Articles
The Sin of Abortion
David Padfield
07/01/18 - Abortion
In the first chapter of Romans the apostle Paul listed the sins of the Gentiles. In this heinous list of crimes, we find the phrase "without natural affection" (Rom. 1:31, KJV). This refers to those who do not possess the love and attachment which nature teaches all mothers to have for their young.
“This expression denotes the want of affectionate regard towards their children. The attachment of parents to children is one of the strongest in nature, and nothing can overcome it but the most confirmed and established wickedness. And yet the apostle charges on the heathen generally the want of this affection. He doubtless refers here to the practice so common among heathens of exposing their children, or putting them to death. This crime, so abhorrent to all the feelings of humanity, was common among the heathen, and is still. The Canaanites, we are told, (Psalm 106:37-38) 'sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan.' Manasseh, among the Jews, imitated their example, and introduced the horrid custom of sacrificing children to Moloch, and set the example by offering his own, 2 Chron. 33:6. Among the ancient Persians, it was a common custom to bury children alive. In most of the Grecian states, infanticide was not merely permitted, but actually enforced by law." (Barnes' Notes On The New Testament)
Abortion is sinful because it is the willful taking of human life. Under the Mosaic Law, God said, "If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no lasting harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman's husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if any lasting harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe"(Exodus 21:22-25). If the accidental interruption of pregnancy was to be punished, what about the one who deliberately murders the unborn?
