Sincerely Wrong

I read the following in C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity the other day:


I admit I had never really given much thought to the reality that those responsible for the persecution and execution of witches were to some degree motivated by a sincere belief that these women posed a serious threat to their society. We can look back on the witch trials that took place in Europe and the United States (those oh-so advanced societies) and determine, without hesitation, that the people responsible for murdering those believed to be witches were absolutely wrong and, despite their motives, were guilty of murder in the first degree. Evaluating such blights on human history retrospectively affords us the advantage of 20/20 hindsight, as the saying goes, and from our position in history we are able to condemn outright the actions of those involved, even if we take into consideration the sincerely-held beliefs that drove those actions. As Lewis here states, if what they believed were true, then their actions would have been justifiable (and, clearly, Lewis is not trying to justify those actions). But their beliefs were not true, and even though they (perhaps) acted in ignorance, our witch-hunting ancestors were still completely wrong and completely culpable.

Sadly, our history is rife with instances where sincerely-held, wrong beliefs led to atrocities against human beings, many of them all-too recent. Consider the belief set responsible for the legalization of slavery in the United States. In 1857, the United States Supreme Court, that great arbiter of right and wrong, officially ruled that slaves were subhuman property that did not have the rights of American citizens.1 This ruling was actually a step in reverse from the decision handed down 70 years prior that slaves were to be regarded as 3/5 of a person.2 Both of these pronouncements reflected what the society of that day already believed, so if the people being enslaved were not really “people” or “humans” in the same ways as everyone else, then who is to say anyone was wrong in enslaving them? And what were those who held his belief to do with 3/5 of a person, or a “subhuman animal” from another continent? Well, if their beliefs were true, then I suppose they could do whatever they liked with them. They could employ them as animals kept around for their usefulness on the plantation, they could keep them locked up and deprived of basic human rights, and they could dispose of them once their usefulness was exhausted. If their beliefs about the African people were true, then their actions were, on the whole, justifiable. But their beliefs were not true. Despite the common sentiment to the contrary, those people were human beings, worthy of the same respect and dignity as any other person.

What of the masterminds behind the atrocities in Nazi Germany? Do we acquit the Nazis because many, Hitler chief among them, genuinely believed the Jewish race was inferior to the rest of the human population? Hitler stated in Mein Kampf that “the personification of the devil as the symbol of all evil assumes the living shape of the Jew.” If he really believed they were the devil, then was he not right in taking the steps he took to try to eliminate them?  Can we give Franz Stangl, who oversaw the horrors at Treblinka, a bit of a break because, when asked about the open pits filled with the bodies of thousands of recently-exterminated Jews, he remarked that “It had nothing to do with humanity. It could not have. They were cargo.”3 If the Jews were a genuine threat to the German people and were truly an inferior race, then perhaps we could find some justification for the 6 millions murders the Nazis committed during the Holocaust. But we cannot. Despite the fact that many truly believed in what Hitler and the Nazis were trying to accomplish (evidenced by the fact that so many continued to defend Hitler and persecute Jews even after the war was over), their actions cannot be justified. Looking back less than a century removed from it, we can clearly condemn as evil the extermination of so many during Hitler’s reign, despite the fact that it was motivated by deeply- and widely-held beliefs.

So how are we to judge those who are pro-choice and (quite logically and consistently) even pro-abortion? If what we are being told is true, and the only thing present in a woman’s womb is a lump of tissue, incapable of feeling pain and undeserving of the rights and privileges of those outside the womb, then do we dare call abortion wrong? Is abortion just another medical procedure that, while perhaps difficult to talk about, is no different than a heart operation or a liver transplant? If that born-alive fetus whose heart is still beating is not a human person, then what is inherently wrong with cutting through its face in order to extract its brain? And is there not a “greater good” at work here? Does not all this ill treatment of fetuses inside and outside the womb have the potential to someday lead to a better world for the rest of us? (Remember that the hope of creating a better society was central to all of the crimes against humanity cited above.)

I do not believe history will side with the abortion industry or those who defend and empower it. I do not believe the widely-held belief that unborn children are not people and therefore do not have the same right to life as human beings outside the womb will evoke sympathy from those who look back with horror on the atrocities of this era of abortion and the 50 million+ lives that have been taken in the names of convenience and reproductive freedom. (And the fact that there are some who believe fetuses are babies and still have no problem killing them makes such sympathy even less likely.) The society that disparages and destroys its members will be looked upon with contempt by future generations, and I believe the ones that follow us will feel little sympathy toward those whose sincerely-held and sincerely-wrong beliefs are now driving the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of unborn children each year.


1 “James Buchanan and the Dred Scott Decision,”

2 “Three-Fifths Compromise,”

3 From the documentary Death Camp Treblinka: Survivor Stories, BBC, 2012.

Celebrating Life & Mourning Death: What the Abortion Industry Wants Us to Forget

Before I write anything else, I want to say that my intent in posting this is not to hijack this couple’s tragedy in order to advance a personal agenda. I had considered writing a post like this only featuring the first video before the second one was released. Both videos show a lot of raw emotion, and I think they display what love for an unborn child should look like and provide a needed reminder given the current circumstances in the U.S.


The other night, my wife and I stumbled across a YouTube video wherein a husband (Sam) surprises his wife (Nia) with a positive pregnancy test (you’ll have to watch the video to see how he pulled it off—it’s pretty creative). He gets home early from work one morning, does the test, and then surprises his wife and two kids with the news. And they are ecstatic! He and his wife are overcome with all kinds of joy and shock and excitement, and his little girl immediately starts talking about how excited she is that she will get to hold the baby and help take care of it. I commented on the video with “What a beautiful celebration of life!! I love it! Congrats!” because it was so encouraging to see a couple celebrating their baby in the midst of all the talk about “fetuses” and “tissue” and PP’s human organ enterprise.

Then yesterday I saw that the couple had posted a follow-up video announcing the miscarriage of their child. I watched a broken, distraught couple genuinely mourn the loss of their baby (and give God glory in the midst of it). In an instant, all the joy they had felt over their new addition turned to sorrow as the reality set in that one of their children was now gone. All I could think of while watching it was the rhetoric that is being put out right now in an attempt to rob couples of this type of emotion by stripping the unborn of their personhood. “That thing inside you is not a baby—it’s a parasitic clump of cells.” “We’re not aborting your child—we’re just emptying your uterus.” “It’s not human—only its organs are.” They are trying their best to sanitize abortion so that it does not emotionally affects us.

But the reality is, no matter how many different ways they try to present abortion in neutral terms, there is nothing neutral about ending (or losing) a life. It is a painful tragedy, and it is one I hope no amount of spin can ever cause us to disregard. I mourn the loss of this baby with Sam and Nia, and I pray God will bring good out of this tragic situation.

You can watch both videos below.

Does the Bible Speak to the Issue of Abortion?

[Special thanks to Rhett Burns for his input under headings 1 and 6 of this article.]

The recent release of several undercover videos filmed at Planned Parenthood locations and with PP executives have led to a proliferation of articles on the issue of abortion. Faithful Christians have been at the fore, loudly voicing their concern for life and justice for the unborn. I have not seen many articles, however, that offer much in the way of a survey of biblical texts pertinent to abortion, and because I believed most Christians were confident of the Bible’s firm stance on valuing and defending all life, I did not really miss these articles. I suppose in my naivete, I assumed anyone who called himself a Christian would understand that although the Bible nowhere names abortion outright as a sin (in other words, the term “abortion” is nowhere in Scripture), it has much to say on God’s care of and love for the unborn and our responsibility to defend the innocent and defenseless. I was wrong. A few weeks ago I read an article titled “Why I’m a Christian Who (Still) Supports Planned Parenthood” by Dan Wilkinson. Wilkinson is hardly a bastion of conservatism, or of what most consider orthodox Christianity, but I was astounded to see a self-proclaimed Christian not only defend Planned Parenthood (and link to their donation page!), but also claim that “God doesn’t seem to have said anything that’s directly relevant to this topic.” He moves right past “the Bible does not mention ‘abortion'” and goes so far as to suggest it has nothing relevant to say about abortion. One might wonder if he quite understands the meaning of the word.

I also recently had a friend express her frustration that, although she is anti-abortion, she struggles with the fact that Scripture does not directly address the practice. It would be convenient to be able to point to the “do not abort your unborn child” verse in Scripture, but there is enough in Scripture that is directly applicable to the issue of abortion that I do not believe we need it in order to understand abortion is wrong. So because this type of overview is somewhat scarce, I have listed some broad themes that arise throughout Scripture and that I believe demonstrate God’s hatred for abortion and our responsibility to speak out against it and fight for those who cannot fight for themselves. I will quote the Scriptures at length (from the ESV). The list is not exhaustive, so I welcome any additions that may come to mind as you read.

God Is the Creator of Life

We know from Scripture that God creates life in the womb and that He has intimate knowledge of us before we are born.

“[T]hen the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” Genesis 2.7

“And the Lord said to her, ‘Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.’” Genesis 25.23





“[He] set me apart before I was born, and . . . called me by his grace . . .” Galatians 1.15

Scripture is clear that God is the Author of life and that all life comes from Him; therefore, we are not autonomous. The belief that a woman (and her doctor?) has the right to decide to end the life of her child is completely unbiblical. She did not create the life in her (anymore than her partner did), so she does not have the right to end the life in her. Any authority she has as a mother is hers for the purpose of self-sacrifically loving and serving her child, not stopping its heartbeat.

God Creates in His Own Image

Each person, inside or outside the womb, carries inherent value because each person is created in God’s image.






It is important to realize that an abortion is not just “gently emptying your uterus” of tissue: it is the destruction of image bearers. And it is the destruction of those who might one day worship God. Scripture gives instruction to “a people yet to be created [who] may praise the Lord” (Psalm 102.18). When we choose abortion, we kill future worshipers.1

God Cares Deeply about Children

We see in Scripture that God creates and cares about life, and we also see that He has a special concern for children. They are a gift from Him and are to be treated as such.



“So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish . . . It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.” Matthew 18.14, 16


As believers, should we care less about children than our God who made them? Children are a gift from God, but we do not treat them as a gift when we discard them because we view them as an inconvenience (or a line item on a budget) rather than a blessing.

God Hates When Parents Kill Their Own Children

While killing one’s child via abortion is not specifically mentioned in Scripture, there are several instances in the Bible where parents offer their children up as sacrifices to other gods, and God states that this practice is utterly detestable.

“And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings and used divination and omens and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight. None was left but the tribe of Judah only.” 2 Kings 17.17, 18



**”You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.” Deut 14.21** [I put stars next to this verse because it has nothing to do with destroying human life. But it is interesting that God forbids using what was meant to bring life and comfort (milk) to kill the young goat. We can draw a loose parallel here to the womb, the place of nurture and life, that has now become one of the most hostile places a baby can be (see Alveda King’s comments about the danger African-American babies face in the womb). This verse does not provide a perfect analogy, but it shows, at least in this instance, that what God means for life should not be turned into an environment for death.]

Parents are God’s protectors and nurturers of future generations, and are the means by which those generations will know who God is (Deuteronomy 4.9; 6.1–9; Psalm 103.13; Proverbs 22.6; Isaiah 38.19; Joel 1.3; Ephesians 6.4; Colossians 3.21; et al.). Parents abdicate their God-given duty, and sacrifice their God-given gift, when they choose abortion.

God Hates the Shedding of Innocent Blood

God is a God of the defenseless and the innocent.2 God forbids the murder and sacrificing of those who are innocent, and He promises swift and fierce punishment for those who are guilty of doing so.

“You shall not murder.” Exodus 20.13







Who is more unworthy of being murdered than an unborn child? Is there blood on this earth more innocent than that in the womb? By aborting a child, we overlook the responsibility of the ones who conceived it (the mother and the father) and, in effect, punish the child (in the extreme) for his or her parents’ actions.

God Regards Life in the Womb as He Regards Life outside the Womb

This verse is one that I find most appropriate to the discussion of abortion, and is one to which I would love a response from those who are pro-abortion and who also profess Christianity.3


The punishment for harming a child in the womb (i.e., causing a still birth) is death. A few verses earlier (21.12), God prescribes the same punishment for someone who kills a grown man. The punishment for inflicting death inside the womb and outside the womb is the same: death. We can conclude, therefore, that the value of each life is equal. We go against God when we posit the notion that the life of a mother is inherently more valuable than that of her unborn child.

God Calls His People to Defend the Defenseless

As God is characterized by His protection of the innocent and defenseless and His execution of justice on their behalf, so should His people be.

“He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.” Deuteronomy 10.18


“[L]earn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.” Isaiah 1.17


If our aim in life is to be more like our Creator, then we should seek to emulate His character. God’s justice, love, kindness, compassion, and protection of those who are fatherless and defenseless should be evident in the lives of all who claim to follow Him.

Two final verses I believe speak pointedly to the issue of abortion are Proverbs 24:11, 12:


What will God say to those who know the atrocity of abortion yet fail to act on behalf of the ones being taken away to death?


While we do not have a specific passage that condemns abortion as it is practiced today, I believe the Bible says much that is relevant to the issue of abortion. Scripture is clear that because God creates, values, and cares for each human life, we should not be in favor of any practice that takes human life, especially not when that life is still in the womb. We believe abortion is wrong for the same reasons we believe looking at pornography or cheating on one’s tax return is wrong, not because there are verses that explicitly forbid us from doing those exact things, but because what God has revealed about His own character and His desires for how we are to live simply do not leave room for those behaviors. If we want to be like God, then we cannot be in favor of abortion, and we cannot support those who make it possible.

If you are reading this and have had an abortion, know there is mercy unending at the foot of the cross. There is no sin that has more power to condemn you than Jesus has to save you. Repent and believe. God is able to bring good out of evil (Romans 8.28), and He is full of hope, love, and grace.


1 I realize the same logic could be used to argue that abortions help rid the world of future criminals, sociopaths, terrorists, etc. Margaret Sanger, the founder of PP and a renowned racist and eugenicist, argued the same thing.

2 We understand the term ‘innocent’ here as describing those who are not guilty of something deserving death. No human being, save Jesus, is truly innocent or righteous before God.

3 One anticipated response to this verse is that the killing was wrong because the woman had no choice in the matter. I find no biblical warrant for the belief that a mother’s consent provides sufficient grounds for taking the life of her child, or that her lack of consent somehow changes the nature of what has taken place. As noted above, she did not create the life inside her and, therefore, does not have the right to end that life.