Is abortion Murder according to the bible?

Question

THERE ARE ONLY TWO passages in the Bible that speak directly to the issue of abortion, and both indicate unequivocally that abortion is not murder:
• In Num. 5:11-31, God commands a husband to get an abortion for his wife if he suspects she has been impregnated by another man. A priest is to make her drink a potion and tell her, "If any man other than your husband has had intercourse with you, may the LORD make an example of you . . . by bringing upon you miscarriage and untimely birth."
• In Ex. 21:22-25, God tells us what to do if a man who is brawling knocks against a pregnant woman. If the woman dies, the principle of "life for life" is invoked and the man responsible for her death must be killed. If she lives but has a miscarriage, then the death of the fetus is to be compensated for by the payment of a fine, as demanded by the woman’s husband.

To deliberately cause a miscarriage is to perform an abortion. And who brings about this miscarriage? God.

Answer 1

since the book is heavy on metaphor, you could support practically any position with it, using a little creativity

Answer 2

I think you are taking some poetic license here. The passage in Numbers says nothing about abortion but is talking about adultery and a birth. Does birth mean abortion to you? Were you aborted? Just because a child is born does not necessarily mean it is an abortion any more than your birth was an abortion just because you were born prematurely. That could be called an untimely birth. So there is no proof there was any kind of abortion meant here. It is the same with the second passage. An abortion is not necessarily performed by God but can be performed by a man also. If it is done by a man that has purposefully bumped against her to make her abort, it does not condone any miscarriage or abortion but is telling what the punishment should be. You are reading way too much into it. Why not just read what it says and then do some research on what it really all means by way of a bible commentary and with other parts of the bible? That is where you get the truth. And, no, a miscarriage is not always brought about by God but you could bring about a miscarriage in many ways even if you did not mean to do it. Just a fact of life. And even if God did bring it about, is not God the one that gave the life in the first place and is He not the one that has a right to end it if He so chooses? It is not something we have a right to do but only God as He is the life GIVER so He is the only one that has the right to take it if He chooses. So yes, for anyone but God to do abortion is truly murder. But not murder for God to do it. He gave it, he can take it. WE can't give life so it is not for us to take.

Answer 3

Yes it is to take a life is murder no matter how you look at it.



Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; and before you came forth out of the womb I sanctified you, and I ordained you a prophet unto the nations”.



And please reread Numbers 5:11-31 God did not command an abortion he was tell the procedures that a priest is to take when a women is unclean the talk of her thighs rotting and belly swelling is not saying to abort the child.



Fornication may be, in some sense, covered by a subsequent marriage of the parties; but adultery cannot be so healed.



But by the Law of Moses, both the man and the woman who had committed adultery were punished with death



And if I get in a fight with someone and cause a woman to miscarriage who’s fault is it? mine for not Loving my neighbor and I am the one who brought shame on myself and my GOD.

And Moses tells us what take place for that too.



But I think no matter what is written for an answer you will not be happy.

So please do not be angry about the answers you get.



God Bless

Answer 4

In Numbers God's judgment would control the situation. The penalty for adultery was death also.



In Exodus, if children came out, (miscarriage) and no fatal accident occurred, then a fine was imposed by the owner of the woman. But if there was a fatal accident; then soul for soul.



This law was used by God to validate the equalness of Adam and Jesus.



God is a righteous judge. And who said that these babies would not be resurrected by God? Jesus said, 'All those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out.' John 5:28,29.



' You must love your neighbor as yourself'....'Love does not work evil to it's neighbor'....'The Devil is a man slayer'....'Jesus has come so that you might have life'....Clearly will full abortion is murder.



Today the Christian way of handling sin is different from the way the Israelites did. For one thing, they were a nation and a religion. Today Christianity is a religion, within other governments.

Answer 5

specific that's. You err on your assessment of Numbers. it rather is not suggesting abortion by using fact the consequence of the potion yet to tell if she is somewhat telling the certainty. Nowhere does it ever state that's for an abortion, neither is abortion ever stated. that's for jealousy, not abortion, that the potion is even administered to be sure if the girl is telling the certainty approximately laying with yet another guy. If she did and lied approximately it, it says not something approximately abortion yet that her abdomen could swell and her thigh could rot. do not know the place you're starting to be your wording from yet I somewhat have my bible open and it says not something yet what I somewhat have instructed you. See the NKJV. No, it rather is not God doing any abortion as that's not even stated right here yet in basic terms a curse that is on a woman if she have been to lie approximately what she did to reason her husband to be jealous. extra suited examine it back and you will see a huge distinction.

Answer 6

10 commandments, thou shalt not kill nor do anything like unto it. I am LDS and abortion is not something I support except under a few rare circumstances. If the baby is the result of rape or incest, If the life and health of the mother is judged to be in severe jeopardy, Or when the fetus is known to have severe birth defects that will not allow it to survive the outside world. Other then this though, I believe there are better options then abortion.

Answer 7

Ok, the Priest may deliver the "bitter water" to the woman, but, if she is innocent, then the Holy Spirit will not let the woman's child die.



This is left up to the LORD, as the offerings are made, and the LORD would decide, not man, if the woman should die, or the child should die...



Remember, the LORD is the potter, and not us.

What the LORD does, men shouldnt interfere with.



Also remember, we are under Grace now...



JESUS died for all our sins, and all maybe forgiven, (except blashpemy against the Holy Ghost...but, most dont even know what that is).



JESUS came and fulfilled the Law...



I wish you well..



Jesse

Answer 8

I believe that abortion is murder. I have looked up the verses you've quoted, and I see nothing about abortion. In the first verse, it says that if a woman sleeps with a man other than her husband, the priest will, among other things, give her bitter water. If She has not sinned, it will do her no harm. If she has, the it says, "may God cause your people to curse and revile you when he makes your womb shrivel and your belly swell."

This is God's punishment for sin. I believe that God's laws are above our own, and do not question him here. It may seem naive, but I have faith in my God. But I believe that earthly abortion(a doctor killing the baby) is murderous and wrong.

Answer 9

21Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The LORD make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the LORD doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell;



22And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: And the woman shall say, Amen, amen.

There's no abortion here, this is the effect of the curse if she is guilty of being with another man. The effect of the curse will render her unable to bear children.



In Exodus - this miscarriage is caused by the woman being struck while the men are fighting..... miscarriage isn't abortion....

Answer 10

You have left out a lot of stuff. God tells us that if our eye causes us to sin we are to pluck it out---- and on and on about removing parts of the body to attone for sin. And God frequently calls for the murder of pregnant women who have sinned, which is the killing of the sinner and the innocent child.

Yet God says that those that do not sin have eternal life as do those whose sins are forgiven. So there is no "death" in abortion. And that is because a loving God does not kill his creation. And a loving God does not kill in abortion.

Abortion is about who your God is. You can believe in my all loving God that does not murder, or you can believe in a hateful god that kills doctors, bombs clinics and harasses women. Both of these types of gods can be derived from the bible. But most sane people believe in the loving God that uses abortion as the logical and sensable approach to controlling life on Earth.

Answer 11

in teh Num case, there is no causing of an abortion. the treated water that the woman drinks is simply to attest to her fidelity, not kill a fetus. If she is found to be lying, in fact SHE dies from teh water.



In teh second case (exodus) the fetus is only worth a fine if it is satill the same as a limb of the mother -- that is, it would not be viable as a baby if born. After a fetus is viable, the miscarriage caused is treated more as a murder.

Answer 12

I hadn't read passages on abortion in the bible before. I never thought that it had even commented on it. Interesting. Personally, I think that as long as it happens before the third trimester then there is no problem. In the third trimester it shouldn't hapen unless the woman's life is in danger-- the fetus has developed too far, in my opinion.

Answer 13

I don't understand why abortion is ever an issue to be debated. If you seriously take a look at documentaries of how abortion is carried out, the way the 'vacuum cleaner' sucks out and tears apart the little life that is so fragile in the the womb, logically no mother would ever wanna make that decision. But sadly human beings are so self centered....they kill their child so as to fulfill their own selfish desire. Whether its finances, freedom or whatever, arrrgh disgusting.

Answer 14

Unless killed by somebody else, everybody is murdered by God in the end. Even if killed by someone else, God still allows it. That's just the point - God gives live, and it's His prerogative to take it away again. Not ours.

Answer 15

I can't imagine that God would consider it anything else but murder. Miscarriages happen in biblical days, not abortions.

Answer 16

Those words were in a primative culture. In the USA, we used to accept slavery, but now abhor it, so are you guilty of supporting slavery due to another's past. I'm not!



To me, abortion is the murder of human potential. Life begins at the moment of conception.

Answer 17

What Mr. Magoo book are you reading? Abortion is mentioned, murder is mentioned and so is mis-carriage.



Life begins at conception, birth is not the beginning it's the arrival!



Each and every life is precious and priceless in God's eyes.



You are taking scriptures from the Old Testament...we are not under the law of the Old Testament. We live under Grace, Jesus died for our sins. With that said...the Bibles principles, morals and values apply today as much as they did 2000 years ago.



In your first scripture, where did you get your interpretation?



Numbers 5:11-31:



Protecting Marital Faithfulness

11And the LORD said to Moses, 12"Say to the people of Israel: `Suppose a man's wife goes astray and is unfaithful to her husband. 13Suppose she sleeps with another man, but there is no witness since she was not caught in the act. 14If her husband becomes jealous and suspicious of his wife, even if she has not defiled herself, 15the husband must bring his wife to the priest with an offering of two quarts[a] of barley flour to be presented on her behalf. Do not mix it with olive oil or frankincense, for it is a jealousy offering--an offering of inquiry to find out if she is guilty.



16" `The priest must then present her before the LORD. 17He must take some holy water in a clay jar and mix it with dust from the Tabernacle floor. 18When he has presented her before the LORD, he must unbind her hair and place the offering of inquiry--the jealousy offering--in her hands to determine whether or not her husband's suspicions are justified. The priest will stand before her, holding the jar of bitter water that brings a curse to those who are guilty. 19The priest will put the woman under oath and say to her, "If no other man has slept with you, and you have not defiled yourself by being unfaithful, may you be immune from the effects of this bitter water that causes the curse. 20But if you have gone astray while under your husband's authority and defiled yourself by sleeping with another man"-- 21at this point the priest must put the woman under this oath--"then may the people see that the LORD's curse is upon you when he makes you infertile.[b] 22Now may this water that brings the curse enter your body and make you infertile.[c]" And the woman will be required to say, "Yes, let it be so." 23Then the priest will write these curses on a piece of leather and wash them off into the bitter water. 24He will then make the woman drink the bitter water, so it may bring on the curse and cause bitter suffering in cases of guilt.



25" `Then the priest will take the jealousy offering from the woman's hand, lift it up before the LORD, and carry it to the altar. 26He will take a handful as a token portion and burn it on the altar. Then he will require the woman to drink the water. 27If she has defiled herself by being unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings the curse will cause bitter suffering. She will become infertile,[d] and her name will become a curse word among her people. 28But if she has not defiled herself and is pure, she will be unharmed and will still be able to have children.



29" `This is the ritual law for dealing with jealousy. If a woman defiles herself by being unfaithful to her husband, 30or if a man is overcome with jealousy and suspicion that his wife has been unfaithful, the husband must present his wife before the LORD, and the priest will apply this entire ritual law to her. 31The husband will be innocent of any guilt in this matter, but his wife will be held accountable for her sin.' "



Exodus 21:22-25:

22 "Now suppose two people are fighting, and in the process, they hurt a pregnant woman so her child is born prematurely. If no further harm results, then the person responsible must pay damages in the amount the woman's husband demands and the judges approve. 23 But if any harm results, then the offender must be punished according to the injury. If the result is death, the offender must be executed. 24 If an eye is injured, injure the eye of the person who did it. If a tooth gets knocked out, knock out the tooth of the person who did it. Similarly, the payment must be hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

Answer 18

The early Church has a lot to say about abortion and it would be smart for us to listen to what they preached centuries ago.



And for those who said there was no abortion 2000 years ago, time to correct your mistake.



Here's an article:



Even some Catholics don't know that the Church has condemned abortion consistently, right from the earliest Christian centuries. These people (and many outside the Church) think the Church's position developed over the years, starting out as mild disapproval, moving through repugnance, ending up only recently (historically speaking) in outright and universal condemnation.



It's an interesting notion, but one not at all supported by the facts. If we look at what the Fathers said about abortion, we find they were not in the least unsure about what position a Catholic had to take.



Not a single Christian who wrote about abortion in the early years of the Church took an "I'm personally opposed, but . . ." stance.



Quite the opposite. Read through these quotations and see how sharp the writers were. No mincing of words here!



We suggest you use these citations not just to prove the Church's consistent stand against abortion. That's the first use of them, of course, but probably most of your friends will be against abortion anyway and won't need further convincing.



Use these citations also to demonstrate that we need to look to early Christian writings no matter what the topic, whether the question is one of morals or faith. Your friends, both Catholic and non-Catholic, need to learn to turn regularly to the writings of the early Christians. If you can help get them in the habit of doing this, you will do much to solidify the faith of their upbringing (in the case of Catholics) and to make them marvel at the consistency of the Catholic position (in the case of non-Catholics).







Didache







"The second commandment of the teaching: You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not seduce boys. You shall not commit fornication. You shall not steal. You shall not practice magic. You shall not use potions. You shall not procure [an] abortion, nor destroy a new-born child" (2:1-2 [A.D.140]).









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Hippolytus







"Women who were reputed to be believers began to take drugs to render themselves sterile, and to bind themselves tightly so as to expel what was being conceived, since they would not, on account of relatives and excess wealth, want to have a child by a slave or by any insignificant person. See, then, into what great impiety that lawless one has proceeded, by teaching adultery and murder at the same time!" (Refutation of All Heresies [A.D. 222]).









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Tertullian







"In our case, a murder being once for all forbidden, we may not destroy even the fetus in the womb, while as yet the human being derives blood from the other parts of the body for its sustenance. To hinder a birth is merely a speedier man-killing; nor does it matter whether you take away a life that is born, or destroy one that is coming to birth. That is a man which is going to be one; you have the fruit already in its seed" (Apology 9:8 [A.D. 197]).









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Tertullian







"Among surgeons' tools there is a certain instrument, which is formed with a nicely-adjusted flexible frame for opening the uterus first of all, and keeping it open; it is further furnished with an annular blade, by means of which the limbs [of the child] within the womb are dissected with anxious but unfaltering care; its last appendage being a blunted or covered hook, wherewith the entire fetus is extracted by a violent delivery.



"There is also [another instrument in the shape of] a copper needle or spike, by which the actual death is managed in this furtive robbery of life: They give it, from its infanticide function, the name of embruosphaktes, [meaning] "the slayer of the infant," which of course was alive. . . .



"[The doctors who performed abortions] all knew well enough that a living being had been conceived, and [they] pitied this most luckless infant state, which had first to be put to death, to escape being tortured alive" (De Anima 25 [A.D.210]).









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Tertullian







"Now we allow that life begins with conception because we contend that the soul also begins from conception; life taking its commencement at the same moment and place that the soul does" (De Anima 27 [A.D. 210]).









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Minucius Felix







"There are some [pagan] women who, by drinking medical preparations, extinguish the source of the future man in their very bowels and thus commit a parricide before they bring forth. And these things assuredly come down from the teaching of your [false] gods. . . . To us [Christians] it is not lawful either to see or hear of homicide" (Octavius 30 [A.D. 210]).









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Lactantius







"When God forbids us to kill, he not only prohibits us from open violence, which is not even allowed by the public laws, but he warns us against the commission of those things which are esteemed lawful among men. . . . Therefore, let no one imagine that even this is allowed, to strangle newly-born children, which is the greatest impiety; for God breathes into their souls for life, and not for death. But men, that there may be no crime with which they may not pollute their hands, deprive [unborn] souls as yet innocent and simple of the light which they themselves have not given.



"Can anyone, indeed, expect that they would abstain from the blood of others who do not abstain even from their own? But these are, without any controversy, wicked and unjust" (The Divine Institutes 6:20 [A.D.311]).









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Basil







"A woman who has deliberately destroyed a fetus must pay the penalty for murder. . . . Those also who give drugs causing abortions are murderers themselves, as well as those who receive the poison which kills the fetus" (Canonical Epistle to Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium 188:2, 9 [A.D. 374]).

Answer 19

Why does an atheist spend so much time studying the Bible? You surmise from this text that a young girl who gets pregnant, can just go to a clinic and get an abortion?



And you say we Christians stretch........



Go to the Hebrew text first to get the sense of the passages. You do read Hebrew don't you?

Answer 20

Maybe only god is allowed to bring a miscarriage?

Answer 21

some people may be confused by this but they will not be swayed. they regard murdering humans as correct and fully support wars but want to save the soul of every drop of semen. good luck trying to get your point across.

Answer 22

There is a lot of hate in this world, and a lot of people use God and Religion as a means to hate and feel justified in doing so.



- Doug W

Answer 23

According to the Catholic Church, yes.



BUT ABORTION as WE KNOW IT TODAY did not exist 2000 years ago. THERE is the rub.



TFTP

Answer 24

Huh?



Are you really posting on yahoo answers to get an understanding of your faith? There have got to be better places to find knowledge, my friend.

Answer 25

Hello Ahteist4.. :)



Numbers 5:11-31



The Law concerning Jealousy



11 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,



12 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man's wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him,



13 and a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken with the manner;



14 and the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled; or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled:



15 then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance.



16 ¶ And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD:



17 and the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water:



18 and the priest shall set the woman before the LORD, and uncover the woman's head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy offering: and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse:



19 and the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse:



20 but if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee besides thine husband:



21 then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The LORD make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the LORD doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell;



22 and this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot. And the woman shall say, Amen, amen.



23 ¶ And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water:



24 and he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter.



25 Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the offering before the LORD, and offer it upon the altar:



26 and the priest shall take a handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water.



27 And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people.



28 And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed.



29 ¶ This is the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled;



30 or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law.



31 Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity.



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The above scripture does not ANYWHERE say that the Lord made an example of her to have a misscarriage..a baby is not even mentioned..



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Exodus 21:22-25



22 ¶ If 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.



23 And if any mischief 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.



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Again you misquote scripture..why do you not quote it correctly.. :)



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In Jesus Most Precious Name..

With Love..In Christ..



Yes..abortion is murder..thou shalt not kill.. :(

Answer 26

it's murder according to me...but that's a whole different argument.

Answer 27

Don't know, Don't care. My body-my choice.

Answer 28

yes its murder