Just wondering. I mean, Jesus probably wasn't against it. If he was against it, why isn't abortion mentioned in the Bible? Why isn't birth control mentioned in the Bibles?
2007-12-29 07:45:45 · 26 answers · asked by Sucre Noir 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Abortion was prevalent in Jesus' time because they had no other forms of birth control.
2007-12-29 07:54:58 · update #1
Catholics are also against this terrible act. Abortion is the ejection of an immature and non-viable foetus from the womb. Where this happens naturally there can be no grounds for any sort of moral judgement. Where the abortion is 'procured' (done directly or caused to happen) the Church says that grave moral wrong is done.
History
From the earliest times the Church has condemned abortion. One of the earliest statements condemning abortion is in a document called the Didache, written in the 2nd century (some time after 100 A.D.): "You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish". The teaching has been repeated through the centuries and as early as the 4th century the Church made abortion a crime with its own proper penalties. In the 16th century, Popes Sixtus V and Gregory XIV said that causing or having an abortion means that the guilty person is automatically excommunicated (cut off from the Church). This position is clearly stated again in the Church's own collection of laws (the Code of Canon Law, 1983): "A person who actually procures an abortion incurs automatic excommunication" (Canon 1398).
The beginning of life
The Church says that human life begins when the woman's egg is fertilised by a male sperm. From that moment a unique life begins, independent of the life of the mother and of the father. The features which distinguish us from our parents - the colour of our eyes, the shape of our face, etc. - are all laid down in the "genetic code" that comes into existence then. Each new life that begins at this point is not a potential human being but a human being with potential. No-one can point to the twelfth day or the fourth week or any other time and say, "This is when I began being me." Birth is a stage in life and the process of life begins at conception.
The right to life
In 1980 the seven Catholic Archbishops of Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland), issued a document called 'Abortion and the Right to Live'. The bishops take a stand against all practices that degrade human rights and dignity. It is a matter, they say, of respect for our neighbour. In their document they emphasise that the Church's opposition to abortion comes from a recognition of the basic rights of all individuals. These individuals include the unborn, who have their own intrinsic value. They also have rights which cannot be taken away from them. One such right is the right to life.
In October 1996 the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales published a pre-general-election document called 'The Common Good'. In it they said that human rights all flow from the one fundamental right: the right to life (CG n. 37).
The 'Catechism of the Catholic Church' (1992) states that the embryo must be treated from conception as a person (n. 2274) and it stresses that the inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive element of a civil society and its legislation.
The Catechism quotes from the document 'Donum Vitae' ('The gift of life') from the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (the office that deals with matters of faith and morals). That document says:
"The inalienable rights of the person must be recognised and respected by civil society and the political authority. These human rights depend neither on single individuals nor on parents; nor do they represent a concession made by the society and the state; they belong to human nature and are inherent in the persons by virtue of the creative act from which the person took his origin. Among such fundamental rights one should mention in this regard every human being's right to life ... from the moment of conception until death."
In other words, we do not have a right to life because someone gives us that right; we have a right to live because we are human beings, and a human being from the moment of conception. In the same way that no-one can give us that right, no-one can take it away.
The most recent formal teaching of the Pope
In 1995, Pope John Paul II wrote an encyclical letter called Evangelium Vitae (Latin for 'The Gospel of Life'). In that he deals with three major 'life' issues, abortion, euthanasia and the destruction of human embryos in medical research. He also touches briefly on issues like suicide and the death penalty. The letter repeats very clearly the Catholic Church's position on abortion.
The basic principle is stated first: "I confirm that the direct and voluntary killing of an innocent human being is always gravely immoral" (EV n. 57). This basic principle applies to all three cases at the heart of the letter. This principle admits that accidental and even indirect killing is not always wrong, and that legitimate self-defence can sometimes cause death.
The pope calls abortion murder, saying that we need now more than ever to have the courage to look things in the eye and call things by their proper name. He acknowledges the tragedy that abortion can often be for the mother, and the emotional suffering it might cause her. The decision is often not made for selfish reasons, but to protect things like her own health or the living standards of the rest of the family. Sometimes there is a fear that the conditions into which the child is to be born are so bad that it is better that the child is not born. Nevertheless, these reasons and others like them, however serious and tragic, can never justify the deliberate killing of an innocent human being (EV n. 58).
The Lord be with you
2007-12-29 07:52:56 · answer #1 · answered by TheoMDiv 4 · 3⤊ 2⤋
Abortion was not prevalent among the Jewish people in Jesus' time.
During the time when the Israelites came to the Promised Land, those already there were guilty of idol worship. They worshiped Ba'al and fertility gods. The major manifestation of that worship was the sacrifice of children on the fires that had been lit on the altars for the idols. They used herbs to cause unborn children to be born early. Therefore, they supposedly had a purer sacrifice. This was the reason that God had the Israelites wipe out the inhabitants, because of over 430 years of child sacrifice in worship to these idols.
Because the Israelites later took on the same idol worship, they were judged by God. Every time Judah or Israel fell, it was because of this idol worship, which always included the child sacrifice. It is sometimes referred to in the Bible as "the sin of Manasseh", after a king that was particularly heavy into the idol worship, until he repented and turned back to God. As a matter of fact, every time in the Bible that a king's reign is summed up, it makes note of whether he stopped the idol worship, or not. It will recount whether he tore down the high places of the idol worship.
Jeremiah 18 & 19 deal quite fully with this sin, as he is told by God to take the leaders to the valley of Ben Hinnom (the Valley of Blood), where they committed these horrors, to pronounce God's judgment on the nation.
2008-01-02 05:00:45 · answer #2 · answered by †Lawrence R† 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Jesus was against abortion because abortion is against the Torah(law): read it for yourself Exodus 21:22 "Now suppose two men are fighting, and in the process they accidentally strike a pregnant woman so she gives birth prematurely. If no further injury results, the man who struck the woman must pay the amount of compensation the woman's husband demands 23 But if there is further injury, the punishment must match the injury: a life for a life,24 an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot,25 a burn for a burn, a wound for a wound, a bruise for a bruise. And this is talking about an accident. How do you think Jesus feels about intentional murder of unborn children?
2007-12-29 08:00:18 · answer #3 · answered by J R 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
How about quoting some sources to support your statement that abortion was prevalent in Jesus' time? In a lot of years of research and Bible study, that's the first time I've ever heard of that idea.
Scripturally, the highest blessing a Jewish couple could have would be to have many sons. (I'll provide those Scriptures if someone wants them.) That's why Hannah was so distraught at the Temple: she had no children, and her rival "provoked her sore," i.e., taunted her about her childlessness.
Other groups may have known and practiced birth control and had abortifacents, but not the Jewish people. That would have been contrary to everything that they believed. And since Jesus was a Jew (not to mention God in human flesh), He certainly wouldn't have approved of anything that involved the killing of anyone.
That's what my studies have all indicated, anyway. If you can provide a source for your information, I'd love to see it. It'll be news to me.
2007-12-29 07:57:17 · answer #4 · answered by Wolfeblayde 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋
You are correct. Abortion was prevalent in Jesus' time and is still prevalent today. In Jesus' time, a woman could pray to God, a group of people could pray and God would grant abortion. It is a fact that God set up the world such that over 50% of all eggs and fetuses are aborted by God. The fact is that God set up the system such that each time a fetus is aborted, it releases enough resouces to save 12 loved and wanted kids that are already born. So not only does God abort, he uses abortion to make the world a better place. Only an evil person would think that God is "killing" or murdering when he aborts. I am sure he saves the soul and eases the pain of any fetus or egg.
Most of those who say it was not prevalent are making money on abortion. For many christians SIC being anti abortion is their biggest fund rasing tool. Billions upon billions of dollars have been raised and line the pockets of pro lifers everywhere. I believe that God is answering the prayers of those of us that call upon Him to save the Children. And abortion is one tool He uses to answer my prayers and save the children the pro lifers have set up to die..
2008-01-01 13:43:28 · answer #5 · answered by Give me Liberty 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I'd like to see your documentation that abortion was prevalent in Jesus time.
It does say in the Bible that children are a gift from God, and a blessing -- I don't recall reading that people can/should/are allowed to abort them.
2007-12-29 07:53:47 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Who told you that abortion was prevalent in Jesus' time?
Children were cherished in Jesus' time. Every mother wanted to be the fulfillment of the promise of Messiah. To further the race, Jews actually wanted children. Birth control in the time of Jesus was chastity, virtue, and self-control.
2007-12-29 07:56:33 · answer #7 · answered by Bobby Jim 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋
Abortion was not prevalent. There was a case of babies being killed at birth and another where all males from birth to 2 years were killed, but this was not ordered from God. God hates murder especially of the most vulnerable.
2007-12-29 09:09:33 · answer #8 · answered by ? 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Abortion is murder. You can turn it and twist it all you want, but it is still the cessation of human life.
I guess abortion did exist back in Jesus' time. But to say it was common, that is a falsehood.
Jesus hates abortion. I hate it too. I'm facing a sort of crisis because of abortion, so I am touchy on this subject.
2007-12-29 08:00:23 · answer #9 · answered by ? 6 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Give us a break, for God's sake. Abortion was not done during the time of Jesus. Abortion was not something that people ever even thought of as an option then.
You know where is no mention of computers either, I wonder why?
Btw, during the time of Jesus a woman would die first before letting anything happen to children, born or unborn.
2007-12-29 07:52:24 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 7⤊ 3⤋