Welcome to answers from an apostolic faith.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen.
Today we attempt to answer a question that is extremely emotionally charged, something that is quite controversial and that is the question of What Is Wrong with Abortion? What is the Church's view on such an act?
Before we begin, let us make something perfectly clear: the perspective of the Church and the stance of the Church is neither to condemn people or to make them feel guilty for any past choices or for any choices they are contemplating even taking today. This is an extremely difficult choice for many people and the Church recognizes that. And in it recognizes that in some very extreme situations, these decisions are extremely hard to make.
But let us also be clear: the perspective of the Church is not one that is political; it is not one where we attempt to be politically correct; it is not one where we attempt to try to make amends for a very emotional situation. What the Church attempts to do at all times is to shed light on very dark situations. And some of these situations, if we are honest, we are fully aware of the fact that they are extremely dark and difficult and we recognize and pray for all those who are involved in these situations.
For us to be able to attempt to answer this properly, let us take a look at how severe the situation is right now worldwide. According to certain statistics, on a global level, 40 to 50 million abortions are performed yearly across the globe. Think of this for just a moment. This equates to 125,000 abortions every single day. For us to understand the magnitude of this, we must come to a certain discussion where we do not discuss necessarily the rights of people, whether or not they have the choice to abort, because it is not a discussion where the Church attempts to declare or to overstep when it comes to people’s choices. However, what the Church attempts to do is to try to understand how is it that God defines life and what is the true meaning of the sanctity of life that God has given us.
Before we begin the definition of what the sacredness or the sanctity of life actually means to us as Christians, it is extremely important for us to take a moment and try to see what the Scripture have to say about this to us. Now, it is very interesting, because if you search out the word abortion in all of Scripture, you will not find it; the word abortion in and of itself is not clearly defined. So some might be able to ask the question Then why does the Church have an opinion on something that is not even referenced in Scripture?
Well, it is important for us to note the following: despite the fact that the act of abortion itself is not mentioned explicitly in Scripture, the taking of an innocent life is very clearly condemned within Scripture. And we have several examples of this. One might be able to search out the Scriptures and see within passages such as Exodus 20, verse13, or in passages such as Leviticus 24, verse 17. When you search out the New Testament, you will see that Christ Himself condemns the notion of taking of an innocent life when speaking in John 8, verse 12. We also see this very clearly in Matthew 26, verse 52. Scripture is filled with this understanding that life belongs to God and that no one should take a stance where they take life from another.
Now for us to properly understand this, what then is the perspective when it comes to the taking of an innocent life through the process of abortion? Now as you know, Orthodox Christians do not simply look at Scripture but take a look at all of Holy Tradition. Now when we take a look at Holy Tradition, what we discover is that the Fathers of the Church had quite a bit to say about this, and not only the Fathers of the Church, but even the teaching of the twelve disciples themselves. Let us take a moment and see what tradition teaches us. If we would resort right now to the Didache, which is the writings of the twelve disciples, we see that in Chapter 2, passage 1, the Didache reads the following:
“You shall not procure [an] abortion, nor destroy a new born child.” (Didache 2:1)
Very clearly condemned in the first century of the Church... Also, St. Basil the Great, in his first Canonical Letter, in Canon 2, clearly writes to the Church in the 4 th century and says:
“Let her that procures abortion undergo ten years penance, whether the embryo were perfectly formed, or not.” (St. Basil the Great, First Canonical Letter, canon 2)
What we can clearly see from this is that the early mind of the Church, whether it be the 1 st
century or the 4 th century or even until this moment, there is a very clear understanding that an innocent life should not be taken even within the confines of the discussion of abortion. Now for us to be able to push just a little further, we must take a moment and define in God's eyes when does life begin.
How then are we supposed to understand the importance and the sanctity of life in the eyes of God? For us to understand this and from the Orthodox perspective, let us try to attempt to define the notion of personhood.
You see, in the liturgy of St. Gregory the Theologian, he talks about how it is that “God brought him into existence out of non-existence.” We therefore recognize that God is truly the life giver. He is Life and from him proceeds all those things that exist, and even more, the notion of human being. He therefore is the one who breathes life into the human being, into that person that He has created.
Now, if He has created every human being and has breathed life into him, at what point does life begin? We cannot simply limit this argument, as the world and society would teach us today, to the moment at which a child is born and brought into the world through delivery. You see, to us, it is not a matter of when it is we enter into the world physically when we exit the womb of our mother, but rather we ask the question: At what point did God will us into existence? At what point did He breathe life into us?
For us to properly understand this, let us take a few examples from Scripture. We clearly see that the Church celebrates and understands the importance of recognizing life in the womb even before the moment of delivery. We see this, for instance, in the passage where we clearly see that St. John the Baptist who is still in the womb of his mother Elizabeth when he is greeted by the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who is in the womb of the Holy Theotokos: the child that is in the womb of Elizabeth leaps for joy from recognizing the presence of the Lord God and Saviour. Here we see life demonstrated in 2 ways: the first, in the fact that the Lord God and Saviour is very much the Word incarnate while He is still in the womb of His mother. And again, the life that is in Elizabeth is very much a living person for he leaps for joy when the Lord and Saviour comes in to his presence.
We also will notice this in the liturgical life of the Church. The Church will celebrate the moment of conception of the Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ in the feast of the Annunciation where the angel Gabriel announces that the Holy Spirit will descend on the Holy Virgin Mary and she will conceive and she will give birth to a child who will be the Saviour of the world.
We also celebrate the Annunciation of the Holy Virgin Theotokos herself and through all of these things, the Church demonstrates that we recognize that life exists and that life has been willed by God at the moment of conception and not necessarily at a very specific moment that science tries to determine, either through psychological values or through medicinal or scientific measurement. It is not up to science and it is not up to the medical world to tell us at what point a life is alive. It is up to the lawgiver himself who has clearly demonstrated to us that it is when He wills a life into existence that life truly exists.
We see this clearly in the book of Jeremiah where the Lord God speaks very clearly. Let us turn to Jeremiah, chapter 1, verse 5; the Lord God speaks and says the following:
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5)
What this reveals to you and I is that even before the forming within the womb, the Lord God knows you and me because He has willed us into existence. We are first and foremost the work of His handiwork. We are moulded by Him in the womb. Now this... this is not limited to a specific time frame and it is not limited to very specific times within the womb, but rather the moment where the Lord God has said I will you into existence.
And this is why the Church stands firmly and clearly says that the taking of an innocent life through the form of abortion is not something that it can stand or defend. On the contrary, we will that every life that is brought into existence by God may be able to see light.
Again, this statement does not undermine and does not disregard the fact that there are some situations that are very difficult. We can speak to those exceptional situations maybe in another video, but for now, the standard is set: in the eyes of God who is the life giver, every life that He has willed into existence should not be taken for any reason.
Remember: Know your faith, live your faith, and teach your faith. And to God be the glory now and forever and unto the ages of all ages. Amen.