I. The Sanctity of Life
a. Life Begins at ConceptionI have no doubts that life begins at conception. Many Christians also agree with this belief. Sadly, some Christians disagree. I have always held this view but up until recently I have not had the scriptural and scientific support to back up my belief.
My case rested on a few Scriptures and the belief in the sanctity of life. My thoughts were that if we could not determine 100% when life begins then I believed we should give new life the benefit of the doubt. If we could not be 100% sure that life did not begin at conception then play safe and assume it does start at conception.
Many gave the so called “choice” of the mother the benefit of the doubt and condoned abortion up until a certain stage of development.
Could you imagine a small child coming to his mother, whose back is turned and cannot see her child, and asking the question, “Mum, can I kill this?” Do you think the mother would give the child the benefit of the doubt and reply, “Sure, go ahead and kill it”? Or do you think the mother would turn around and see what the child is talking about?
Though this scenario sounds ridiculous it happens every hour of every day all over the world. Doctors, nurses, mothers, fathers, grandparents, politicians and governments give the glib reply, “Sure, go ahead and kill it.”
My belief that life begins at conception is now based firmly on a multitude of Scriptures and scientific consensus.
My final point will bring us back to look in detail at the Scriptural support but I want us to begin with a few Scriptures that point to the fact that life begins at conception.
i. Scriptural Evidence
Job 10:8-12 Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet thou dost destroy me. (9) Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again? (10) Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese? (11) Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews. (12) Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.
Job says that God’s hands made him and fashioned him. The Hebrew word for “made” implies difficulty, carving something with care. It means that from the earliest stage God designed Job like an artist taking great pains to make sure his art results in exactly what he has in mind. The word “fashioned” is a continuation of this idea.
He describes being made from clay. Each time the potter took a lump of fresh clay it was with the intention of making something and God took each of us at the earliest stage with the intention of making someone.
The reference to being poured out like milk and curdled like cheese is difficult but perhaps accurate. The organs, skin and bones of a developing child in the womb are perhaps comparable. Initially the bones and skin are very fragile, the skin is translucent and the bones soft. But over a period of months both grow strong and hard.
Verse 10 may seem difficult but verse 11 leaves us with no doubts. Job speaks of God clothing him with skin and flesh and entwining or fencing him with bones and sinews. Interestingly, from what I have learned, this is the order of development in the baby. First the skin and flesh develop, then at week 6 the bones begin to harden.
Job concludes this passage by speaking of God granting life and favour and preserving his spirit. Job believed his life had been preserved throughout this time, continuing to his birth and subsequent existence outside the womb right up until this point.
Isaiah 44:2 Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen.
Isaiah also gives us reason to believe that life begins inside the womb at the moment of conception, “…the LORD that made thee… formed thee from the womb…” The word formed means to mould into a form. Some modern translations say, “I am the LORD who created you; from the time you were born.” Do you see how this changes the text and weakens the Christian’s argument?
The correct translation is found in the Authorized Version and a number of other translations, “Formed thee from the womb” or “in the womb”. The formation of the child takes place not after birth, but in the womb.
Isaiah’s statement here lends weight to the belief that life begins at conception.
Psalm 139:13-16: For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. (14) I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. (15) My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. (16) Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
We will take one more passage before we move on to the scientific evidence.
The Psalmist makes several significant statements. First of all he speaks about God covering him in his mother’s womb.
The psalmist describes God’s fashioning of the baby as his being “fearfully and wonderfully made.” The word fear speaks of the response of fearful reverence at the complexity of the human body. Even now scientists are left in awe at the design and structure of God’s creative work in the human body. The word “wonderfully” indicates that by our design we are separated, distinguished from the rest of Creation.
He says that his substance, his body, was not hid from God when he was made in secret. The word secret is significant and means “a cover (in a good or a bad, a literal or a figurative sense): covering, covert, hiding place, privily, protection, secret place).”
This word points to the fact that life begins beyond the scope of our natural vision, it occurs in secret, in a covered place, in other words, the womb! The inspired psalmist traces his life right back to the very first stages in the womb.
The phrase “curiously wrought” means to embroider, it refers to intricate needlework. Some have speculated that this may have reference to the graphic representation of DNA, that of a spiralling double-helix. The following phrase mentions all of our members being fore-known, like they were written in a book and God hand-selected each distinctive characteristic in each of us. He chose our eye colour, hair colour, height etc.
My personal position is that the relation to DNA from the phrase “curiously wrought” is stretching the text and meaning of the passage. While I would not rule it out completely I would not advocate it myself.
So what does this passage mean? It clearly means that God is involved in life at its earliest stage and we should consider life beginning from the moment of conception.
We will look at more Scriptures later on but these few passages are enough to show that life begins at the earliest stage, that of conception.
But what about the scientific community, what do doctors and scientists believe? Let us consider their words on the matter.
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One way in which this worldly philosophy has infiltrated the church is in some of the central aspects of what I understand about the emerging church. Something that seems to come up again and again is a kind of pseudo-humility where no certainty is allowed, no absolutes exist, we are just on a journey. That journey involves getting into the culture and using culture to reach people. The church has become a place for the world rather than a place for God’s people.
Then to confound them more I told them being godly meant you would be overweight. Again, they looked stunned, even more so than before. So I took them to Proverbs 28:25 – “He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made fat.”
I just wanted to let you know of my personal site that has broader and deeper comment than is appropriate on the church blog.
7 Weeks
