The Moral Vision of the New Testament - Essay Example

As a Christian, I honor, respect and value the importance of life; the church has always valued the sanctity of life over the past and present years. The church has always followed the teaching of the Bible on issues of respect for life. In Jeremiah chapter 1 verse 5, the Bible says, “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.”(The Holy Bible, Jeremiah 1:5). According to this biblical verse, the life of a person starts even before they are born and the unborn child deserves all the human rights just like anybody. One main issue that has been of concern to the church over the years is abortion; the church has always taken a very strong position against abortion. According to the church, abortion is a social vice and a sin. The church has always been against all types of abortion that end up destroying the embryo or foetus. The church has always believed in the respect and protection of life because the church believes that life begins at conception. The Church has always considered abortion as murder which is against the Ten Commandments “”thou shall not kill” (The Holy Bible, Exodus 20:13). The church has always considered any form of destruction of human life a very serious sin. The church believes that when a woman is pregnant, God has put precious life in her womb, and she must protect that life at all cost.

Abortion refers to the termination of a pregnancy by the removal of a foetus or an embryo from the uterus of a woman (Ministry, 2016). There are also situations where an abortion can occur unexpectedly, in this situation, it is referred to as a miscarriage. A miscarriage can also be intentionally caused, in this situation, it is called induced abortion. Both the church and the medical professionals use the term abortion to refer to the induced abortion. There always has been disagreements on how the church takes the issue of abortion. Some people in the church believe that abortion can be okay up to some point during pregnancy while other Christians believe that abortion is always a sin regardless of the pregnancy stage. Historically, the reason why some Christians believed that abortion was okay was due to some explanation that the embryo usually doesn’t have a soul right from conception. In the past the church took strong stands against abortion; one could even be excommunicated if they were found guilty of abortion. In many countries, most people are opposed to the position that the church has taken, opposing the legality of abortion; some Christians believes that the church should not take such strong positions on abortion while other Christians believe that the church should allow abortion completely. It can be argued that the commitment of a Christian to the church will influence his or her position on the Christian teaching on abortion; for instance, those Christians that are very committed to the church and go to church regularly may be in support of the teachings of the church and its activities, while those who are less committed to the church will be against these teachings and champion for their own right of choice.

The church has always believed that life of the unborn child begins immediately after fertilization, and the foetus has the right to life (D'Costa, 2002). The church has always taken a very strong position that under no circumstance should the woman be allowed to get rid of the pregnancy. These circumstances that do not warrant abortion are: rape, unprotected sex, incest and when the health and life of the mother are in danger. The church strongly believed that the child was a gift from God and has a reason to live. At some point in the church’s history, it was believed to be wrong to give a woman medicine that would only save her life but take way the life of the baby. Killing the unborn baby indirectly or directly was very wrong and one could only offer treated to the mother if the medical could cause the death of the unborn child indirectly. It is usually within the law for the mother to be given such medicine but the church is against this because it believes that the foetus usually has a soul within it. When medicine is given to save the life the life of the mother but kill the foetus, this was considered abortion. Even when a woman got pregnant under unfair or harsh conditions like rape or incest, the church still held to their position that abortion could not be allowed at any stage of the pregnancy. The church believed that the child was innocent and could not be punished for the crimes committed by the father.

The church has always used the Bible as the reference material when teaching about abortion. The church has taught in many ways and for many reasons the subject of abortion. It can be argued and critiqued that the word “abortion” has not been used anywhere in the bible, this is true because the word abortion has not been used directly in any scripture in the Bible. Still, the subject of abortion has been handled any many instances in the Bible. There are many teaching in the bible on this subject. The Bible is very clear that the destruction or termination of the life of the unborn child in the womb is wrong. The Bible clearly states that the life of a human being is special because he or she is created in the likeness of God, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God, created he him; male and female created he them.” (The Holy Bible, Genesis 1:27). Being human is being created in the image of God. We are in the image of God from the point of inception; this can be argued that the foetus in the womb of the mother is not just a group of combined cells but rather an image of God. In the book of Luke, Jesus and John the Baptist clearly show that the unborn baby has a soul and life, “And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost” (The Holy Bible, Luke 1:41). The position of the church is that the unborn child deserves respect from the time of conception; the foetus is a human being even when it is still in its mother’s womb. Direct killing of the unborn child is like murdering the person who lives in the womb and who possess the basic right to life just like the mother does (Singer, 1986). Despite this clear teaching from the Bible, questions still arise and affect the conscience of people:

One critical question is whether abortion should be allowed when the life of the mother is in danger. In our society today, it is not right to bring good by performing a basically evil act. For instance, a civilized society cannot kill its citizens at war, even with the intention of ending the conflict or saving other lives. Similarly, in the situation of pregnancy, we cannot kill the mother with the intention of saving her child, and we cannot also kill the baby with the intention of saving the mother. Still, the church has not allowed neutral procedures that are designed to save the life of the mother but can have unforeseen dangers to the unborn child. Another question that is of importance is, whether the church should allow abortion in the event of incest or rape. In the book of Romans 12:21 Paul says, “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (The Holy Bible, Romans 12:21). Rape is a serious offense that many women and children have become victims of, many people have been affected by rape. The church has always taught that these victims of rape require immediate spiritual, emotional and medical care (Hauerwas, 1986). Ethical and religious values direct that the mother and the child should not be allowed to contract any diseases. It a moral obligation of health workers to ensure that rape victims to do not contract any diseases from the time of conception. It is the church’s position that even if rape or incest cause the pregnancy, the child is innocent and very precious. Therefore, the woman who was a victim should not kill the baby because the father committed the crime. Just like Paul taught, the mother should repay the evil with good.

Another critical issue on this subject is how the church sees those women who have had an abortion already. According to statistics, a large number of women have had an abortion at least once in their life. The Bible teaches us that our God is merciful and forgives those who ask Him for forgiveness. In a normal situation, it may not even be the choice of the woman to have an abortion; for instance, her parents, brothers, sisters and even the community may have pressured the woman to procure and abortion. Women should not lose hope because they had an abortion, it may have been a painful experience, but the merciful Lord is always willing and ready to forgive them. The church understands the many reasons that may make one to abort. The Church also understands that the decision the woman took may be very painful, but it still had to be done in the mind of the woman (Matera, 1997). Although the church cannot fix the wounds in the heart, it should be able to forgive those women who have already committed the sin. The church should also help these women in the healing process and pray with them that they may be forgiven. The church understands that the decision was wrong, they still try to lift the spirits of the women and allow them to acknowledge the mistake and face it honestly. It is a belief that God always forgives when one is honest and acknowledges that he or she has committed a sin before God and strives not to repeat the same mistake in the future.

I believe that the church should not take a firm position against abortion. This is because there are many issues that may bring controversy. For instance, God has given each one of us a will and freedom of choice. It is believed that choice is what makes us human and that the woman should be given the freedom to take control over their bodies (O'Donovan, 1989). It is my position that the church should not force their doctrine on people but rather provide enough information on the subject, especially to the teens. However, the church should not take an atheist position on this issue because abortion will remain a sin; the only issue of concern is that the church should allow everyone to exercise their right to freedom. The church should not be a judge of persons, rather, it should be a shelter where the heartbroken come to seek refuge; the church should readily accept those who have had abortions in the past and should give them hope. The church should not try to fight this vice but should strive to find solutions for it.

In conclusion, all over the world, both Christians and non-Christians have been in support of this doctrine. I come to a conclusion that deliberate aborting, leads to serious social and moral disorder because in simple terms it is just killing the innocent baby in the womb. This doctrine is based on the word of God and the laws of nature. Just as Mother Theresa said, what can we do to each other if a mother can kill her own child? She believed that life was a special gift to mankind and those communities that kill children through abortion are the poorest. The mother may take the decision to abort in order to solve her problems while the man may encourage a woman to abort because he does not want to take responsibility. If the woman aborts due to pressure from the man, the same man may take other women through the same situation. As the scripture says, once a child is conceived, it should be protected at all cost “If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?” (The Holy Bible, Proverbs 24:11-12). Just because the body is yours, it does not give you the right to end the life of another person. Abortion is more than murder.