The world of the ancient near east in which is Christianity was born was harsh towards children. Abortion and exposure were common practices, most often for economic reasons. Even so, the Church has always prophetically spoken regarding the value of every child. It is not an exaggeration to suggest that conception and birth are sacred events in the theology of the church.
The Gospel of Luke gives priority to the conception and the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. The story of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth reveals the significance of infants in utero.
Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” (Luke 1:39-42).
It is significant that John the Baptist, while a fetus in his mother’s womb, responded to the presence of the Christ child in the womb of Mary. Here Holy Scripture testifies to the ability of children in utero responding to external stimuli, in this case the presence of the Holy Spirit. In other words, even in the womb the fetus is formed in the image of God, can respond to the presence of God, and it is certain that God knows the fetus as fully human.
As the church expanded throughout the Greek and Roman world the message of the gospel was consistently pro-life and pro-child. In possibly the earliest post-canonical Christian text, The Didache, the theology of the post-apostolic Church maintained fidelity with the ancient teachings of the Hebrew Scriptures.
Thou shalt do no murder; thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not commit sodomy; thou shalt not commit fornication… thou shalt not procure abortion, nor commit infanticide… (Didache 2:2).
I am aware of the necessity for certain abortive procedures when life is endangered. For example, an ectopic pregnancy in which the embryo attaches outside the uterus. In such cases the death of the fetus is certain and the death of the mother is likely and an abortive procedure may be necessary. These events are tragic. However, an abortion for the sake of social or economic convenience is a crime against humanity. The ancient Hebrew Scriptures warned against the practice of child sacrifice.
You shall not give any of your offspring to offer them to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am the Lord (Leviticus 18:21).
The people of Israel were forbidden to follow the Canaanite practice of child sacrifice in which children were burned in fire to honor the Canaanite god, Molech. Such practices combined idolatry with murder and profaned the name of God. The apostle Paul has written that the highest form of idolatry is self-deification (Romans 1:21ff). We live in an age in which individual autonomy is the highest form of political freedom. The concept of individual autonomy has become the golden calf of the secular age. Abortion is child sacrifice before the idol of human autonomy. Christians must be reminded of the words of the apostle Paul:
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body (1 Corinthians 6:13-20).
All humans, male and female, are created in the image of God. The human body was created to be a temple of the Holy Spirit, a sacred place. All forms of sexual immorality – fornication, adultery, homosexuality – profane the image of God in humanity. Likewise, abortion is a violent act against a sacred place and a sacred being. Paul insists that child bearing is a sacred act (1 Timothy 2:15). Neither male nor female have absolute autonomy over their bodies. Our bodies belong to the Lord; and in the case of a woman carrying the human fetus, the body she carries also belongs to the Lord.
What’s Next? The United States Supreme Court decided that a woman’s right to an abortion is protected by the United States Constitution (Roe v Wade, 1973), and in effect declared that “The unborn person doesn’t have constitutional rights” (Hillary Clinton). In an article published in the Journal of Medical Ethics (2012) entitled “After-birth abortion: why should the baby live?”, the authors suggested that because (1) fetuses and newborns do not have the same moral status as actual persons, (2) the fact that both are potential persons is morally irrelevant and (3) adoption is not always in the best interest of actual people, therefore ‘after-birth abortion’ (killing a newborn) should be permissible in all the cases where abortion is.
As humanity embraces the secular religion of postmodernity the future for children appears dire. As reprobate politicians and apostate clergy proclaim the anti-gospel of human autonomy hell rejoices and Heaven weeps. The same Jesus who rebuked his disciples for prohibiting little children in his presence likewise rebukes reprobate politicians and apostate clergy with the words,
And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea (Matthew 18:5-6).
