An Episcopal Bishop's Teaching on Abortion, Part 4: Scripture – New Testament

As we saw in the last post, there is little if anything in the Old Testament that directly addresses abortion. There is even less in the New Testament. Jesus says nothing about it. Paul writes nothing about it[1]. This is curious because abortion was not at all unheard of 2,000 years ago. Roman and Greek philosophers of the time had a range of things to say on the subject.

It is significant that the Jewish understanding at the time of Jesus was that while the life in the womb had value and was in some sense sacred as a potential human being, it was not a fully human person before birth. According to Jewish commentary from around the time and place of Jesus if it came to it, the mother’s life must take precedence.[2]

This has remained more or less the teaching of Judaism since. Joseph Schenker, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, summarized the attitude toward abortion in the classic sources of Jewish law:

1. That the only indication considered for abortion is a hazard to the mother’s life.

2. That, otherwise, the destruction of an unborn child is a grave offence, although not murder.

3. That it can be viewed that the fetus is granted some recognition of human life, but it does not equal that of the mother’s, and can be sacrificed if her life is in danger.[3]

Something like Dr. Schenker’s summary would have been the common Jewish teaching at the time of the New Testament. That Jesus and the rest of the New Testament say nothing to directly contradict this understanding does not necessarily mean agreement with it. Arguments from silence cannot take us very far. Still, it does seem significant, given Jesus’ willingness to take issue with the understanding of his contemporaries on other issues.

It is also true that, grounded though Christianity is in Judaism, it is not the same. We do not share all the same scriptures and those that we do share, we interpret differently. We have different traditions beyond the scriptures. Both traditions have wrestled with questions around the issue of abortion. In both traditions, the answers to those questions have been complex. For more on the Jewish understanding, see this footnote.[4]

While there is nothing in the New Testament that explicitly and clearly addresses abortion, that does not mean it has nothing relevant to say on the topic. There are other themes and passages that could have bearing on how we might think about abortion, the life in the womb, and the agency of the woman bearing that life. There is Jesus’s uncommon respect for women and their personal integrity. There is also his even more uncommon valuing of children. There is the general commitment to care for the vulnerable and the “least of these.” There is the Visitation in which John leaps in Elizabeth’s womb when Mary appears bearing Jesus in hers (Luke 1:39–56). We will look at some of these later. Next, I want to look at another authority that Christians look to in order to make sense of things, the Church’s tradition.

---

[1] A possible exception is the reference to pharmekeia in Galatians 5:19-21; Revelation 9:21; and 18:23. This can mean any kind of medicine or drugs (“pharmacy” comes from this Greek root).  It can also mean potions, particularly magic potions – something that was common in the ancient world. Hence it is commonly translated as witchcraft or sorcery. But in some early Christian texts, e.g., the Didache, it is listed alongside abortion which seems to suggest the possible meaning of drugs meant to induce abortions. But it is not clear that that is the meaning when it is used in the New Testament.

[2] Mishna 7.6 : “If a woman is having trouble giving birth, they cut up the child in her womb and bring it forth limb by limb, because her life comes before the life of [the child].” (https://www.sefaria.org/Mishnah_Oholot.7.6?lang=bi)

[3] Schenker, Joseph G., ‘The Beginning of Human Life: Status of embryo. Perspectives in Halakha (Jewish Religious Law)’, Springer Science, Business Media, LLC, Published online: 13 June 2008

(https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10815-008-9221-6)

[4] Meacham, Tirzah and Lipinsky, Yoelit, ‘Abortion: Halakhic Perspectives’, Jewish Women’s Archive, July 27, 2022 (https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/abortion#pid-18948)

Fischer, Elli, ‘What You’re Getting Wrong About Abortion And Judaism’, The Forward, August 1, 2022 (https://forward.com/life/406465/what-youre-getting-wrong-about-abortion-and-judaism)

Next:

Part 5: Tradition

Previous:

Part 1: The Episcopal Church’s Stated Position on Childbirth and Abortion

Part 2: Context

Part 3: Old Testament

An Episcopal Bishop's Teaching on Abortion, Part 3: Scripture – Old Testament

The Outline of the Faith, or Catechism, in the Book of Common Prayer affirms that the Christian Scriptures are “the Word of God because God inspired their human authors and because God still speaks to us through the Bible.” (p. 853). So, that is where Christians begin when discerning answers to moral questions.

It must be admitted, though, that the Bible has nothing to say explicitly about deliberate abortion. Even theologians who firmly oppose abortion concede this. In his encyclical, Evangelium Vitae, Pope John Paul II wrote,

The texts of Sacred Scripture never address the question of deliberate abortion and so do not directly and specifically condemn it.[1]

Though he affirms a pro-life position, New Testament scholar, Richard B. Hayes, admits,

The Bible contains no text about abortion. This simple fact – often ignored by those who would make opposition to abortion a virtual litmus test of true Christian faith – places the issue of abortion in a very different category . . .[2]

That the Old Testament says nothing directly about abortion is curious, given that it contains extensive and explicit regulations about sex, pregnancy, childbirth, and even menstruation, but there are no regulations about abortion. This is notable because some, though not all, ancient societies did have laws explicitly forbidding abortion. This is true of ancient Assyrian, Greek, and Roman law codes. Even then, it is uncertain if these laws were intended for the sake of the life in the womb. Such laws might have been meant to protect the pregnant woman given that most methods of abortion were as likely to end in her death as in a successful termination of the pregnancy. More likely, given that these ancient societies were exceedingly patriarchal, laws against abortion were as much as anything to protect the rights of the father who legally had the right to kill the baby after birth if he chose.

One place the Old Testament might come close to addressing something like abortion is Exodus 21:22–23 which reads:

When people who are fighting injure a pregnant woman so that there is a miscarriage, and yet no further harm follows, the one responsible shall be fined what the woman’s husband demands, paying as much as the judges determine. If any 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.

There is a basic lack of clarity in the passage. To whom does “no further harm” refer? Is it the miscarried baby or the woman, or either one? From the earliest Jewish interpreters in the Talmud to most contemporary scholars the consensus interpretation is that financial compensation is due the father if the fetus is lost while more severe penalties are exacted if “further harm” comes to the woman. That interpretation is in line with the law codes of many of ancient Israel’s neighbors. Not every scholar agrees with that consensus, but it is the majority view held by Old Testament scholars.[3]

In any event, the lack of clarity means it is not a passage we can rely on to settle the question as to the moral value of the fetus or the morality of elective abortion. It also raises the question in a less patriarchal age, why the fine for the reckless causing of a miscarriage is determined by the father rather than the mother.

Another passage in the Old Testament that possibly refers to something like abortion is Numbers 5:11–31. Like the one above, this passage is hard to translate and hard to interpret. Here, a woman suspected of adultery is given a concoction by a priest in order to determine her guilt and inflict a penalty. It is a passage notoriously hard to understand or even translate. Some translations, e.g., the New Revised Standard Version, New English Bible, and English Standard Version, seem to suggest that the penalty is essentially an induced miscarriage or abortion. Other translations suggest the penalty is some physical affliction on the woman. So, this is another passage that is too uncertain to have much bearing on the subject. Either way, one might wonder why the man with whom the woman had the affair is unpunished by the potion.

These are the only two places in the Old Testament that address anything like abortion. The sacredness of life, human and otherwise, is a general theme of the Old Testament and there is of course the commandment against killing. The question is, “Does that prohibition include the life in the womb or, if so, to what extent?” Abortion is never explicitly equated with murder in the Old Testament. That does not necessarily mean that abortion is simply morally neutral. Indeed, there are passages that point to the value of fetal life (Job 10:9-11, Psalm 139:12). But that abortion is simply or always murder is more than can be proved reading the Old Testament alone. This more complicated position on the moral weight of abortion has been the Jewish understanding as we will see more in the next installment.

There are other passages from the Old Testament that have some bearing on the question such as Job 10:9-11, Psalm 139:12, and Jeremiah 1:5. We will look at those later. But, next, we'll look at the New Testament.

---

[1] John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae, Para. 61 (https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae.html)

[2] Hays, Richard B., The Moral Vision of the New Testament, p. 446. See also, Meilander, Gilbert, Bioethics: A Primer for Christians, p. 29

[3] See for example The Rabbi Sacks Legacy, ‘The Meaning of Texts’ (https://www.rabbisacks.org/covenant-conversation/mishpatim/the-meaning-of-texts/)

Next:

Part 4: Scripture – New Testament 

Previous:

Part 1: The Episcopal Church’s Stated Position on Childbirth and Abortion

Part 2: Context