ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
May 5, 2022
I have been asked by a number of folks to give some thoughts on the recent release of a draft document by the Supreme Court, and though I have some interest in Constitutional Law, I am constantly going to my brother (a lawyer) and a couple of friends who are historians to learn how little I know. So today, I will try to stay clear of Constitutional theory, and instead take a look at scripture and what it says and doesn’t say about abortion, at least in my reading. I have a feeling there will be many who will disagree, but if so, I hope it happens in a discussion on Biblical and theological grounds, not with partisan rhetoric.
First, the idea that Christianity has been of one mind on the issue of abortion is nonsense. In 1968, the conservative flagship periodical, Christianity Today, held a conference of ethicists on the topic of abortion. And though they were not able to come to a common opinion, it was the consensus of the group that abortion should be permitted in some circumstances. In 1971, the Southern Baptist Church passed a resolution at its national convention supporting abortion, and it was reaffirmed in 1974, and again in 1976. Now it gets messy at this point, and really smart historians have written quite extensively about the political purpose of the shift that had very little to do with abortion. I would direct you to Randall Balmer’s book, “Bad Faith,” for some insight on this matter.
So what does scripture say? A lot and practically nothing, and I believe this nonsensical statement helps set the stage. A lot of folks will begin by pointing us to Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” This is Jeremiah writing about God’s call upon his life, but if read literally, it is saying God knew him “before” he was formed in the womb. This is where our Catholic friends find the basis of their anti-contraceptive stance, and if you’re going to use this passage as the basis for opposing abortion, then you probably need to be opposed to any form of birth control. I find most Protestants a bit hesitant to make that leap. Plus, it is prophetic poetry, a ballad of calling that I believe it is more about the beauty of the calling than about the actual process of how a human being comes into life. As I have often said, there is a danger in taking poetry literally, and then trying to create dogma or policy around an art form that has been stripped of its aesthetic power.
Within the Jewish tradition, life starts with breath. Adam, in Genesis 2, found life when God breathed into his lungs the divine breath. In Ezekiel’s Valley of Dry Bones, it speaks of how there was the stitching together of tendons and muscles and skin, “but there was no breath in them.” It wasn’t until the divine breath entered these shells that they were animated and brought to life.
At the time Israel was in Egypt, the Egyptians were already practicing a form of chemically induced abortion using a plant called Silphium (and other techniques), a practice that continued in both Greek and Roman culture. It is interesting how there is no condemnation of such practices in either the Old or New Testaments, and simply pointing to the statements “Thou shall not kill,” does not hold up as they would not have thought of a fetus as life because there was no breath.
And then there is the rather interesting passage found in the 5th chapter of Numbers where a woman accused of adultery, without witnesses, is brought to the priest and made to drink bitter water. If she has committed adultery, the Lord will make her uterus drop and her womb discharge. To be honest, I don’t even know what to do with that passage as it sure appears as if God is participating in a chemically induced abortion of a pregnancy conceived in adultery. There are many other equally troubling and confusing passages in scripture, none of which gives any sort of concise and unquestionable opinion on abortion.
Now, Christians may have some passionately held beliefs in regard to abortion and whether a woman has a right to choose, but those passionately held beliefs need to acknowledge how the Bible has no mandate on the subject. Yet for the last forty years or so, there has been a narrative designed to make it sound as if there was a clear and unquestionable Biblical directive against abortion. And though I would love to find in scripture simple answers to a wide range of complex problems, they are not there. There could be some very interesting discussions and debates, but I do not see even the most heartfelt discourse producing a common, scripturally based belief on this subject.
My hope in writing this was to challenge an idea that has gone unchallenged in a lot of circles – the idea that there is a clear and unquestionable Biblical thought on abortion. How that plays into the politics of this moment is for another Etching at another time… maybe. It is also important to note that our denomination, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), along with the Presbyterian Church (USA), Episcopal Church, United Methodist Church, United Church of Christ, both the Reform and Conservative expressions of Judaism, all support a woman’s right to choose. Don’t get me wrong, there is still disagreement within each of those expressions of faith, but each of them has recommitted numerous times to the idea that abortion should remain legal and safe. They have done so, in part, because they do not find any Biblical mandate on which they could say otherwise.
Give me the grace to listen and to learn, O Merciful God. Amen.
