons and ways via which the bible teaches against abortion include the following:
- The bible teaches that the life of humans is not the same as other kinds of lives since human beings have God’s image.
This can be seen from the accounts of how a woman and a man were created by God. These verses in the bible indicate clearly that God created humans in his image. This emphasizes that creating human beings was a crowning moment of the entire process of creating the universe and all that it has. Humans dominate everything else in the universe. This means that humans are not mere cells that were thrown together randomly but a reflection of the eternal God. As such, nobody has the right to dispose of another like a useless item.
- Life begins at conception
The belief of many Christians is that life starts once conception occurs. These argue further that the bible says that each human was known by God before their placement in the wombs of their mothers. Thus, to them, abortion prevents entry into the world of a person that was created by God, which is wrong.
- God owns the body of a person
The view of most Christians is that the body of every individual is owned by God. In fact, the body of a Christian is God’s temple. Although some say that people have been given the free will to choose, they add that this does not mean that this includes making choices that touch on human bodies. It is therefore, important to always take care of your body which implies avoiding hurting what is in it.
How Christians support their view on abortion
Christians cite different verses from the bible that shows that no individual has the right to take the life of another. Some of the verses in the bible indicate how holy and special human life is. Such verses include Genesis 1:26-31 and Genesis 2:4-25. These verses show that humans were created in a special way which was not the case for other living things in the universe. They also cite other verses like Jeremiah 1:5 and Psalm 51:5 to emphasize that a fetus is a complete human. Christians use 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 and 1 Corinthians 6:12-13 to support the view that God owns life from conception, therefore nobody has the right to take it at any step.
For how long has this Christian view on abortion been held?
The Roman Catholic Christians have held the view that this practice amounts to gravely moral law’s contradiction since the 1980s. This was followed by a resolution of the General Synod, which is the general governing body of the Church of England to oppose abortion. However, this governing body allows for abortion on strictly limited circumstances, which can be morally preferable to other alternatives.
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Sources
http://christianteens.about.com/od/whatthebiblesaysabout/f/wbsaAbortion.htm
http://www.priestsforlife.org/articles/4376-the-bibles-teaching-against-abortion
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+51%3A5&version=KJV
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+3%3A16-17&version=ESV
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians+6%3A12-13
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/christianethics/abortion_1.shtml
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%201%3A26-31
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%202:4-25