Saturday, November 1, 2008

Can A Christian Be Pro-Abortion, or Even Neutral?

No...not if that Christian believes in the biblical doctrine of the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. And since one cannot ignore the incarnation of God in the person of the Man Jesus and be a Christian, it is therefore impossible for a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ to be pro-abortion or even neutral on the subject of abortion.
Let me explain. First, let’s clarify the terms. One who holds to a pro-abortion position is one who believes it is perfectly acceptable to stop the life of an unborn child at some point between conception and birth. One who is neutral on abortion is one who is unwilling to say it is wrong to take the life of an unborn child.
Now, let’s address the obvious question. If any woman ever had reason to have an abortion in the modern rationale in favor of abortion Mary, the mother of Jesus, would have qualified. She was unmarried and pregnant in a time and culture where that was looked upon with scorn, unlike today when it is most often celebrated. So, by today’s legal standards and secular thought, Mary would have been a prime candidate to have a legal abortion.
Would it have been admissible for Mary to have aborted the child in her womb? If the one in her womb was not really a child yet, not really God incarnate yet, then some would make the argument that it would have been perfectly acceptable for her to choose to abort it. However, it defies the imagination to think that anyone, short of a full-blown atheist, would suggest that abortion of the unborn Jesus would have been a proper choice.
The key question is: When did Jesus become God incarnate? Was He God incarnate only at birth or was He God incarnate at the moment He was conceived in the womb of Mary by God the Holy Spirit? The historical orthodox Christian position has always been that He was incarnate, in flesh, from the point of His conception. To suggest that Christians believe anything else would be an absurdity. One must conclude that the truly biblical Christian position is that the unborn Jesus was God incarnate and under no circumstances would it have been acceptable to abort Him.
So, the biblical Christian position must be that abortion is wrong. It is not acceptable in the mind of true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. And arguing from the specific to the general then would say that, since that one unborn child was fully human from the point of conception, then all babies are. Therefore, taking the life of an unborn child is taking the life of a human being.