GOLDBERG: "Well, there’s nothing in the Book that says anything about abortion. Let’s make sure of that. The Ten Commandments are the Ten Commandments. There’s only ten. Only ten."
Nothing in the Bible that says anything about abortion! The implications, I suppose, is that all of us Bible-toting hillbilly fundamental preachers have been making it all up out of whole cloth.
With all due respect to Whoopi, there is a veritable MOUNTAIN of Scripture that bears either directly or indirectly on the abortion debate--including the Sixth Commandment. It is interesting that "broad-minded" progressives of Ms. Goldberg's ideological persuasion typically accuse evangelicals, conservatives, and other traditionalists of being "close-minded" and insufficiently attentive to other viewpoints, being unwilling to invest either time or labor in attempting to learn why others feel the way they do about various issues. With Whoopi, however, it is seems sadly apparent that it is she who has invested next to nothing in attempting to understand the Biblical case on behalf of the sanctity of pre-natal Life, and why Christians feel as strongly as they do on this issue.
For all the potential Whoopies out there, and for those who would lovingly share the truth with them, I have collected some passages relevant to the Biblical case for life.
ABORTION
In Light of the Clear Teaching of Scripture
I. God has a plan for every human life.
Isa. 49:1: Listen to Me, O islands, and pay attention, you
peoples from afar. The LORD called Me from the womb; from the body of My mother
He named Me.
Isa. 49:5: And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to
be His Servant...
Jer. 1:5: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to
the nations."
Gal. 1:15: “But when God, who had set me apart even from my
mother's womb and called me through His grace...”
Gen. 2:7: 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.
Job 12:9-10: "Who among all these does not know that the
hand of the LORD has done this, in whose hand is the life of every living
thing, and the breath of all mankind?”
Ps. 66:8-9: Bless our God, O peoples, and sound His praise
abroad, Who
keeps us in life and does not allow our feet to slip.
Isa. 42:5: Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and
stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring, Who gives
breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it...
Dan. 5:23b: But the God in whose hand are your life-breath and
all your ways, you have not glorified.
Acts 17:25b, 28a: 25“He Himself gives to all people life
and breath and all things...”; 28“...for
in Him we live and move and exist...”
III. God reserves unto Himself exclusive prerogatives
in determining matters of life & death...
Ps. 31:15a: “My times are in Your hand...”
Ex. 20:13: "You shall not murder.”
[Note
the exception—when God explicitly delegates unto men the duty to perform capital
punishment (Gen. 9:6) or the right to engage in self-defense (Ex. 22:2).]
IV. We are OWNED by God Almighty, who has exclusive
rights over us—and OUR BODIES!
Ps. 100:3: Know that the LORD Himself is God; it is He who has
made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Ezek. 18:4: "Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the
father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die.”
1 Cor. 6:19-20: Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the
Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your
own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
V. How does God characterize life within the womb, and
WHEN, thus, does an individual human life BEGIN?
Note
the status of Jacob & Esau within Rebekah’s womb; they were children, spoken of in personal terms—not simply blobs
of tissue! Jacob was a he—not
an it! And they did things
consistent with personhood—such as struggle!
Gen. 25:22a: But the children struggled together within her...
Hosea 12:3a: In the womb he took his brother by the heel...
Note
David had a sin-nature at
conception—something a “non-person” cannot have!
Ps. 51:5: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin
my mother conceived me.”
John
the Baptist was endowed with the Holy
Spirit while yet in the womb—hardly characteristic of a “non-person!”
Luke 1:15: "For he will be great in the sight of the Lord;
and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit
while yet in his mother's womb.”
John
the Baptist—who was six months inside his mother’s womb—experienced the human
emotion of joy (!) in
encountering the unborn Person
of Jesus (who probably would have only been conceived 8-to-10 days prior)!
Luke 1:41: When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby
leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Luke 1:44: "For behold, when the sound of your greeting
reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.”
WHAT did
the Angel Gabriel tell Mary that Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, had
conceived? A “potential-life?” An impersonal blob of tissue? A mere “fetus?” Or
a SON?
Luke 1:36: "And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has
also conceived a son in her old age...”
WHAT
was our Lord when He was conceived and
within His mother’s womb? Merely a “potential human?” Or...a CHILD?
Matt. 1:18: Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when
His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was
found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.
Matt. 1:20: But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of
the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not
be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in
her is of the Holy Spirit.”
WHEN
did the Word become Flesh? Historic Christian theology has always affirmed that
God became incarnate when Mary was overshadowed by the Holy Ghost—and not at some later time-period!
He became a genuine human at the point of conception—like
other men, whom He came to save!
Luke 1:35: The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy
Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;
and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.
John 1:14a: “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us...”
Does
God regard prenatal life as genuine & sacred—entitled to FULL LEGAL PROTECTION? More to the point: “Should abortionists be regarded as murderers?” Note the response of Exodus
21:22-25: if a man, through a deliberate act of violence, caused the death of
an unborn child...he was to be put to DEATH
as a MURDERER, in accordance with
the legal code that GOD HIMSELF gave
to the Israelites!
Ex. 21:22-25: "If men struggle with each other and strike a
woman with child so that she gives birth prematurely, yet there is no injury,
he shall surely be fined as the woman's husband may demand of him, and he shall
pay as the judges decide. But if there is any further injury, then you shall
appoint as a penalty life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for
hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”
VI. Does Jesus have concern for babies & little
children?
Matt. 18:10: "See that you do not despise one of these
little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the
face of My Father who is in heaven.”
Matt 18:14: "So it is not the will of your Father who is in
heaven that one of these little ones perish.”
Luke 18:15 -16: And they were bringing even their babies to Him so
that He would touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking
them. But Jesus called for them, saying, "Permit the children to come to Me,
and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”
Mark 10:13-14a: And they were bringing children to Him so that He
might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw this, He
was indignant and said to them, "Permit the children to come to Me; do not
hinder them...”
Ps. 127:3: Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, the fruit
of the womb is a reward.
VII. How does God regard the shedding of innocent
blood?
Lev. 18:21: “You shall not give any of your offspring to offer
them to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am the LORD.”
2 Kings 24:3-4: “Surely at the command of the LORD it came upon
Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according
to all that he had done, and also for the innocent blood which he shed, for he
filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and the LORD would not forgive.
Prov. 6:16-17: “There are six things which the LORD hates, yes,
seven which are an abomination to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands
that shed innocent blood...”
Ps. 106:38: And [they] shed innocent blood, the blood of their
sons and their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the
land was polluted with the blood.
Ezek. 35:6: “...therefore as I live," declares the Lord
GOD, ‘I will give you over to bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you; since
you have not hated bloodshed, therefore bloodshed will pursue you.’”
VIII. How does God regard indifference amongst His
people to the shedding of innocent blood? Are there consequences?
Prov. 24:11-12: Rescue those
who are being led away to death! Indeed, hold back those who are staggering to
the slaughter! If you say, "Behold, we didn't know this;" Doesn't He
who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, doesn't He know it?
Shall he not render to every man according to his work?
Lev. 20:4-5: If the people
of the land all hide their eyes from that person, when he gives of his seed to
Molech, and don't put him to death; then I will set my face against that man,
and against his family, and will cut him off, and all who play the prostitute
after him, to play the prostitute with Molech, from among their people.
