It seems like Christianity and Jesus are increasingly under attack. What's going on? What we'll be looking at is what happens when Christians use human wisdom to interpret the Bible, twisting scripture away from its intended message. This blog is dedicated to using Scripture itself to interpret and help us understand Scripture. You are welcome to add your comments and thoughts. Other viewpoints are welcome. Disagreements are welcome.
That's the title of a book by Randy Alcorn. This is such a good book that we'd like to get as many copies as possible into people's hands. The normal price is $7.99, but we'll give you a copy free. Just send us $3.00 to cover the postage. You can even send postage stamps.
Send your request to: Mission to America P.O. Box 974 Tualatin, OR 97062
Give a copy to a friend who does not understand the harm abortion does to women.
Give a copy to a neighbor who does not understand that life starts at conception.
This offer is valid until July 4, 2009, and while supplies of the book last.
If your church or organization would like to purchase larger quantities, Randy Alcorn sells Why Pro Life? for $1.60 per copy when you purchase a case of 50 books. Visit his web site: Why Pro Life?
Continuing with the response to the commenter who claims that God is described as killing babies in the Bible. (See the "Jews Kill Children" post.)
The claim is that Psalm 137:9 says that God kills babies. So let's look at Psalm 137 verse 8 and 9:
"O Daughter of Babylon, you devastated one, how blessed will be the one who repays you with the recompense with which you have repaid us.How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones [infants] against the rock."
The question is, do these verses indicate that God kills babies?
This Psalm was written after Israel’s return from Babylon.It is describing what happened when Babylon was conquered by the Medes.This was predicted in a prophecy is Isaiah 13:16:
"Their little children also will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered and their wives ravished."
This prophecy is repeated in Isaiah 13:18 where it states that the conquerors of Babylon"will not even have compassion on the fruit of the womb."
The prophecy talks more about the destruction of Babylon than just the killing of infants, but the question about these verses has to do with whether or not they say that God kills babies. That is why I’ve just quoted the parts of scripture that mention this.
No, this scripture does not say that God kills babies.It says that the Medes killed Babylonian infants.It is describing what actually happened… the brutality of the Medes as they conquered Babylon.There is nothing more brutal than the killing of infants, and that is mentioned here to show how merciless the Medes were.
Why does the Psalmist say the Medes are blessed?Is it because they kill babies?No.It is because they are the destroyers of Babylon.That is the context for these verses, and that is what these verses are all about.There is nothing here that says God kills babies or approves of the killing of babies. It is purely descriptive of the depravity of mankind.
In this post we'll be talking about two passages of scripture. Jeremiah 1:5 and Exodus 21:22-25.
The anonymous commenter wrote:
"Jeremiah 1:5. Which, when taken out of context, seem to support the claim that God recognizes a fetus as a person. But, for instance, if we read the entire passage of Jeremiah 1:4-10 it gives that one verse another meaning...and what is true for Jeremiah is not necessarily true for us. We are not prophets."
Here is what Jeremiah 1:5 says: "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."
This verse says God did four things: formed, knew, consecrated and appointed. Is there anything in this passage, or ANYWHERE ELSE in the Bible that indicates God only does these things for prophets? What about doing this for apostles? What about pastors and teachers? What about evangelists? And let's not leave out worship leaders, prayer warriors and those with the gift of serving. Today the Holy Spirit is indwelling all believers, and all believers are consecrated and appointed to have spiritual gifts used to worship, serve and glorify God. So does that mean God only formed prophets in the womb before Christ died, but after He forms all Christians in the womb, but not other people? That does not make sense.
There is no support, anywhere in the Bible, for interpreting Jeremiah as limiting God to forming just Jeremiah, or just prophets, in a woman's womb.
Are there any indications elsewhere in the Bible that God forms all people in the womb? That we all are a creation of God?
Yes, Scripture such as Psalm 139:13-16 clearly says this... nothing more is needed.
But there is more. We read throughout the Bible that God knows us before we were born. He is control and involved in everything. He is the creator of all things. He holds the universe together (Colossians 1:17 and Hebrews 1:3), which means He is actively involved in everything that happens. What we call "natural laws" are in fact God acting in the present to hold the universe together. What Bible scholars call "the flow of Scripture" all favors the understanding of Jeremiah 1:5 as saying Jeremiah, like all other humans, was formed in the womb by God.
The anonymous commenter then writes:
"God does give examples that seem to support the view that He doesn't consider us a person until we are at least a month old and, in Exodus 21:22-25, clearly states that causing an abortion is not a capital offense. No, the baby in that passage did not survive. When this passage is properly translated it is a miscarriage, not a premature birth."
Here is what Exodus 21:22-25 says (NIV), "If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows. But if there is a serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise."
===== The following is updated from the original post =====
The problem seems to be that the text is not being read for what it says. There is an assumption that the baby dies and the "serious" injury being discussed her is to the woman. But that's not what the text says.
It says that if the woman gives birth prematurely and there is no serious injury... if there is no serious injury then neither the mother nor the baby have been seriously injured and compensation must be paid.
If there is a serious injury, to either the mother or the baby, then there is a just penalty that is appropriate for the injury.
Both the NIV and NASB says "give birth prematurely", they do not say "miscarry". The Hebrew word used here is "yalad" and it means to give birth (alternate translations: born, children, give delivery, bring forth). The Hebrew word for miscarriage is "nephel" and that is not used here. There is no translation problem here.
Exodus 21:14 plainly says that abortion is murder and the penalty is the death penalty.
When does a person become a person? When does abortion become murder? The answers: at conception and it is almost always is murder. Let's look at scripture.
There are a number of passages in Scripture that deal with the concept of when life becomes life, and the point at which God created that life. Let's look at these and the objections someone who favors killing babies has raised.
Medical science has long known, and clearly demonstrated, that a baby in the womb is a living person that feels pain, reacts to stimulus, and is completely unique person. The Bible also shows this:
"When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb..." - Luke 1:41
"For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my eyes, the baby leaped in my womb for joy." - Luke 1:44
By the way, the Bible always refers to an unborn child as a baby. The term "fetus" is never used. Whether the person is inside or outside of the womb, the same term is used, "baby".
Of course, someone might say this was a very special baby. This was Jesus. This is a special case, it is not something that applies to everyone. I'd then have to ask, what makes it a special case? Could it be that Jesus, as a baby in the womb, understood Mary's words because he is God?
A verse that tells us God formed us in the womb is Jeremiah 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." - Jeremiah 1:5
Galatians says the same thing about Paul, "But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother's womb..." - Galatians 1:15
The objection is that this is a special case. That Jeremiah was created to be a prophet and so he received God's special attention and was formed in the womb by God. However, this does not apply to everyone else. We are not prophets like Jeremiah and Paul.
Yes, that one statement is true. We are not all prophets. The verse goes on to say God consecrated Jeremiah before he was born and appointed him to be a prophet. That certainly is very special. But, does it negate the first part of this verse? Does God only form prophets in the womb, or does He form everyone in the womb?
From a plain, straightforward reading of the text it is so obvious that God forms everyone in the womb, that I can not find one commentary that questions this or even discusses it.
Let's go to Psalm 139:13
"For You [God] formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb."
This verse clearly says David was formed by God in his mother's womb, and the person defending child murder says nothing about this verse, other than claiming it will be used to support life.
What is the context of this verse?
The previous paragraphs are talking about how God is everywhere. Starting in 139:13 scripture talks about God's power and skill, and it uses the beginning of life as an example. Not only do these verses say God made us in the womb, they praise God for His skill.
What is also interesting is Psalm 51:5 - "Behold I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me."
What is the context? In the previous verses David is talking about his sin and how evil he is in God's sight. These verses are all about David being a sinner, from the moment he was conceived.
Can a blob of tissue sin? No. Can an animal sin? No. Only a person, created by God, can sin. Only a living being created in the image of God can sin against God. Psalm 51:5 clearly states that from the moment of conception a baby is a person... we all know that killing a person is murder.
We've been talking about the doctrine of inclusiveness, which has become the foundational doctrine of some United Methodist Churches. With this post I am getting back to discussions I had with a pastor of a specific UM Church. Although she started each of the services I attended by stating that everyone was included, in a discussion we had following one of the services it was plain that one group of people are intentionally excluded.
Imagine what it will be like when you grow old. As you become older you lose both your physical and mental abilities. How old do you have to be before you become an inconvenience to your family? An inconvenience for them to be driving you to the doctor or helping you around the house? Or an inconvenience just to spend time with you when they have more important things to do? How old do you have to be before you become a financial liability for your family?
Or is it a matter of your loss of physical and mental ability, not your actual age, that makes it inconvenient for your family to have you around? For this United Methodist pastor it was age. If you would be an inconvenience for your family, and you were of a certain age, she believes it is okay for your family to arrange to have you killed.
What is that age?
Zero. Here is what that Sunday.
The opening prayer for the service was:
"Great God, you have brought your word to us today. Before the womb's wonders were our home, you knew us as unique individuals, sacred parts of your creation. In the mystery of the womb you protected us. Out of the womb you have brought us. Empower us to ministry and mission, with the confidence of your divine touch. Amen."
Then there was a confession an assurance that was said by the entire congregation in unison:
"Eternal God, you knew us before we were conceived in our mother's womb. Forgive our efforts to hide our struggles from you. Forgive our excuses for failing to act in accordance with your holy will. Forgive our failure to trust that you are with us and will sustain us. We ask this in the name of the One who calls us and equips us for ministry. Amen."
These were based on the scripture reading for that morning, which included Jeremiah 1:4,5
"The word of the Lord came to me saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart."
After the service I approached the pastor. In an excited voice I exclaimed my joy that here was a church that understood God created and knew us in the womb and that we were sacred parts of God's creation. A church that understood abortion was wrong... that abortion was taking the life of a human child, who was created by God and who was special and sacred to God. Her reply was, "I never thought of these verses that way." Then she proceeded to support abortion as being good and right.
But we didn't have much time, she had a meeting to go to. She said it was complicated, in particular for a 13 year old girl who was pregnant. And that was that.
Complicated?
Science has known for for a long time that from the moment of conception a baby is a unique human being. The Bible says we are infants sacred to God from the moment of conception. We know that murder is wrong. So what is so complicated?
A 13 year old girl who is pregnant.
Let's start with some facts:
3% of abortions are done because the mother's health is an issue 3% of abortions are are done because the baby's health is an issue 1% of abortions are done because of rape or incest 93% of abortions are done for convenience.
For a 13 year old having a baby could very well be a medical problem. That is a decision for a doctor, the young girl, the young man and their parents to make. If there are no medical problems, let's ask this question: A 13 year old has made a serious mistake. Is that mistake so serious that it requires the death penalty? Not only that, the death penalty is applied to a totally innocent person. The baby did nothing wrong, but the baby gets the death penalty.
There may be many other problems a pregnant 13 year old can have. My question to the pastor would have been: where are the Christians and your church? Where is your Christian love? Love the young girl and the baby. When is the last time you or your church helped a young girl or woman who was pregnant? They are both God's creation. God knows them as unique individuals, sacred parts of His creation. How can you kill (violating God's command not to murder) sacred parts of God creation?
I recommend reading Why Pro-Life by Randy Alcorn. It is a good book for people on both sides of the issue. This book is so good that we have been featuring it as our monthly book recommendation for the last 10 or 12 months. It has a list price of $10.99. You can get it for just $1.99!
