What The Bible Says About When Life Begins
When Does Life Begin?
According to the bible, life begins at birthwhen a baby draws its first breath. The bible defines life as breath in several significant passages, including the story of Adams creation in Genesis 2:7, when God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. Jewish law traditionally considers that personhood begins at birth.Desperate for a biblical basis for their beliefs, some antiabortionists cite obscure passages, usually metaphors or poetic phrasing, such as: Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Psalm 51:5 This is sexist, but does nothing other than to invoke original sin. It says nothing about abortion.The Commandments, Moses, Jesus and Paul ignored every chance to condemn abortion. If abortion was an important concern, why didnt the bible say so?Thou Shalt Not Kill?
Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.Psalm 137:9
- Numbers 31:17
What Does Christianity Teach About Abortion
For Christians, human life is sacred and is a gift from God. It is to be respected and protected. This teaching is called the sanctity of life.
The Bible teaches that human beings are created in the image of God. It also teaches that murder is forbidden. Jesus reminded his followers that each person is precious to God, so much so that God has counted every hair on their head.
Christians understand and apply the guiding principle of the sanctity of life in a variety of ways to the issue of abortion. Within the same church, views may differ. The four main positions are as follows:
- Pro-life some Christians, including many Roman Catholics, say that abortion is morally wrong because of their belief that human life begins at conception. They may make an exception if an abortion is essential in order to save the life of the mother , assuming all efforts have been made to save the foetus.
- Pro-choice it is up to the woman to decide whether it is right for her to have an abortion because it is her body. Some Christians believe that a woman has a right to a safe abortion, and that it shows compassion if the law allows this.
- Absolute moral abortion is wrong in every circumstance.
- Relative moral abortion is permitted in certain circumstances.
Does Human Life Begin When We Take Our First Breath
There are those who say human life begins when we take our first breath. Does the fact that unborn children dont breathe air mean they arent yet live human beings? Does the Bible teach this in Genesis 2:7 when it talks about the breath of life in the account of the creation of Adam, as some claim?
The first thing to note when responding to those who hold this view is that Genesis 2:7 isnt about Adams breath. Heres what it says:
Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being.
Adam breathing isnt what gave him life. The point is that God gave life to Adam . This passage is about God giving life to His creation. There is nothing in here about Adam breathingthough, of course, we can assume Adam began to breathe after being given life since thats the way adults normally function.
When talking about newly-conceived human beingsand not the first adult man directly created from non-living matter by Godthe Bible gives no indication that there is a time before birth when we are not whole human beings but merely bodies without souls. If one is going to speculate that God completes the essence of a human being by adding a soul at some point after conception, please keep in mind that all this can be is speculation. There is no good biblical reason to think its true and, in fact, the Luke 1 passage seems to directly contradict it.
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When Does Life Begin
According to the bible, life begins at birth–when a baby draws its first breath. The bible defines life as “breath” in several significant passages, including the story of Adam’s creation in Genesis 2:7, when God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul.” Jewish law traditionally considers that personhood begins at birth.
Desperate for a biblical basis for their beliefs, some antiabortionists cite obscure passages, usually metaphors or poetic phrasing, such as: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Psalm 51:5 This is sexist, but does nothing other than to invoke original sin. It says nothing about abortion.
Moses, Jesus and Paul ignored every chance to condemn abortion. If abortion is so important, why didn’t the bible say so?
How A Former Abortion Doctor Became Pro
As an abortion doctor at Planned Parenthood, Dr. Patti Giebink believed she was helping women. Later, she began reading scripture and God gradually changed her heart on the abortion issue. Patti tells the story of her long journey from abortion doctor to pro-life and encourages listeners to share the message of life with compassion.
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Guest Column: Life Begins With First Breath
The biblical creation story tells us human life begins with the first breath . The non-biblical claim life commences with conception is contrived and contradicts scripture, history, science, biology, law and fact.
Human conception begins when a large female egg cell is fertilized by a small male spermatozoon cell creating a combined zygote cell that slowly develops into a blastocyst, then into an embryo, then into a fetus, and finally birth as a living and breathing human being after 40 weeks of dependency and development in the mothers body.
Countless conceived embryos fail to implant or are naturally aborted after conception .
There is no biblical scripture opposing abortion, only passages acknowledging and condoning it .
Anti-abortionists ignore Genesis 2-7 and cite Jeremiah 1:5 . Jeremiah is a hearsay collection of ancient prophesies by unknown authors. The referenced verse is an attempt to concoct divine prophetic authority and nothing more than conjecture. Moreover, it is not about abortion.
The human reproduction process was discovered in the late 19th century by science . It totally discredited deceitful dogma by patriarchal religions claiming the male seed was planted in a female where it alone incubated in the womb until maturity and emergence .
This divisive issue should be democratically decided with a national referendum by secret ballot allowing only women the right to vote.
John Compere lives in Callahan County.
What About Rape And Incest
The Bible makes rape a capital offense:
If the man meets the engaged woman in the open country, and the man seizes her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die. You shall do nothing to the young woman the young woman has not committed an offense punishable by death, because this case is like that of someone who attacks and murders a neighbor .
Gods word clearly condemns such a crime against women. Pro-choice advocates often point to this issue early in the debate, arguing that a woman should not continue to be victimized by bearing a child as the result of such a horrific crime.
Unprotected intercourse results in pregnancy about four percent of the time. If one in three women is likely to be raped in her lifetime, and incestuous relationships subject a woman to repeated sexual abuse, pregnancies resulting from rape and incest are so likely that abortion must be legal as a remedy for women subjected to such crime . Nearly all pro-life advocates concede the point, allowing for abortion in the case of rape and incest.
To allow for abortion because of the very rare incidence of abortions performed because of rape and incest is something like suspending all marijuana laws because of the small number of patients who could benefit from its medicinal effects. We could stop the use of traffic lights because of the incidents when they slow a sick persons rush to a hospital, but would we not cause more harm than we prevent?
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They were both convinced they had married the wrong person. From almost the very beginning of their marriage, Amber and Guy Lia experienced various tensions and personality clashes related to house cleaning, backseat driving, workaholism, and intimacy. In this two-day Focus on the Family broadcast, Amber and Guy discuss how they bravely faced the triggers head-on, and committed to working on their own relationships with Jesus. As you listen to the Lias story, youll feel hope that you, too, can see real marriage transformation!
What Does The Bible Say About Abortion
The nontract below may be read online for personal viewing and reference. They are copyrighted and belong to FFRF. All right reserved. This material may not be reprinted or distributed without the express written permission of the Freedom From Religion Foundation.FFRF makes these nontracts available in brouchure form by the dozen or in bulk to make distribution cost-effective and easy.
What Does the Bible Say about Abortion
Absolutely nothing! The word abortion does not appear in any translation of the bible.
Out of more than 600 laws of Moses, none comments on abortion. One Mosaic law about miscarriage specifically contradicts the claim that the bible is antiabortion, clearly stating that miscarriage does not involve the death of a human being. If a woman has a miscarriage as the result of a fight, the man who caused it should be fined. If the woman dies, however, the culprit must be killed:
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 womans husband will lay upon him and he shall pay as the judges determine.
And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth . . .Ex. 21:22-25
The bible orders the death penalty for murder of a human being, but not for the expulsion of a fetus.
When Does Life Begin?
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Moral Arguments For Abortion
Pro-choice advocates make five basic claims:
Many theologians, pastors, and denominational leaders consider these claims to be both biblical and moral.
First, pro-choice proponents argue that a fetus is not legally a person.
They agree with the Supreme Courts finding that the Constitution nowhere grants legal standing to a pre-born life. Only 40 to 50 percent of fetuses survive to become persons in the full sense. A fetus belongs to the mother until it attains personhood and is morally subject to any action she wishes to take with it.
Second, abortion must be protected as an alternative for women who are the victims of rape or incest.
While this number is admittedly small in this country , it is growing in many countries around the world. As many as one in three women may become the victim of such an attack. They must be spared the further trauma of pregnancy and childbirth.
Third, no unwanted children should be brought into the world.
Fourth, the state has no right to legislate our personal moral decisions.
The Catholic Teaching Of Life Beginning At Conception
The Catechism of the Catholic Church reiterates the teaching of the Church that human life begins at conception.
Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.
CCC 2270
This teaching is based on the following passages from the Bible, as cited from the Catechism.
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.
My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.
While breath is certainly vital to the life of a human being, Catholic Scripture scholars do not interpret this passage in Genesis in a literal way, but more in an allegorical way. This means that the breath of God does not refer to God blowing into Adam a physical breath, but more of a spiritual breath, his soul.
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Politicians Pushing For Abortion Restrictions Arent Reading Scripture In Context
2:43 PM on Jul 29, 2022 CDT
Now that Roe vs. Wade has been overturned, some in the pro-life crowd are pushing for greater abortion restrictions, claiming that the Bible says life begins at conception. Baptist pastor and Ohio lawmaker Gary Click, for instance, has co-sponsored a bill that prohibits abortion from the moment of conception, with no exceptions for rape or incest.
Theres a problem, though, from a Christian point of view: The Bible doesnt teach that life begins at conception.
Its not an exaggeration to call abortion a Christian problem. At least 54% of women who get an abortion are Christian, while a study commissioned by pro-life organization Care Net found that 70% of women who had an abortion said they were Christian. But only 7% of the women discussed the decision with someone at their church, .
Almost three-fourth of white, evangelical Protestants say that their religion is extremely or very important in shaping their abortion views. That may be true, but its important to recognize that Scripture doesnt take this view, even if parts of the Christian religion do.
Likewise, in verse 15, David says his frame was not hidden from God. The actual word here is bones. A fetuss bones start to harden at week 13, right around the same time the kidneys start functioning.
Matt Mikalatos is an author and speaker in Portland, Ore. He wrote this column for The Dallas Morning News.
Matt Mikalatos
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Are Bible Teachings Kind To Women
The bible is neither antiabortion nor pro-life, but does provide a biblical basis for the real motivation behind the antiabortion religious crusade: hatred of women. The bible is anti-woman, blaming women for sin, demanding subservience, mandating a slave/master relationship to men, and demonstrating contempt and lack of compassion: “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” Gen. 3:16 What self-respecting woman today would submit willingly to such tyranny?
The antiabortion position does not demonstrate love for humanity, or compassion for real human beings. World Health Organization estimates maternal deaths at 500,000 a year, with at least one in five stemming from unsafe, illegal abortions. Thousands more are hurt and maimed from illegal or self-induced abortions. Unwanted pregnancies and complications from multiple pregnancies are a leading killer of women. Why do antiabortionists want North American women to join these ghastly mortality statistics? Every day around the world more than 40,000 people, mostly children, die from starvation or malnutrition. We must protect and cherish the right to life of the already-born.
Problems With The First Breath Theory
There are several problems with this theory, as it ties human life to a humans capacity to breathe.
The first problem is that a newborn infant does not breathe immediately upon delivery. This means there are several seconds, or even minutes, where the newborn would technically not have life.
It would follow, then, that partial-birth abortion would be morally permissible, provided that the newborn is killed before taking their first breath. Some Jewish scholars have argued in support of partial-birth abortion, basing their arguments primarily on interpretations of Jewish teaching.
Secondly, this also creates problems for people who stop breathing, but are still medically alive, and not declared brain dead. This is another point of debate among Jewish scholars, who take different points of view regarding the end of life.
In many ways this theory does not take into account current medical knowledge on human life and how our life is not restricted to our ability to breathe.
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Dr Tim And Mrs Noreen Muehlhoff
Dr. Tim Muehlhoff is a professor of communication at Biola University in La Mirada, California where he teaches classes in family communication, interpersonal communication, apologetics, gender, and conflict resolution. Tim and his wife, Noreen, are both on staff with Biolas Center for Marriage and Relationships where he is a co-host of The Art of Relationship podcast.
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