The biblical position on life is not new among Christians. From its earliest foundations, the Church completely rejected the practice of abortion. This arose from their belief in the testimony of the Scriptures concerning the sanctity of life. However, their commitments are not limited to correct doctrine, but extend beyond practical actions for the benefit of the innocent. Tremendous self-sacrifice characterized their entire lifestyle as they rescued babies left to die from abandonment and exposure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Christians have a historical record of shaping the conscience of entire nations when it comes to protecting and caring for those in need. Virtually all the institutions that we consider to be charitable ministries aimed at orphans and widows come from the activities of faithful believers. Before the worldwide spread of the Gospel and its subsequent cultural effects, believers operated at great risk to preserve an innocent life in the midst of a pagan context that neglected the image of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The following quotes from leaders in the early church show three biblical truths on this matter:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reborn children are created in God's image and have the same value as those already born.
Killing a human being (fetus) in the womb by any means is murder.
Responsibility is borne by all participants in the act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All three teachings are fully consistent with the truths found in the Bible, which speak of the sanctity of life, God's prohibition against murder, and the requirement of justice for the innocent (Genesis 1:26-27, Exodus 20:13, 21:22-25, Leviticus 19:15, Psalm 139:13-16).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is worth noting that the same Christians who risked their lives to save the little ones and even to adopt and raise them in the fear and admonition of the Lord, were fully resolved on the position that it was both a sin and a crime for anyone to take their lives at any moment. Both justice and mercy were balanced. Believers saw the killing of the unborn as a matter worthy of ecclesiastical discipline as well as a matter of civil justice to be attended to by governing authorities. If we want to see a judicial end to abortion in our day, we would do well to learn from our forefathers and consider that ancient landmarks should not be carelessly moved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Quotes<\/p>\n\n\n\n
"She who willfully destroys a fetus must suffer the penalty of murder. Moreover, those who help her, who give abortifacients to destroy a child conceived in the womb, are the murderers themselves, as well as those who receive the poisons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2013 Basil of Caesarea, canons 118.2<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere are two paths: the path of life and the path of death, and the difference between these two paths is great. Therefore do not kill a child by abortion and do not kill a newborn.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2013 Didache, Didache 1.1; 2.2<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTo love your neighbor more than your life. You will not kill a child through abortion. You will not kill what has already been created.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- The Epistle of Barnabas, The Epistle of Barnabas 19.5<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are saying that women who induce abortions are murderers and will have to give an account to God. The fetus in the womb is a living being and therefore subject to God's care.'<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2013 Athenagoras, Plea for Christians 35.6<\/p>\n\n\n\n
"Our whole life can run according to God's perfect plan only if we gain mastery over our desires, practicing self-restraint from the beginning, instead of destroying by perverse and pernicious arts human offspring who are born of Divine Providence. Those who use abortion drugs to hide their fornication are killing not only the fetus but the entire human race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Kliment Alexandriski, Teacher, 2.10.96<\/p>\n\n\n\n
"Our faith proclaims life from death. Therefore, killing is forbidden once and for all. We may not even destroy the fetus in the womb. Birth control is just killing the person faster. So it doesn't matter whether you take away a life that is born or destroy the one that comes at birth. In both cases, destruction is murder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2013 Tertullian, Apology, 8.6; 9.4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey deny themselves in their very wombs their own offspring. With the help of parricidal concoctions they extinguish the fruits of their wombs. Thus life is taken away before it is given. Who but man himself taught us how to deny our own children?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2013 Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, Hexameron, 5.16.58<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThose who drink potions to ensure sterility are guilty of rejecting God's own blessings. Some, when they learn that the potions have failed and are therefore pregnant through sin, practice abortion by using other potions. Then they are guilty of three crimes: suicide, adultery and murder of an unborn child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Jerome, Letter to Eustochius, 22.13<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey provoke women to such extravagant methods as the use of poisonous drugs to ensure barrenness; or else, failing that, to kill the unborn child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2013 Augustine, On Marriage, 1.17.15<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For additional information on these quotes and an in-depth look at the pro-life movement in the early church, see George Grant's The Third Way Around: A History of the Pro-Life Movement from the First Century to the Present.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"