Candid Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Not a Biblicaly based book, but this book: http://www.amazon.com/Dispelling-Abortion-History-Joseph-Dellapenna/dp/0890895090/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333106874&sr=8-1, deals with the law in the US (and because the law was mostly case law, the law in Europe) on this topic. Since the roots of the laws governing abortion and still birth come from the medieval church you'll read about that. So scriptural points will come in. I learned lots of fascinating stuff, but it was long and academic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessReplanted Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 The Bible says that God knows us and forms us in our mother's womb. (Psalm 139) As to the actual moment when life begins - there is not a clear explanation. And this is why we default to life beginning at conception. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virg Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 The Bible says that God knows us and forms us in our mother's womb. (Psalm 139) As to the actual moment when life begins - there is not a clear explanation. And this is why we default to life beginning at conception. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I read that "kilts are invisible". Posting a pic of an invisible kilt might run up your numbers, but it might also get you banned. :lol: Now you've done it. If there aren't rules against invisible kilts already, there will be soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I'm not sure if this 100% reflects my beliefs, but I did think it was very interesting: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2012/02/18/the-biblical-view-thats-younger-than-the-happy-meal/ I've read two books and one article in the last year to 18 months that discuss the change in American Protestants' views on abortion, specifically the general support of the Protestant "establishment" for Roe v Wade, including Billy Graham's statements in support of it, and statements by religious and political conservatives in favor of Planned Parenthood. It used to be only Catholics who opposed abortion and contraception. I went out in search of exactly none of these articles! I think one was in a book about homeschooling! One was Jill Lepore's New Yorker article on Planned Parenthood. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/11/14/111114fa_fact_lepore I find this interesting for historical reasons. I have no horse in this race. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaSheep Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I believe the life of the spirit begins before conception (because of Jeremiah 1:5 among other things). I believe the life of the body begins at conception (because biologically I can't see any other option). I do not know when the spirit joins the body. I do know that the Bible severely condemns the shedding of innocent blood, and an embryo definitely has its own blood and can be considered guilty of no crime. To be honest there is a stage in there where it's just a cluster of cells that I'm not really sure what I think as far as whether its living, but I prefer to err on the side of respecting the sanctity of life and if there's any doubt in my mind I treat it as if it is living. This is one of the reasons I've decided not to pursue certain fertility treatments. It's too much of a grey area for me to feel comfortable in my conscience. (But I don't judge other people who make different decisions, I'm happy to leave the sorting out of all of that to God. I just have to make a choice for me that I can confidently live with, and not be constantly second-guessing in my own heart.) But yeah, by the time a woman misses her period and realizes something's going on, I think there's a living child involved. I'm not sure what to vote on the poll, so I'm abstaining. I find the argument that it's not living until it takes a breath appalling. And I find myself wondering if people who take that line of thought ever draw a distinction based on WHAT the child is breathing, because babies breathe amniotic fluid for quite a while before they begin breathing air. And if it's a matter of oxygen exchange rather than the physical movement of the lungs that "matters", then the baby does that through the umbilical cord even earlier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
besroma Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I believe at conception, biblically as well as scientifically. Zero doubt for me. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veritaserum Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 there have been quite a few ectopic pregnancies that have progressed long enough for the baby to survivehttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1023057/Miracle-mother-gave-birth-girl-month-ectopic-pregnancy.html http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/43193437/ns/today-today_health/t/miracle-baby-was-carried-outside-mothers-womb/ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2932608.stm I said it cannot grow unless it implants. Ectopic pregnancies implant somewhere other than the uterus, but they do implant. Many fertilized eggs exit the body during a woman's menstrual cycle because they fail to implant. Heartbeat to heartbeat still seems like the most reasonable and consistent definition of a life to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mytwomonkeys Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 at the time of conception Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scuff Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 :iagree: I believe it begins at conception because I simply think it makes the most biological sense. There's no other point in the gestational period where you can say the fetus changes from non-living to living or from non-human to human. :iagree: I don't know that the Bible specifically gives an exact moment. But it does talk about God giving the womb life and being known by God even when on the inside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I believe it begins at conception based on the examples of Scripture of Christ, John the Baptist, King David and Jeremiah ( that's all I can remember off hand) who mention being set apart, even before they were born. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I said it cannot grow unless it implants. Ectopic pregnancies implant somewhere other than the uterus, but they do implant. Many fertilized eggs exit the body during a woman's menstrual cycle because they fail to implant. Heartbeat to heartbeat still seems like the most reasonable and consistent definition of a life to me. Sorry, I misread your post :blush: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailorMom Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 You say Bible-based - but my DH and I are not Christian and we still believe life starts at conception.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailorMom Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Others believe #2 and point to scripture to prove it. If you support #2, the a child is not living until it has taken it's first breath. Thereby terminating it is not killing a living being. I think that has more to do with the ancient thoughts on science. I think maybe they didn't understand that we could absorb oxygen through the mom, rather than breath, and therefore weren't alive until we had our own breath. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
staceyobu Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 I also wonder if it is at the time of implantation. We can join egg and sperm in a petri dish, but it cannot grow into a life there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 If you post one, Ms. Emperor, I will pretend to see it! How about a link. By the looks of those bayonets, this is a vintage photo. http://s237.photobucket.com/albums/ff147/riverkilt/Z%20Misc%20Pics/?action=view¤t=badargylls.jpg&sort=ascending#!oZZ64QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs237.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fff147%2Friverkilt%2FZ%2520Misc%2520Pics%2F%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3Dbadargylls.jpg (nothing crucial showing) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 (edited) You say Bible-based - but my DH and I are not Christian and we still believe life starts at conception.... I'm glad you do! :) I believe that the Bible supports that life inside the womb is the life of a human, and I also believe that value of the species does not change once they are "on their way" until their natural death. And, anyone who thinks that a human is first a fetus is using terms to disguise their desire to separate their worth. (Unborn versus Born) I mean... Animals that are pregnant have their own kind, of course, unless it's had human intervention :) (I know I'm gonna be wrong if I don't remember all the details :) Humans that are impregnated... have baby humans. (Again, the other view that I've heard is that it's living, but not a "God-breathed" human until it breathes it's first breath.) I totally believe that no one has a right to murder or stop the life of a human, at any stage of life. Edited March 31, 2012 by NayfiesMama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 I also wonder if it is at the time of implantation. We can join egg and sperm in a petri dish, but it cannot grow into a life there... It would depend on how a person defines "life." If "life" is one or more cells that are those of a unique human being, then that would be at fertilization. If one means cells that are reproducing, there has to be more to the definition than that. (FWIW, the one-celled zygote can easily grow into 100+ celled blastocyst in the lab, though obviously implantation would be necessary eventually for growth to continue.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 :lol: I'm pretty sure that smilie needs to be added to the board set. How does one do that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meriwether Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 I've read two books and one article in the last year to 18 months that discuss the change in American Protestants' views on abortion, specifically the general support of the Protestant "establishment" for Roe v Wade, including Billy Graham's statements in support of it, and statements by religious and political conservatives in favor of Planned Parenthood. It used to be only Catholics who opposed abortion and contraception. I went out in search of exactly none of these articles! I think one was in a book about homeschooling! One was Jill Lepore's New Yorker article on Planned Parenthood. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/11/14/111114fa_fact_lepore I find this interesting for historical reasons. I have no horse in this race. The bolded is not true. As a Protestant in a Protestant family, I can say that with certainty. Contraception is another matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary in VA Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Conception. What scripture supports life beginning at the first breath? I'm not aware of that, could someone tell me? Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Conception. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wintermom Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 I believe life begins at conception - based on scripture and science. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 I'm reasonably sure there's no Biblical stance on kilts. Yes, there is! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty in Pink Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Well, an embryo is alive in the sense that it is a group of living cells. They are human cells that contain DNA unique to it. The question (from a Christian POV) would be one of ensoulment, I think...at what point does God endow an individual with a soul? I guess that's a different question that what constitutes a right to life, which can be debated from any POV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMom2One Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 It's hard for me to comprehend life beginning at any other point than at conception. Looking at this scientifically, after conception there exists a unique organism with the presence of DNA. Thinking as a mother who has born three children, I know that a baby is alive within the womb. Anyone who has carried a baby understands this completley. Considering this from a Biblical point of view, I have always cherished these verses: Psalm 51:6 - Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place. Psalm 139:13 - For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. Both verses imply that life begins when a person, a unique individual, is formed within the womb. Blessings, Lucinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.