What the Bible Says
About Abortion
Part 1: The Sanctity of All Human Life 
By Dave Redick

"I have a twenty-dollar bill in my pocket. The paper it is printed on along with the ink that marks it might be worth a few cents to someone if I shredded it. But if I took it down town I could buy twenty dollars worth of merchandise. What gives it that kind of worth? It certainly isn't the value of the paper and ink. Is it not what is printed on it - the Great Seal of the United States and the signature of the Secretary of the Treasury and a few other things? The money has value because of the images printed on it and what they represent. They represent something of great value. Man has value according to the Bible because he is made in the image of God. He has the image of God stamped upon him."

Introduction

Jean Staker Garton has written a book about the slogans of the so-called "pro-choice" movement. Though her book was published back in 1979, it is still a very relevant response to some of the reasoning of those who advocate abortion on demand. I'll let her words in the introduction of her book set up my message this morning. She writes,

"All our children were in bed; the late television news was over, and I was putting the finishing touches to a presentation for medical students scheduled to be given the next day. As I reviewed some slides which might be used, there appeared on the screen a picture of an abortion victim, aged two and one-half month's gestation; her body had been dismembered by a curette, the long handled knife used in a D& C abortion procedure.

"Suddenly I heard, rather than saw, another person near me. At the sound of a sharp intake of breath, I turned to find that my youngest son, then a sleepy, rumpled three-year old, had unexpectedly and silently entered the room. His small voice was filled with great sadness as he asked, 'Who broke the baby?'

Mrs. Garton continues,

"How could this small, innocent child see what so many adults cannot see" How could he know instinctively that which many people carelessly dismiss as tissue or a blob, was one in being with him, was like him? In the words of his question he gave humanity to what adults call 'fetal matter'; in the tone of his question he mourned what we exalt as a sign of liberation and freedom. With a wisdom which often escapes the learned, he asked in the presence of the evidence before his eyes, 'Who broke the baby'?"

Indeed! And just how badly is the baby broken? Conservative statistics indicate that there have been at least 1.5 million abortions performed annually in the U.S. since 1992¹ and as many as 33,402,084 abortions since it was legalized in this country in 1973.² The U.S. abortion ratio for 1992 was 27.5 abortions for every 100 live births.³ Roughly 1 out of every 5 children conceived in the United States is killed by those who abort their children.

I want to address the abortion issue this morning. What is a Biblical view of this very relevant subject?

Before I do, however, let me say that I fully understand that in any such discussion, it is possible that there are those present, both Christian and non-Christian, who have abortion in their past, and that it can be very painful for someone to bring the subject up. Allow me to remind you, therefore, that if you do have abortion in your past, you may throw yourself upon the mercy of God and be forgiven. You don't have to live with overwhelming guilt. If someone is here who has not done that, I encourage you to do it right away. I'm happy to help any of you in whatever way I can to understand what is involved.

While there are many directions we could go in a discussion such as this, from the perspective of Christians I believe the issue boils down to just three possibilities:

Either:

1. The unborn is not a human being and therefore no moral issues are at stake and abortion should be an elective procedure available for those who want it, or
2. The unborn is (at least for a time) a "potential human being" and thus, certain safeguards are in order, or
3. The unborn is a human being or a person in the full legal and moral sense and is thereby entitled to all the protection of law and morality afforded any other human being. Furthermore, since the unborn child is unable to defend himself, he deserves the special protection of the strong for the weak.

I take the third statement to be true without reservation. For the remainder of our time then, let me explain why.

(One quick aside here to clarify something that I know will come up in the wake of this message: Please understand, that whenever I use the term "abortion," I am speaking of the willful killing of an unborn human life in all cases. Even in cases where the life of the mother is endangered, one life is sacrificed for another. In that extremely rare case, it is my personal conviction that the decision is best left to the family involved, along with their doctor, considered in the fear of God, of course.)

How then, does the Bible bear upon the subject of abortion?

The first principle I want you to see is very fundamental. It is really the basis for much that I have to say and the reason many are at odds with what the Bible teaches. The principle is this:

1. The Bible Teaches that All Human Life Has Extreme Value.

No other system, religion, or philosophy elevates the value of human life to as great a height as the Bible. Not only that, but the Bible elevates human life specifically, not just generally. Each human life, according to the Bible, has value and meaning.

For example, Jesus, in Luke 15, in a parable showing His great concern for the life of the individual, taught that the Good Shepherd is willing to leave the 99 safe sheep in the fold to go out and risk His life seeking the individual that is lost.⁴

In another case, in John 9, onlookers questioned Jesus about the purpose of the life of a certain man who was born blind. Jesus told them that the life of this severely handicapped man had great significance. The man was born that way, according to Jesus, "in order that the works of God might be displayed in him."⁵ The man's life, though by some might have been judged as "not worth living," had purpose and meaning according to the words of the Son of God.

In Matthew 12 there is a passage that refers to the ministry of the Messiah. Matthew describes Him this way: "A battered reed He will not break off, and a smoldering wick He will not put out, until He leads justice to victory."⁶ Though the passage is not addressing abortion directly, it is clear that Jesus was not willing to snuff out the spark of life as long as there was even the slightest flicker of hope.

The ministry of Jesus, the Son of God, teaches us that all life, individual life, even life that is handicapped and weak, has great value.

This stands in stark contrast to what we hear from many quarters today. Arguments like, "The quality of life would be so low for this individual that he/she shouldn't be allowed to be born" or "The weak few must be sacrificed for the benefit of the many strong." (I refer here to abortion as a means of population control.)

Why would God's Word place such high value upon one life when it seems today that life is so cheap? The answer is found when we uncover a very basic Biblical principle. This principle is the root of the so-called "sanctity of human life" ethic that is one of the buzzwords of the pro-life movement. The principle is this:

2. The Bible Bases the Value of Human Life Upon the Fact that We Are Made in the Image of God.

This principle is first stated in Genesis 1:26 in the account of God's creation of man.

"Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…"

These words of Genesis 1:26 are included in a conversation between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In some way, man is made in the image and according to the likeness of God.

"O.K., so what?"

Well, here is what. In Genesis 9:6, God applies this teaching to the taking of human life (look this one up):

"Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man."

In the very beginning of man's history, God decreed that the willful, unjust taking of human life is a capital offense. Why would human life be worth such drastic measures of law and punishment? Because he is a celebrity? Because he is an athlete? Because he has money? Because he has a high IQ? Because he is loved by many? No. The majority of people can claim none of these things. Why such a drastic decree to protect human life? Read the verse again:

"…for in the image of God He made man."

Man's life is important and deserves God's decreed protection because he is make in the image of God!

One of the most common justifications offered by those who promote abortion (and for that matter, those who promote infanticide and euthanasia) is what the unborn child can/cannot do or does/does not do. For instance, "He cannot live unaided outside his mother's uterus;" "He cannot contribute meaningfully to society;" "He cannot reason as others can. Therefore, he is not entitled to live."

Listen to one prominent proponent of this idea. This is a quote from Joseph Fletcher, the founder of so-called "situation ethics:"

"The fetus is not a personal being since it lacks freedom, self-determination, rationality, ability to choose either means or ends, and knowledge of its circumstances."

Hmm. Think about Fletcher's words. "The fetus is not a personal being since it lacks…"

You see the basis of his reasoning? It's what one has/does not have. The Bible, in great contrast to this, places the nature of human worth squarely on the fact that each human being is made in God's image! Therefore it does not matter what one has or lacks.

I have a twenty-dollar bill in my pocket. The paper it is printed on along with the ink that marks it might be worth a few cents to someone if I shredded it. But if I took it down town I could buy twenty dollars worth of merchandise. What gives it that kind of worth? It certainly isn't the value of the paper and ink. Is it not what is printed on it - the Great Seal of the United States and the signature of the Secretary of the Treasury and a few other things? The money has value because of the images printed on it and what they represent. They represent something of great value.

Man has value according to the Bible because he is made in the image of God. He has the image of God stamped upon him.

If I get caught destroying twenty-dollar bills, the Department of Treasury says I’m going to be in a lot of trouble. I’m defacing government currency. God says essentially the same thing in this verse: "Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man."

Here is the real problem with all this: Once you cast your anchor away from this Biblical mooring of the sanctity of human life based upon the stamp of the Maker’s image, you force yourself to decide just what "qualifications" will determine worth or non-worth of a human being.

The definition of what constitutes human life goes up for grabs.

Then you are faced with the question that follows closely behind. Since there are no other reliable (or at least agreeable) ways to determine worth, who will decide what one must be in order to be human? Further, what circumstances will bear on the decision?

Hitler’s Third Reich could kill six million Jewish people without his countrymen’s strong objection simply because the strong tide of German nationalism allowed him to redefine the qualifications of being human. By the reckoning of Third Reich social engineers, Jews and certain others were considered sub-human.

To those who object that such a thing could never happen here, one only has to appeal to the war fought in the middle of the nineteenth century in this country. The argument of slaveholders and their sympathizers prior to and during the Civil War was that black people were not fully human. There were enough people with financial holdings at stake to carry the day on that reckoning for quite a few years - and it took a war to challenge it. It was the effect of the Bible’s sanctity of human life principle that finally brought the reversal of that tragedy.

The American Indian could be wiped out under the same logic. He was a sub-human savage according to then popular opinion.

Once you abandon the Bible’s sanctity of all human life for a system of arbitrary worth, no one is safe. Worth is tied to the ever-changing whims of popular opinion.

We in the United States of America are already well down that slippery slope. Since 1973, the abortion mills have ground on and on, destroying the lives of millions made in God's image and worthy of life. Why He has not brought judgement upon this nation already, I do not know. Perhaps it is His great mercy. Perhaps He spares the whole nation because of the relatively few people who live here who are still concerned for Biblical righteousness. Or perhaps judgement is already on the way.

Social scientists in academic circles have been suggesting a mandatory death age of 65 for many years. Infanticide is already with us in some hospitals, thinly veiled behind the drapes of parents opting to "treat" their malformed children by starvation. What was unheard of not long ago is happening. What is unheard of today will happen in the not-too-distant future.

For those of us in the "baby boom" generation, I have a chilling speculation:

We all know the Social Security System is in trouble. There are not enough workers paying in at a high enough rate to keep on without massive infusions of money from elsewhere. What will happen when the population bulge we call the "baby boom" hits retirement age? To my own generation, I ask, who is going to pay for our old age? "Well, I’m financially able to take care of myself," someone says. That’s great. Not many are. Most people either cannot or will not save for their old age. Here is what I want you to consider: When those who have survived the abortion age hit their productive years and suddenly are faced with huge increases in their Social Security taxes in order to support the boomers who will outnumber them, will they take confiscation of a large percentage of their paychecks joyfully? Or will it be that what the Social Scientists are suggesting today in academic circles – a mandatory death age – will suddenly seem attractive? To a world that may have drifted even farther away from the values of their Creator, it could be viewed as he final solution. Could it be that those in the generation that legalized abortion will then have to pay for it with their lives? Will we reap what we’ve sown?

What will save us in such a scenario - a strong sanctity of life ethic? Don’t count on it. It is leaching out of our society at an alarming rate and does so even more as I speak, with each child aborted.

Abortion flies in the face of the Bible’s teaching on the sanctity of human life. God is not mocked. What we sow, we will reap - in one way or another.

I'm going to stop my message right there for now. I will finish it during our evening service, Lord willing.

Conclusion

I received the following questionnaire from a computer mailing list a few months ago. This has been around for a few years, so some of you may have heard it. I think it bears repeating, however, in case some of you have not.

The question posed was, "Would you consider abortion in the following four situations?"

1. There's a preacher and his wife who are very, very, poor. They already have fourteen kids. Now she finds out she's pregnant with her fifteenth. They're living in tremendous poverty. Considering their poverty and the excessive world population, would you consider recommending she have an abortion?
2. The father is sick with sniffles and the mother has tuberculosis. They have four children. The first is blind, the second is dead, the third is deaf and the fourth has TB. She finds she's pregnant again. Given the extreme situation, would you consider recommending abortion?
3. A white man raped a thirteen-year-old black girl and she got pregnant. If you were her parents, would you consider recommending abortion?
4. A teenage girl is pregnant. She's not married. Her fiancé is not the father of the baby, and he's very upset. Would you consider recommending abortion?

Having posed these questions, I ask you now to consider these facts.

We simply are not capable of making good judgments as to the value of human life if there is no "sanctity of life" ethic that protects all life.

How many more will be murdered before we either come to our senses or God calls the end to our senselessness and sin? Only He knows, but it is certainly wise for us to continue to witness for righteousness in the face of the murder going on around us!

1. Baptists for Life, Inc. http://www.bfl.org/stats.htm [Back]
2. Ibid [Back]
3. Ibid [Back]
4. Luke 15:4-6 [Back]
5. John 9:2-3 [Back]
6. Matthew 12:20-21 [Back]

Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.

Copyright © 1996-2008 by The Preacher's Study. Permission is granted to subscribers to use this document in total or in sermon preparation in the context of the local congregation only. Publishing it in a book, on the Internet, or anyplace beyond the local congregation is prohibited.

All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.

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