{"id":19893,"date":"2012-08-07T01:26:19","date_gmt":"2012-08-07T05:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=19893"},"modified":"2013-04-03T23:54:38","modified_gmt":"2013-04-04T03:54:38","slug":"even-the-devil-can-quote-scripture-biblical-arguments-for-abortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/even-the-devil-can-quote-scripture-biblical-arguments-for-abortion\/","title":{"rendered":"Even the devil can quote scripture: “biblical” arguments for abortion"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

\"\"Most arguments for abortion rely on conjuring up some secular reason for devaluing the unborn, be it embryology denial<\/a>, divorcing personhood from humanity<\/a>, or a radical conception of bodily autonomy<\/a>. Whenever pro-aborts touch on religion, it\u2019s usually to either disqualify it on bogus church-state grounds<\/a> or dismiss the concept of the soul<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But sometimes, in trying to cover all their bases, they deploy what might be the most perverse defense of abortion possible: that the Bible condones it.<\/p>\n

Their first piece of evidence is that the Bible doesn\u2019t directly mention or expressly forbid the practice, so it must be permissible. But the Bible doesn\u2019t mention drive-by shootings, hand grenades, nuclear missiles, or anthrax, either. The key is recognizing that abortion isn\u2019t an act<\/em> as much as it is a method<\/em>. The Bible doesn\u2019t concern itself with the morally insignificant technical details of how particular murders are performed; its proclamations<\/a> that human life is sacred and murder is evil suffice to establish that murdering a fetus by vacuum aspiration is no more acceptable than murdering an adult by bludgeoning.<\/p>\n

Second, they claim that various Bible passages imply the unborn are less valuable than the born:<\/p>\n

Genesis 2:7<\/a> – \u201cAnd the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This supposedly reveals that Adam wasn\u2019t truly alive until he started breathing, and therefore neither are the unborn. Putting aside the fact this argument still leaves unborn babies who do <\/em>breathe<\/a> on the table, its logic simply doesn\u2019t make sense. If we take Genesis\u2019s language literally, it describes a process by which no human being after Adam came into existence, and therefore can\u2019t reveal the inner workings of our own development. And if we take the passage metaphorically, it\u2019s even less relevant to abortion – perhaps, for instance, it refers not to the ensoulment of individuals, but the human race’s transition<\/a> from mindless beast to rational being.<\/p>\n

Genesis 38:24<\/a> – \u201cAnd it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Upon discovering the pregnancy of Tamar, his widowed daughter-in-law, Judah orders that she be executed – a punishment he cancels upon discovering that he<\/em> is the father (he slept with her, mistaking her for a prostitute when she was disguised). Pro-choicers note that the sentence would also have killed Tamar\u2019s unborn twins; therefore, the unborn must have less moral worth than a person. But this theory fails immediately: considering that Judah has<\/a> \u201cmarried outside the faith, raised [at least] two wicked sons, wrongfully accused his daughter-in-law of his sons\u2019 deaths, lied to his daughter-in-law, refused to keep the law of levirate marriage and, of course, had sex with a prostitute\u201d; he\u2019s not exactly a moral compass! It simply won\u2019t do to cherry-pick one of his many sins and recast it as a virtue.<\/p>\n

Exodus 21:22<\/a> – \u201cIf men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman’s husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is the closest they come to showing the Bible tolerates abortion, and it still comes up short. As Scott Klusendorf explains<\/a>, the pro-abortion interpretation fails on three levels. First, even if there was a lesser punishment for unintentionally killing the baby while intentionally attacking the mother, it no more negates the second victim\u2019s worth than do different punishments for premeditated murder and manslaughter. Second, it\u2019s still a punishment<\/em>, making it the exact opposite of evidence for something\u2019s permissibility. Third, and most importantly, it ignores the very next lines:<\/p>\n

And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Klusendorf elaborates:<\/p>\n

Furthermore, we should not presume that the miscarriage of Exodus 21 produces a dead child, as does elective abortion. Millard Erickson citing the work of Jack Cotrell writes that the Hebrew word for “miscarriage” in this context is \u2018yasa\u2019\u2014which often refers to the emergence of a living thing.\u00a0(See, for example, Gen. 1:24; 8:17; 15:4; 25:26; 1 Kings 8:19; 2 Kings 20:18.) In this case, the passage can be reasonably translated \u201cthe child comes forth\u201d and if it\u2019s not injured, the penalty is merely a fine. But if it is harmed, the penalty is life for life, tooth for tooth, etc. (Note also the text calls the expelled fetus a \u201cchild\u201d\u2014a fact abortion advocates cannot easily get around.) <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s said that even the devil can quote Scripture, and nowhere is that more evident than it is here. Reading the Bible with a rational mind and a desire for truth cannot help but affirm the sanctity of all human life, and condemn the evil of shedding innocent blood for our own desires.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Don’t be bewildered. Be prepared.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nEven the devil can quote scripture: "biblical" arguments for abortion - Live Action News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/even-the-devil-can-quote-scripture-biblical-arguments-for-abortion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Even the devil can quote scripture: "biblical" arguments for abortion - Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Don't be bewildered. Be prepared.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/even-the-devil-can-quote-scripture-biblical-arguments-for-abortion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-08-07T05:26:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-04-04T03:54:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/march_group_photo_og-1-700x467.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"467\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Calvin Freiburger\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Calvin Freiburger\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/even-the-devil-can-quote-scripture-biblical-arguments-for-abortion\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/even-the-devil-can-quote-scripture-biblical-arguments-for-abortion\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Calvin Freiburger\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/6eb2bf94c8064b71953ba137bf413c4d\"},\"headline\":\"Even the devil can quote scripture: “biblical” arguments for abortion\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-08-07T05:26:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-04-04T03:54:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/even-the-devil-can-quote-scripture-biblical-arguments-for-abortion\/\"},\"wordCount\":870,\"commentCount\":22,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Opinion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/even-the-devil-can-quote-scripture-biblical-arguments-for-abortion\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/even-the-devil-can-quote-scripture-biblical-arguments-for-abortion\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/even-the-devil-can-quote-scripture-biblical-arguments-for-abortion\/\",\"name\":\"Even the devil can quote scripture: \\\"biblical\\\" arguments for abortion - Live Action News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-08-07T05:26:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-04-04T03:54:38+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/even-the-devil-can-quote-scripture-biblical-arguments-for-abortion\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/even-the-devil-can-quote-scripture-biblical-arguments-for-abortion\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/even-the-devil-can-quote-scripture-biblical-arguments-for-abortion\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Even the devil can quote scripture: “biblical” arguments for abortion\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Live Action News\",\"description\":\"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Live Action\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"width\":701,\"height\":710,\"caption\":\"Live Action\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/6eb2bf94c8064b71953ba137bf413c4d\",\"name\":\"Calvin Freiburger\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7e27533b6967b0c47cce543ba67e2a7a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7e27533b6967b0c47cce543ba67e2a7a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Calvin Freiburger\"},\"description\":\"Calvin Freiburger is a Wisconsin-based conservative writer and 2011 Hillsdale College graduate, dedicated to the principles of the American Founding\u2014individual liberty, limited government, public virtue, free markets, and strong defense\u2014though he believes no issue is more important than defending the unalienable rights of society\u2019s most vulnerable members. Calvin is an editor and administrator for TheFederalistPapers.org, and his work has appeared on NewsRealBlog.com, PatriotUpdate.com, LifeNews.com, LifeSiteNews.com, RightWisconsin.com, AmericanThinker.com, Stream.org, AmericanClarion.org, and more. Please check out his official website, ConservativeStandards.com. Follow @CalFreiburger\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/calvin-freiburger\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Even the devil can quote scripture: \"biblical\" arguments for abortion - Live Action News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/even-the-devil-can-quote-scripture-biblical-arguments-for-abortion\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Even the devil can quote scripture: \"biblical\" arguments for abortion - Live Action News","og_description":"Don't be bewildered. Be prepared.","og_url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/even-the-devil-can-quote-scripture-biblical-arguments-for-abortion\/","og_site_name":"Live Action News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","article_published_time":"2012-08-07T05:26:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-04-04T03:54:38+00:00","og_image":[{"width":700,"height":467,"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/march_group_photo_og-1-700x467.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Calvin Freiburger","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@liveaction","twitter_site":"@liveaction","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Calvin Freiburger","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/even-the-devil-can-quote-scripture-biblical-arguments-for-abortion\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/even-the-devil-can-quote-scripture-biblical-arguments-for-abortion\/"},"author":{"name":"Calvin Freiburger","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/6eb2bf94c8064b71953ba137bf413c4d"},"headline":"Even the devil can quote scripture: “biblical” arguments for abortion","datePublished":"2012-08-07T05:26:19+00:00","dateModified":"2013-04-04T03:54:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/even-the-devil-can-quote-scripture-biblical-arguments-for-abortion\/"},"wordCount":870,"commentCount":22,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Opinion"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/even-the-devil-can-quote-scripture-biblical-arguments-for-abortion\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/even-the-devil-can-quote-scripture-biblical-arguments-for-abortion\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/even-the-devil-can-quote-scripture-biblical-arguments-for-abortion\/","name":"Even the devil can quote scripture: \"biblical\" arguments for abortion - Live Action News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-08-07T05:26:19+00:00","dateModified":"2013-04-04T03:54:38+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/even-the-devil-can-quote-scripture-biblical-arguments-for-abortion\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/even-the-devil-can-quote-scripture-biblical-arguments-for-abortion\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/even-the-devil-can-quote-scripture-biblical-arguments-for-abortion\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Even the devil can quote scripture: “biblical” arguments for abortion"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","name":"Live Action News","description":"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization","name":"Live Action","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","width":701,"height":710,"caption":"Live Action"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/6eb2bf94c8064b71953ba137bf413c4d","name":"Calvin Freiburger","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7e27533b6967b0c47cce543ba67e2a7a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7e27533b6967b0c47cce543ba67e2a7a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Calvin Freiburger"},"description":"Calvin Freiburger is a Wisconsin-based conservative writer and 2011 Hillsdale College graduate, dedicated to the principles of the American Founding\u2014individual liberty, limited government, public virtue, free markets, and strong defense\u2014though he believes no issue is more important than defending the unalienable rights of society\u2019s most vulnerable members. Calvin is an editor and administrator for TheFederalistPapers.org, and his work has appeared on NewsRealBlog.com, PatriotUpdate.com, LifeNews.com, LifeSiteNews.com, RightWisconsin.com, AmericanThinker.com, Stream.org, AmericanClarion.org, and more. Please check out his official website, ConservativeStandards.com. Follow @CalFreiburger","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/calvin-freiburger\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19893"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19893\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}