How Does God View Roe V Wade?
Today, June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. According to AP News Roe V Wade provided “…constitutional protections for abortion…”[1] Roe v. Wade began when Norma McCorvey, known by the legal pseudonym “Jane Roe” became pregnant with her third child. McCorvey wanted an abortion but lived in Texas, where abortion was illegal except when necessary to save the mother’s life. The courts ended up ruling in her favor most in part due the Texas law being unconstitutional because of its attachment to the Due Process Clause and the 14th Amendment. In essence because every American citizen has the right to go through a fair process and court and must be treated with equability (14th Amendment) as the Texas law interfered with her rights. I am aware that the case is more complicated than that, but I am not a legal expert, and my aim is only to view this decision through the lens of the God breathed writings that we have called the Bible. I did however find a very good video outlining the timeline that is free from opinion and states just facts about what happened. Click HERE to see the video. But come back afterwards.
I have seen many posts today from Christians and non-Christians who profess this to be a harmful action to both the law and women’s rights. I was puzzled by the outcry mostly because of my ignorance prior to the Roe v. Wade case and with being a woman. While I was able to find information about the case, I have no idea what it means to have life within me. I have no idea what it feels like to have to choose my life or the life of an unborn child. I am not here to “mansplain”. But I would like to look at how God views the beginning of life, if God is condoning of abortion, and if God condones Constantinian Christianity. I will be brief, and I encourage healthy dialogue.
I believe that God is our creator. I believe that God created the process of conception. I think most people with access or reading this post would agree with that. Christians would also agree that God values life. For those who have studied their Bibles also know and understand that the Bible does not specifically talk about or mention abortion. But I believe the question that is often debated when it comes to Pro-Life & Pro-Choice is, “When does life begin?”. The first thing that comes to my mind is the text in Exodus 21. In this historical writing in the library that is the Bible, we see instructions being given on how to handle some very trying situations. Within chapter 21 specifically Moses is given instruction from God that will give special protection to the disenfranchised members of society (slaves, women, children, & widows)
Exodus 21:22–25 (ESV)
22 “When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23 But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
In the passage above there are two things that I see. The first is that God, the writer of Exodus, and this ancient near eastern culture saw the living organism within the womb of a woman as a child. The Hebrew word used in verse 22 is יֶלֶד (yeh-led) which is used for boy or child. The argument used by those of the Pro-Choice community is often and argument of fetus and embryo versus viable life. The viewpoint is that life, which is not yet viable, able to live outside the womb, is not life at all and thus not murder if it is aborted. Does this pertain to the hypothetical woman in verse 22? All that I know for sure is that they were at some point able to tell when a woman was pregnant, and they considered the inhabitant of the womb caused by the activity of conception to be a child before it was born. There’s evidence as well in that this idea and way of thinking continued until the time of the New Testament’s writing. We can see in the Gospel of Luke 1:41 that John the Baptist within his mother Elizabeth’s womb, leapt when Mary entered their home pregnant with the Messiah Jesus.
I also would look at this passage in Exodus to answer the question of whether God is condoning of abortion. But before referring to the Exodus text I would like to highlight theodicy. Theodicy is the defense of God’s goodness and omnipotence in view of the existence of evil. Just because bad things happened does not mean that God caused them to happen. I am fully aware that there are cases of incest and rape, and I am truly sympathetic and empathetic towards that. I believe that those are disgusting and reproachable human actions. But I also believe that they are sin. And God does not engage in sin other than having defeated it. Since God is a good God, He allows free agency. If not, we would be nothing more than robots. But God does allow for human beings to choose to do right and wrong. Because every human being since the first two have chosen to sin our reality has existed in a fallen state. This world is far from the “good” that God describes in Genesis. It has been perverted by sin. But does one perversion give way to another? Because of conception occurring due to sin are we then allowed, as Christians, to then murder a child? Certainly not. And that is all due to my opinion and reasoning but what does God say? As God speaks to Moses about the killing of an unborn child it does not sound as though He takes their killing lightly. In verses 22-23 we see it said, “When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if there is a harm, then you shall pay life for life…”. How then does God feel if children are aborted? In this area I speak from a place of some familiarity. Almost fourteen years ago my wife and I were faced with the possibility that our child would be born with “defects”. We could either accept the chance that this could happen or go through a risky procedure known as an amniocentesis. It was given to us from the doctor that we could move forward with the pregnancy with the possibility of risk or birth defects or go through with the procedure. Now, I am aware that less than a 1% chance that an amniocentesis will end in a miscarriage, but I loved our child before she was born. But to be honest we asked the doctor to give us a moment to ourselves. My wife and I talked about it. We had been married for almost a year and a half at the time and I had full realization that I knew little about being a father let alone a husband. I felt doubt and fear. I thought about the what-ifs within myself. But when I thought about God, I had my answer. So, while my heart is beating out of my chest, I told my wife that we would love the child no matter what. We prayed and told the doctor we would pass on the amniocentesis. I tell this story to let you know that I understand the fear involved with doctor reports. I also understand the fear of a surprise (unplanned) child. But I believe that I also understand that God does not condone the willful action of taking lives. But if you have in the past in any capacity, I must let you know that God also forgives such offenses. Paul was a murderer and God was able to use Him to give eternal life to the Gentile world.
Now, in the case of Constantinian Christianity. Some may be wondering what this is exactly. Believe it or not Christianity was not always the most popular religion or belief system. Paganism had a stronger hold on the society in which it was birthed. But when Emperor Constantine decided to adopt Christianity and make it mainstream in Rome there was a bit of a perversion to it. It does not seem as though Constantine had entirely pure motives in mixing his religion with his politics. In fact, he waited until he was on his deathbed to become a Christian. Now, some historians do say that was because he understood what needed to be done in his office could not be done as a Christian. But there is a problem when Christianity is used to persuade, control, and govern. In the United States of America Church and state are supposed to be separate but we have a lot of politicians who love to co-opt Christianity when it is time to be re-elected. We have a lot of people who are confused and believe that Christianity and America go hand in hand. There are even more who believe that patriotism is the same thing if not more important than their allegiance to Christ. I am reminded of an instance in which Jesus was challenged by religious leaders about His stance with Caesar. In Mark 12:13-17 we see this happen.
Mark 12:13–17 (ESV)
Paying Taxes to Caesar
13 And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk. 14 And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone’s opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” 15 But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” 16 And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” 17 Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at him.
Jesus identifies the coin in which they pay their taxes. He is wise in his assessment of it. The image of Caesar was on the coin. Jesus does not at this moment decry currency and wealth. He understands that they have certain pleasures and privileges being among the empire that is Rome. So, Jesus says give to Caesar what is Caesar’s. But we, being made in the image of God ought to give all of ourselves to God. Just like they did not belong to or were created in the image of Caesar we do not first pledge our allegiance to the flag or political party. We are Christians first. Please trust that I am neither fond of the donkey or the elephant. At this moment in my life (June 2022) I am more concerned with being a heavenly citizen. I am a part of a people who have been transformed by God tasked with the privilege of joining God in His mission to transform others. I am not saying that everyone should be like me. But I am saying that Jesus and God were on the same page and His political affiliation was not a major concern. If Jesus wanted to, I truly believe that He could have convinced the Roman empire to adopt His Way long before Constantine did. Jesus did not choose to do the will of His Father through the government. Jesus chose to transform hearts through love and self-sacrifice. There were no ulterior motives behind the actions of Jesus other than the benefit of others. Jesus sought the shalom of Yahweh, the bringing about of a time where there will be no inequalities, no pain, and no death. I can honestly say that I do not believe that God needed the assistance of government officials to accomplish His plan. As a matter of fact, it was a group of religious people overly engaged in the power political system of their time who convinced a holy people that Jesus should die in the first place. I do not believe that God condones the type of Christianity that is used to move the scales of politics.
There is a lot of talk of what is coming next. Could there be a ban on contraceptives, a reversal of the gay marriage allowance, or God forbid reversal of civil rights laws. I do not know and neither do you. But I believe Jesus when he says in Matthew 6 that tomorrow has enough trouble of its own. Let us view this news considering how God views it. In my research I found that the overturning of Roe v. Wade gives the rights to states to decide how it handles abortions. At this moment it has not gone further to infringe on other rights. That is what we KNOW currently. Please pray with me as I pray for more understanding on this topic and those who are hurting currently because of the decision. I pray that God grant them peace and assurance in Him for their tomorrow.
UPDATE 7/2/22
As we all should do from time to time I have considered further what I stated above and felt the need to add a bit more. Upon discussing with fellow ministers of the word it is now of my belief that if God does not force us to obey Him, neither should we do the same. I believe that this still falls in line with what was stated above but I would like to make it clear that God’s will should not be forced upon human beings. I believe that God would view that as unloving. We should however present and challenge others to obey His will. I believe that we can still view this through the eyes of God and know that you cannot force people to obey.
