38 Years of Roe v. Wade

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. (Lk 1:41)

And, so to speak, through Abraham even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. (Heb 7:9″“10)

During the past couple of weeks there have been two news items in the mainstream media which have astounding spiritual implications for every American whether they are a Christian or not. As reported through the Moriel website, at some point during this past year the U. S. effected the 53 millionth abortion since the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling 38 years ago. A parallel story ,  was also published announcing that the health department in New York City reports that 40% of all pregnancies in that city end in abortion. (NY Times article here.) This second story in particular indicates that this behavior is accelerating in its pace and it will take much fewer than 38 years to reach the next 53 millionth abortion. I know that simply explaining biblical truth will probably not change individual behavior much less this staggering, overall trend, but it is important to blow the horn of warning regardless of whether it is heeded or not.

One of the key arguments ““ perhaps the key argument ““ revolves around the inception of life. At what point life begins seems to be the fulcrum for the debate along its entire spectrum by all sides. Traditionally Christians cite the verse above of John the Baptist’s recognition of the coming Messiah while still in Elizabeth’s womb as doctrinal evidence that life begins there. One of the biggest problems with Roe v. Wade, however, is that it established the concept of trimesters and defined the parameters of the debate. So the arguments are often limited to a discussion of which trimester spawns life or at the least has limited the argument to the procreation process. I would suggest that Christians need to carefully read and understand the second scriptural quotation provided.

And, so to speak, through Abraham even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. (Heb 7:9″“10)

It speaks of Levi as “still in the loins“ of Abraham. Abraham was not Levi’s immediate biological father. In fact, he is not even his biological grandfather. In accordance with our Western approach to genealogy, Abraham was Levi’s great-great grandfather. Although most would limit an abortion argument to the birth of Abraham’s son Isaac, the biblical view is that life in a single person encompasses at least three subsequent generations! The scriptural view would appear to be that life for Levi was not limited to a trimester during the pregnancy of his mother, but that it was accounted for across several generations going back to “the loins of his father“ Abraham. It extended beyond just his immediate father to several generations back. Or another way of looking at it is the seed we carry is not limited to the immediate generation to come but involves all the generations to come after us.

While the more immediate situation is that we should weep and mourn before God for what has been done and the inevitable judgment it will bring upon us, it should be incumbent on every Christian to know God’s mind as to when life begins and to not be drawn into an argument which is not tenable in the first place and which has been founded on incorrect assumptions from the outset. If they can get us to argue on their terms, which is based on a wrong and false notion from the beginning, we have unwittingly lost in general and been drawn into their deception specifically.

In Him,
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