abortion

Sanctity of Life for All of Life

SHEA PATRICK | CONTRIBUTOR Many years ago, I posted on Facebook that I was a “one-issue voter.” I did so as a public declaration of my pro-life stance and that a candidate’s position on abortion was my only consideration in determining whether or not I would vote for them. In the years since that post, I have given much thought to what it means to be pro-life. Is being pro-life simply being anti-abortion, or does it mean more? Please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying—yes, we must be anti-abortion and advocate for saving the lives of the unborn. It is that and more. One of the phrases I’ve heard used is that Christians ought to be pro-life from “womb to tomb.” A Call to Care Our reference point as we consider these issues starts with the giver of life in Genesis. God created man in his own image and pronounced him good. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Gen. 1:27). Throughout the Old Testament, we see that many of the laws given to God’s people concerned that of life, health, and wholeness. God gave laws that cared for widows and orphans (Exo. 22:22) and provided for the poor and one’s neighbors (Exo. 25:26). In Exodus 23, he even shows fatherly care for those outside the nation of Israel. Then Jesus steps on the scene in the New Testament. He shows his concern not for religious rules and compliance but for life and flourishing, healing those with diseases and resurrecting the dead. He shows compassion and mercy to those typically on the margins– a leper and a Roman centurion’s servant (Matt. 8), the demon-possessed (Luke 4:35), a woman with a disability that would keep her from the temple (Luke 8:43-48), and even a woman caught in adultery (John 8). How can believers show their concern for life and flourishing as well? The church can be the hands and feet of Jesus, showing biblical love and care for the hurting in very practical and intentional ways. Consider these ideas: The Church as the Hands and Feet of Christ...

Sanctity of Life for All of LifeChristina Fox2024-02-05T19:03:39+00:00

The Church Can Do Better

LEAH FARISH|GUEST On Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, many churches call us to contemplate the issue of unwanted pregnancy. As Christians, we must be conscious of the importance of tiny creations who are weak, dependent, still developing, yet loved by God and full of potential. But more than just babies in the womb, I am also describing their mothers and fathers, social workers, judges, politicians, abortionists, and pastors—all mere humans who may grapple with what some may view as “problem” pregnancies. It’s doubtful that sin is the only problem with our ineffectiveness; our limitations also hamper us. It may seem there aren’t enough hours in the day to minister to everyone. We can lack imagination to believe that someone in our midst may be agonizing over an unplanned pregnancy. Or we may not know how to empathize in that situation. Perhaps some are immobilized by the fact that they themselves chose abortion in the past, or secretly cling to that option for the future. Maybe we aren’t equipped with a biblical basis to engage with someone on the issue. It is with our own limitations that we all encounter the anguish of abortion, and now that the subject is legally in the hands of the 50 states, it is helpful to acknowledge that the decision-makers, doctors, and families involved are also frail and incomplete images of God. Covenant College professor Kelly Kapic makes this point in You’re Only Human—my favorite Christian book in 2022. He taught me that limitations are something different from sin and that if we try to handle problems without allowing for limitation, the solutions we find won’t be durable. With the empowering of the Holy Spirit, the church can do better for women who are deciding about abortion. God’s Word is the sure foundation for addressing all problems. Let’s look at some statistics on the needs, and a passage from Psalm 103 addressing each one...

The Church Can Do BetterChristina Fox2023-03-24T17:23:10+00:00

How. Much. More. Abortion and the Line of False Choice

Sometimes the most unusual phrases capture my attention. Reading through the Old Testament the other day, I ran across the command, “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.” I was immediately struck by those words. I have been unable to shake them from my mind. In particular, I’ve been contemplating how this phrase relates to the recent passage of a law in the State of New York legalizing—and indeed, actually celebrating—third trimester abortion. Wondering if I understood the passage rightly, I went to multiple sources and, of course, received multiple interpretations as to the meaning. Learning that this phrase appears not one, but three times, in the Old Testament, I also found that it appears in different contexts. While some consider it to be a mistake in the translation of the text, others suggest that it is written in reaction to a pagan ritual, while still others see it as comparable in usage to “how much more” statements which are made in both the Old and New Testaments. (I will be working off of the premise of the “how much more” perspective.) “How Much More” Applied One example of Jesus’ “how much more” statements occurs in Luke’s version of the Sermon on the Mount. There, Jesus tells his hearers to consider the lilies of the field—and how God cares for them. “But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith?” In other words, “If God cares for his creation as a whole, how much more does he care for every one of his image bearers?”

How. Much. More. Abortion and the Line of False ChoiceChristina Fox2022-05-08T00:01:35+00:00