Bible and Law - Abortion Research Paper

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And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life" King James Version ( Exodus 21:22-23)

This is an example of an abortion case which is minimal yet needs justice to be served by the civil authorities. In this example, there are four sensitive phrases which needs to be emphasized and interpreted in order to bring out the intensity of this abortion issues, the phrases/sentences are; "If men strive...." has been used to imply, injury caused by men in indefinite numbers, they can be one or many. The other phrase is, "So that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow....," this shows that in case of a premature birth, caused or not caused by an injury, the man responsible for the "premature birth" should be punished by the civil authorities, and so he will be liable for a fine. Therefore, if these current laws are to borrow some governance from the bible then, this example gives a clear picture how a pregnant mother and a child should be protected against harm by the law Beckwith and Francis ()

The third phrase is, "And if mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life....." In this incidence, the bible recommends that one should die for a life taken, so if the bible is so strict pertaining to an accident which mistakenly led to premature termination of a pregnancy, then it is obvious that a case of induced termination of pregnancy will be treated more harshly. There should, therefore, be no upper limit to the sentence or penalty served to a person(s) who has committed such an act. It is clearly said in the bible and should be captured in the law, that if a person through his/her careless actions, unintentionally takes away the life of a child or hurts the pregnant mother bearing the child, he/she is supposed to suffer the death penalty Tricia Andryszewski ( 65)

The forth phrase is, "if any mischief follow... give life for life." This implies that the bible is against termination of life and it protects human life from the time of conception. "if any mischief follow.." this also shows that the child too has equal protection rights under the law from the time it was formed or given life, as quoted, "life for life." In the bible, it is shown in Deuteronomy, (28:15) that God does not tolerate those who causes harm to a pregnant mother or a child in the womb, but He curses nations that do not administer such a justice, He quotes, "come upon" and "overtake" to imply the nations that do not give justice to pregnant women injured King James Version ( Deuteronomy 28:15)

. This quote generally show that if God does not tolerate nations that do not administer justice to injured pregnant women or child murder, then neither should His people Baird and Rosenbaum ( 189)

The second biblical argument is that, conducting abortion, it attempts to destroy the work of God which is the creation of human beings. In Isaiah (44:2a), God says, "I am your Creator. You were in my care even before you are born." This quote gives us an insight of care and the love God has for His creation. Albert Einstein the great mathematician once said, "God doesn't play dice." Neither is He wrong when He says He is the creator of all mankind. God already knew a person even before his/her conception took place, to Him a child is not a miss-plan, neither is it a mistake; therefore it is wrong for somebody to take away the life of a child who was already planned by God King James Version ( Isaiah 44:2a)

The bible continues, "You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; you know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something." (Psalm 139:15). This quote strengthen the fact that God already knew each and every person even before they were born and that He created them in the most perfect way with each baby having a unique personality and natural talent. It is shown further that God makes a baby for a reason and so, pregnancy or the birth of a child, is usually not an accident, as some women would terminate a pregnancy on the ground that it was unplanned for. "You saw me before I was born and schedule each day of my life before I began to breathe.

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Every day was recorded in your book." King James Version ( Psalm 139:16)

More emphasis is laid down on the fact that God does not do things accidentally, nor does He makes mistakes, especially in relation to the creation of a child, He does so with it in mind and with love Beckwith and Francis ( 53)

. This is shown by Ephesians (1:49) which says, "Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind had settled on s as the focus of his love" King James Version ( Ephesians 1:49)

. Isaiah (46:3-4) also says, "I have carried you since you were born; I have taken care of you from your birth. Even when you are old, I will be the same. Even when your hair has turned gray, I will take care of you. I made you and will take care of you" King James Version ( Isaiah 46:3-4)

The third argument that shows that the bible is strongly against abortion is that, carrying of abortion shows how much human beings (Christians) have a lack of faith in God. "But he that doubteth is condemned if he eat, because he eateth, not of faith; and whatsoever is not of faith is sin," King James Version Roman 14:23 .

This quote portrays how Christians lack faith in all the teaching and commandment given to them especially those concerning abortion or termination of life. They still continue to carry out abortion practices even with the warning that it is sin. Countries are even governed by constitutions which are also written in consultation with religious leaders and even, so it still permits abortion. All this lack of faith is considered a sin before God and, therefore, Christians should lead by example and stop abortion practices since it is a sin Harris ( 154)

Women need to have more faith in God; they should know that He is the creator, the giver of life and the provider. A woman should not lose her child or terminate it for reasons such as; she cannot afford taking care of the child when it is born, she is not lady for it. With faith, everything will work out, women should always trust in God, they should stop running their own life and give God the chance to guide them. With God in them, thought of heinous acts such as abortion should be unheard of Davis ( 77)

The forth biblical argument is, the unborn babies are also humans. The bible clearly recognizes an unborn baby as a human being, this is evident when the Virgin Mary was carrying baby Jesus and she had visited her cousin Elizabeth, whom at that time was three months due. The bible says in Luke (1:41, 44), that when Mary the mother of Jesus met with Elizabeth, John (the unborn child) "leaped in her womb for joy" King James Version ( Luke 1:41, 44)

. So this shows that John the Baptist was then a human and understood the presence of Jesus even before his birth. In addition, God spoke to prophet Jeremiah, "before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations" King James Version Jeremiah 1:5.

This shows that God had plans for everyone including Jeremiah who was still in his mother's womb.

In support of the unborn being humans, the bible often used the word brephos to signify a newly born infant, for instance, children killed on Pharaoh's command were referred to as brephos King James Version ( Acts 7:19)

. Whereas, the word is used to refer to a pre-born infant in the story of John the Baptist Gleason L. Archer ( 274)

. To further support this, the bible tells of how John the Baptist was filled with the Holly spirit while still in the mother's womb as a sign of personhood (King James Version (

Luke 1:15). Further into the apostles, Huios in Greek term meant son, but it was being used in John the Baptist's experience in the womb at six months Gleason L. Archer ( 266)

The fifth reason why the bible is against abortion is that, it teaches people to protect and defend the weak, the.....

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