When WE think all is lost, rest assured, Jesus Will Answer.

Some groups of Christians are known for their aggressive condemnation of abortion, they yell that an abortion is the ending of a life, an act condemned in the Bible, an affront to God but are they actually speaking the truth?

Believe it or not the Bible only once mentions abortion, the verse is found in Exodus chapter 21 and verses 22-25 which read.

22 And if men strive together, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart, and yet no harm follow; he shall be surely fined, according as the woman's husband shall lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23 But if any harm follow, then thou shalt give life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

Ex 21:22-25 (ASV)

It is clear from this verse that damage done to the fetus in the womb (...so that her fruit depart) is not considered murder, it is a civil crime punishable only by a fine but if the woman is harmed then "...But if any harm follow, then thou shalt give life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe..."

However there are other verses that some Christians use to support an anti-abortion stance because they believe they hint at a Biblical condemnation of Abortion, they are as follows:

Psalm 139:13-16 which reads:

13 You alone created my inner being. You knitted me together inside my mother. 14 I will give thanks to you because I have been so amazingly and miraculously made. Your works are miraculous, and my soul is fully aware of this. 15 My bones were not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, when I was being skillfully woven in an underground workshop. 16 Your eyes saw me when I was only a fetus. Every day {of my life} was recorded in your book before one of them had taken place.

Psalms 139:13-16 (GW)

The argument here is that God knits together in the womb each fetus and knows it intimately. However, what the verse is actually referring to is God's call to David to be King of Israel not to anyone or anything else.

Another verse of this kind is found in Jeremiah chapter 1: verses 4-10 in the Old Testament, here Jeremiah comments:

4 The Lord spoke his word to me,
5 “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart for my holy purpose. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”
6 I, Jeremiah, said, “Almighty Lord, I do not know how to speak. I am only a boy!” 7 But the Lord said to me, “Don't say that you are only a boy. You will go wherever I send you. You will say whatever I command you to say. 8 Don't be afraid of people. I am with you, and I will rescue you,” declares the Lord. 9 Then the Lord stretched out his hand and touched my mouth. The Lord said to me,
“Now I have put my words in your mouth. 10 Today I have put you in charge of nations and kingdoms. You will uproot and tear down. You will destroy and overthrow. You will build and plant.”

Jer 1:4-10 (GW)

This verse, far from meaning that God knows us in the womb and purposes our existence is plainly about Jeremiah's call to be a prophet, note verse 5b and verse 10, these can only be applied to Jeremiah himself. There is no justification for seeing in these verses the claim that, because God knows us before we are formed in the womb, God hates abortion.

Indeed if you look carefully at the following verses, Leviticus 27:6; Numbers 3:15; Numbers 31:17-18, you will clearly see that, as far as God is concerned, fetuses are not important at all, they are assigned no monetary value for the temple tax, are not counted in the censuses and are presumably ordered killed when their mothers were killed by the victorious Israelite soldiers entering into Canaanite towns and villages.

Moreover under Judaic law fetuses are not considered fully human until they are born. Indeed the great 12th century commentator on the Bible and Talmud, Rashi, says of of the fetus it is  'lav nefesh hu that is, it is not a person.' The Talmud further considers that the fetus is a part of the mother's body by stating 'ubar yerech imo,  that is that the fetus is as the thigh of its mother. Part of this opinion is grounded in verses in Exodus 21:22 which passage indicates that while the fetus has value it does not have the status of a person.

I believe that I have shown that the Bible does not at all condemn abortion, it is simply put not there at all. It is wrong of those strident Christians protesting outside clinics to assert that it does. The God of the Bible is concerned with compassion for the actual human beings who walk the earth.

Ray McIntyre is an Ordained minister living in New Zealand.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/christianity-articles/does-the-bible-condemn-abortion-1604399.html