What Does the Bible Say About Abortion? Not Much.

Novel about Christianity and atheism (and Christian apologetis)The Old Testament patriarchs would scratch their heads at the problem conservative Christians have invented and seized upon. “That’s not what ‘Thou shalt not murder’ means!” they’d say. “It means that you shouldn’t take a stick and beat someone over the head until he’s dead! We kill people around here at the drop of a hat—both our own people when they transgress the Law and people of other tribes when we get into border squabbles. And God has no hesitation in killing people. To simply make someone not pregnant is vastly different. People try lots of folk remedies to bring about that very thing, and our only complaint is that they’re not effective.”

All this hand-wringing about the safety of a single cell, less than one trillionth the size of an infant, would baffle them. God is happy to slaughter (or order slaughtered) lots ’n lots of humans—men, women, and children.

If the Big Man doesn’t care, why should we? That’s a rhetorical question—of course we should care. It’s just that we shouldn’t imagine an argument against abortion based on what the Bible says.

About Babylon, it says, “Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks” (Ps. 137:9). And: “Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished” (Is. 13:15–16). Whether God uses genocide against the other guys, poisonous snakes against his own people, or an old-fashioned global flood against everyone, God has a broad palette of options when it comes to death, and he makes no special provision for children, infants, or fetuses.

The Bible even describes a potion to deliberately induce a miscarriage, used by the priest when a woman is suspected of adultery.

God himself has a hand in abortions. Roughly half of all pregnancies end in spontaneous abortion, a far greater rate than that of clinical abortions. If God exists, he’s the biggest abortionist of all.

Why imagine that the Bible is against abortion? Maybe it’s that whole “thou shalt not murder” thing.

But you do know that “thou shalt not murder” isn’t in the Ten Commandments, right? Let’s review the story. Moses comes down from Mt. Sinai with the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) and then smashes them when he sees the golden calf. He goes back up for another set (Ex. 34), but God must’ve been stoned when he dictated them the second time because it’s quite a different set of rules. But these rules aren’t just an addendum of some sort; these are the replacement Ten Commandments. Exodus 34:28 makes this clear: “[Moses] wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.” In other words, if you’d been able to peek inside the Ark of the Covenant to see this Ten Commandments 2.0, nowhere would it have said, “Thou shalt not murder.”

But let’s ignore that and assume that the scripture say not to murder. What is “murder”? Is capital punishment murder? It’s illegal in Europe, and many people think it’s murder in the U.S., and yet it’s legal in 34 U.S. states. What about killing in wartime? Or killing in self-defense? Or killing accidentally? Or killing animals? Or euthanasia? Murder is undefined, so “Thou shalt not murder” is meaningless.

You’d think that this vaguely supported legal opinion that God is against abortion would give Christians pause, but I guess the hearts of pro-life Christian soldiers are resolute. They’re quick to argue that God’s actions are beyond our understanding when it suits them—when confronted with the Problem of Evil or the justice of hell, for example—but at other times they acknowledge no vagueness and know for certain what God wants. In particular, they know that God is against abortion!

Why is abortion that big a deal from the Christian standpoint when abortions send souls to heaven without the risk of doing the wrong thing in adulthood? That murdered babies go straight to heaven was one way William Lane Craig tried to wriggle out of the moral consequences of God ordering the Canaanite genocide (“Christianity Can Rot Your Brain”).

Using Craig’s logic, abortion clinics may save more souls than churches!

Next time: 16 Arguments Against Abortion, with Rebuttals.

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75 thoughts on “What Does the Bible Say About Abortion? Not Much.

  1. Murder is undefined

    Really? I think most people would agree with a definition of murder as “wrongful killing of a person”.

    I agree that people disagree over the meaning of “wrongful” and that this debate does make a defense of abortion possible, especially in places where it is done within the laws of the land.

    However, particularly as this is MLK day, it should be a good reminder that just because something is lawful does not make it right.

    Aside from this, your post is very muddled as you seem to be trying to say too much. Do you want to say that abortion is not murder? Or that God is a murderer? You have so many disparate thoughts in here, it comes across as a babbling rant.

    • I agree that people disagree over the meaning of “wrongful”

      Yep, and that’s the point.

  2. While the bible doesn’t address the specific topic of abortion it does differentiate between killing a person and causing a stillbirth:
    Exod 21:12 “He who gives a man a death-blow is himself to be put to death.”

    Exod 21:22 “If men, while fighting, do damage to a woman with child, causing the loss of the child, but no other evil comes to her, the man will have to make payment up to the amount fixed by her husband, in agreement with the decision of the judges.”

    avalon

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  6. Sorry Bob but you interpreting scripture is like a 3 year old teaching grammar.

    The first ten commandments on the stone plate were exactly the same as the 2nd set of stone plates.

    “Now the LORD said to Moses, “Cut out for yourself two stone tablets like the former ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you shattered. “

    • ?? You send me that instead of actually responding to the points in the blog post?

      Don’t believe me–it’s in the Good Book. Moses got a second set. It’s documented in Ex. 34.

      You know that I’m just an atheist who would as soon tell a lie as look at you, but if you go there and read it yourself, you’ll see a very different set of commandments.

    • Bob C wrote: Sorry Bob but you interpreting scripture is like a 3 year old teaching grammar.

      The first ten commandments on the stone plate were exactly the same as the 2nd set of stone plates.

      So what’s your explanation for Ex 34:14-28?

      Exodus 34:28 even states: “Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.”

      This second set is specifically called THE Ten Commandments.

  7. Bob asked:

    “..Why is abortion that big a deal from the Christian standpoint when abortions send souls to heaven without the risk of doing the wrong thing in adulthood? That murdered babies go straight to heaven was one way William Lane Craig tried to wriggle out of the moral consequences of God ordering the Canaanite genocide (“Christianity Can Rot Your Brain”)…”

    The Bible is mostly silent on the destiny of babies.. So we will hear different views.. William Lane Graig thinks all babies go to heaven and that is fine. Where as many theologians and many confessions of faith say only the elect babies go to heaven..Keep in mind Hitler was once a baby.

    So where the Bible is mostly silent many views are thought out. I hold to the latter view.

    Either way why abortion is a big deal is because it is murder. Taking the life of an innocent Human being. And the lack of human dignity not to protect those who can not protect themselves.

    I always love how Bob says “all this had wringing over a single cell…” So Bob When a women finds out she is pregnant and wants’ to murder the baby is it a “SINGLE CELL” by the times she realizes she is pregnant..And in your relativistic worldview what does the cell count have to be before you consider the baby a baby? What about all the abortion pictures we see of tiny hands , feet, eyeballs, heads, etc ?

    • William Lane Graig thinks all babies go to heaven and that is fine.

      Oh, OK. So no problems with abortion then?

      Either way why abortion is a big deal is because it is murder.

      But no problem for God to do it then?

      Taking the life of an innocent Human being.

      Kinda hard to call a single cell a “human being.” Whatever you call this, this doesn’t address the spectrum argument.

      So Bob When a women finds out she is pregnant and wants’ to murder the baby is it a “SINGLE CELL” by the times she realizes she is pregnant.

      It’s a spectrum. Would’ve been better to kill the single cell. On the other hand, better now than 2 months from now. As soon as possible fits both the Christian’s and the atheist’s goals.

      And in your relativistic worldview what does the cell count have to be before you consider the baby a baby?

      No strong opinion. I’m not an obstetrician. But this bypasses the spectrum argument (I’m guessing: because you have no response to it).

  8. Exodus 34:1 “Now the LORD said to Moses, “Cut out for yourself two stone tablets like the former ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you shattered. “

    Pretty easy to understand this verse Bob! Care to deal with what this says? Its always smart to read the context.

    Exodus 34:1 comes before 34:28.. So when you read the beginning it is irrefutable that the 1 set of the 10 commandments is the same as the second set. God even states it.

    ….I WILL WRITE ON THE TABLETS THE WORDS THAT WERE ON THE FORMER TABLETS.. pretty clear.

    • Pretty easy to understand this verse Bob! Care to deal with what this says?

      With pleasure! It says that the words in the second set of 10 Cs will be identical. And then later, it’s clear that the words are different. The Bible contradicts itself (not all that earthshaking an observation since it was written and recopied by fallible men). It’s really quite easy.

      So when you read the beginning it is irrefutable that the 1 set of the 10 commandments is the same as the second set. God even states it.

      No pangs of conscience when you knowingly bypass the argument that I make, then? I would’ve thought that you’d have some sort of nagging voice in the back of your head that told you that you had a snappy answer that papered over the problem but that the problem wasn’t actually resolved.

      Maybe practice makes perfect and it doesn’t bother you anymore?

  9. Bob you are assuming Moses wrote on the stone tablets. That is a false assumption.

    Fist of all did Moses reach in his backpack and get his diamond chisel and hammer out. and start writing the 613 mosaic laws?

    And if we play along with your absurd illogical made up argument. What does it say was written?

    “……..And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments….”
    He wrote the words of the covenant, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS! There is only one set of Ten Commandments.

    it tells you the TEN COMMANDMENTS were written..Duh! Same as the first batch.

    Maybe this version of the text explains it for you.

    Exodus 34:28.
    “Moses remained there on the mountain with the LORD forty days and forty nights. In all that time he ate no bread and drank no water. And the LORD wrote the terms of the covenant–the Ten Commandments–on the stone tablets.”

    Also you know what is wonderful about the Word of God is the parallel passages written in other books.. Which gives us more proof of the inerrancy of the Bible. You obviously never read the parallel to Exodus 34.

    Well here it is Duet 10:21 Notice it is God who wrote on the 2nd set not Moses. So at least admit you were wrong.

    And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets that you broke, and you shall put them in the ark.’

    • And if we play along with your absurd illogical made up argument.

      Lots of bluster; not much argument. (You’d look a little less foolish if you’d try to have a reasoned conversation instead of a venomous smackdown.)

      it tells you the TEN COMMANDMENTS were written..Duh! Same as the first batch.

      Perhaps you can’t read? The second set were not the same as the first batch.

      Aren’t you a little embarrassed when you hammer the Bible to fit your theology instead of the other way around? Why not let the Good Book speak for itself? (Yeah, I know, because it’s inconvenient to read what it says, but you need to keep up appearances, right?)

      And the LORD wrote the terms of the covenant–the Ten Commandments–on the stone tablets.

      And they were different than the first set. I don’t think this is hard.

      You obviously never read the parallel to Exodus 34.

      You obviously didn’t read the post. The parallel in Ex. 34 presents the embarrassing problem you’re facing.

      Well here it is Duet 10:21

      Yep, it keeps getting repeated and changed. That version is almost (though not quite) the same as the Ex. 20 version.

      Awkward!

      Notice it is God who wrote on the 2nd set not Moses. So at least admit you were wrong.

      Sure, once you show me in Ex. 34 that it’s clear that God wrote them. Sure looks like Moses to me.

  10. “God himself has a hand in abortions. Roughly half of all pregnancies end in spontaneous abortion, a far greater rate than that of clinical abortions. If God exists, he’s the biggest abortionist of all.”

    God or nature or the cosmos or whatever you might believe in “has a hand” in killing a whole lot of born individuals, too, as most of us eventually die of natural causes. By your logic, because so many people die of natural causes, it should be permissible to kill each other intentionally.

    I’m really not all too concerned with what the Bible or any other religious work says about abortion. We know from basic reproductive biology that a new human being’s life begins at fertlization. I think I’ll just stick with that.

    • bmmg:

      By your logic, because so many people die of natural causes, it should be permissible to kill each other intentionally.

      No, I’m simply talking about abortions. Are they a big deal or not? If they’re a big deal when humans do them, they should be an even bigger deal with God does them.

      I’m really not all too concerned with what the Bible or any other religious work says about abortion.

      Good!

      We know from basic reproductive biology that a new human being’s life begins at fertlization.

      True, but so what? You bypass the spectrum argument but that doesn’t mean that you’ve answered the point that it makes.

      I’m sure your thinking is much more nuanced, but I’m afraid that it sounds like a robotic and mindless chant of “HUMAN … LIFE … BEGINS … AT … FERTILIZATION.” That addresses the issue? You’ve done nothing to show that “human life” is deserving of protection at all stages of development.

  11. bmmg: “By your logic, because so many people die of natural causes, it should be permissible to kill each other intentionally.”

    Bob Seidensticker: “No, I’m simply talking about abortions.”

    Yes, you’re limiting this argument to abortions, but it could easily be carried over to born humans as well as unborn humans. I could shoot up a school and then pooh-pooh anyone condemning me by arguing that God/nature probably killed thousands of times as many people today alone.

    “You’ve done nothing to show that ‘human life’ is deserving of protection at all stages of development.”

    You’re treading on dangerous ground once you begin asserting that we should get to decide which human beings it is okay to kill.

    • bmmg:

      I could shoot up a school and then pooh-pooh anyone condemning me by arguing that God/nature probably killed thousands of times as many people today alone.

      My point was simply “if you think God hates abortion, explain to me why he does it so much himself.” I make the argument because I’m in favor of legalized abortion.

      Yes, I could go down the path you suggest, but I’m not interested in shooting at a school. My point stands–that the “God doesn’t like it” argument fails.

      You’re treading on dangerous ground once you begin asserting that we should get to decide which human beings it is okay to kill.

      Welcome to reality. We control the horizontal; we control the vertical.

      Do we provide health care for everyone or not? Does the government fund research to improve the health of people or not? Can we kill people in wars? Can we kill them in self-defense? Do we legalize capital punishment? Or euthanasia? Is vegetarianism mandatory or can we kill and eat animals?

      The answers aren’t the point; the point is that the buck stops with us.

      And I return to the point that “Yeah, but it’s a Homo sapiens even back to the single cell!” is a true statement but doesn’t address the question.

  12. Sure, once you show me in Ex. 34 that it’s clear that God wrote them. Sure looks like Moses to me.

    I did Exodus 34:1.

    Also your whole argument is absurd because Jesus affirms God’s Moral law ( the Ten Commandments) throughout the Gospels.

    • “Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.” (Ex. 34:28). OK–so who wrote on the tablets?

      Dude–it says so in your own holy book. You’re just going to discard this?

      You keep bringing up the different version of events in Ex. 34:1. If your point is that the Bible is contradictory, I agree.

      Also your whole argument is absurd because Jesus affirms God’s Moral law ( the Ten Commandments) throughout the Gospels.

      He affirms them as in the “jot or tittle” passage, but then he overrules them in the antitheses in the Sermon on the Mount.

      But of course this entire concept is ludicrous from the standpoint of who Exodus was written for. It wasn’t written for Christians but for Jews–Christianity wouldn’t be invented for close to 1000 years.

      Why not just admit that your argument is in tatters? This constant pointing away (“What about Deut. 10?” “What about Jesus?”) shows that you’re unable to respond directly to my simple argument.

  13. bmmg: “My point was simply ‘if you think God hates abortion, explain to me why he does it so much himself.’ I make the argument because I’m in favor of legalized abortion. Yes, I could go down the path you suggest, but I’m not interested in shooting at a school. My point stands–that the ‘God doesn’t like it’ argument fails.”

    Then it fails with respect to my shooting up a school. The fact that it does…refutes your argument. The fact that you’re “not interested in” it shows a certain convenience. You’re being noticeably selective in when you think we can use that argument.

    “Do we provide health care for everyone or not? Does the government fund research to improve the health of people or not? Can we kill people in wars? Can we kill them in self-defense? Do we legalize capital punishment? Or euthanasia? Is vegetarianism mandatory or can we kill and eat animals?”

    And all of these are debated hotly throughout the world. You’re actually ceding the point (more than you realize) that unborn children are like born children and adults.

    The answers aren’t the point; the point is that the buck stops with us.

    And I return to the point that “Yeah, but it’s a Homo sapiens even back to the single cell!” is a true statement but doesn’t address the question.

    • bmmg:

      Then it fails with respect to my shooting up a school. The fact that it does…refutes your argument.

      (1) Someone says, “God hates abortion.” I reply, “How can God hate abortion when most abortions are done by God??”

      (2) Someone says, “God hates school shootings.” You reply, “How can God hate school shootings when he kills hundreds of thousands with tsunamis and earthquakes?”

      OK, sure, I see the argument. It makes sense. If there’s a school shooting, perhaps I’ll use it. How you think it defeats anything, I don’t know.

      And all of these are debated hotly throughout the world.

      Agreed. I said that in response to your point that (I think) was that granting ourselves the power to give abortions is a scary direction that we don’t want to go in. If we can abort before 7 months (say), who’s to say we won’t “abort” before 2 years of age? (Did I get that right?)

      Sure, that’s a possibility. First, why do you think it’s anything more than a red herring? Do you hear a lot of people arguing for this? Peter Singer, yes, but is this a popular issue?

      Second, why do you think you can stop it? You seem to imagine that if all abortions are illegal (or something like that), then we’ll have sealed this can of worms for good. But why would you imagine that?? If 30 years from now we can consider killing 2-year-olds, why imagine that if we overturned Roe v. Wade tomorrow that we still couldn’t consider killing 2-year-olds in 30 years?

      You’re actually ceding the point (more than you realize) that unborn children are like born children and adults.

      I missed this. Explain.

  14. Bob,

    I think I see your problem.

    We know that from Exodus 34:1 and De 10 :14. That God wrote on the 2nd tablets exactaly what God wrote on the first set. The Ten commandments.

    New American Standard Bible Exodus 34:1
    Now the LORD said to Moses, “Cut out for yourself two stone tablets like the former ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you shattered.

    Deuteronomy 10:1-4

    1At that time the Lord said to me, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones and come up to me on the mountain. Also make a wooden chest.a 2I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Then you are to put them in the chest.”

    3So I made the ark out of acacia wood and chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I went up on the mountain with the two tablets in my hands. 4The Lord wrote on these tablets what he had written before, the Ten Commandments he had proclaimed to you on the mountain, out of the fire, on the day of the assembly. And the Lord gave them to me. 5Then I came back down the mountain and put the tablets in the ark I had made, as the Lord commanded me, and they are there now.

    I think what you are referring to is verse 27. Not 28?

    ” 27 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”

    Which means:

    , Write thou these words-that is, the ceremonial and judicial injunctions comprehended above (Ex 34:11-26); while the rewriting of the ten commandments on the newly prepared slabs was done by God Himself As fully defined in Deuteronomy 10:1-4. Where Moses explains exactly that God re wrote the ten commandments on the new stone tablets that Moses put in the ark.

    So we have the new stone 10 commandments that God wrote and the ceremonial laws that Moses wrote.

    You also said regarding Jesus enforcing the Ten Commandments :

    ” He affirms them as in the “jot or tittle” passage, but then he overrules them in the antitheses in the Sermon on the Mount…”

    Who ever told you Jesus overrules the Ten Commandments on the Sermon on the Mount? What Jesus did was went in depth the absolute moral requirement on the commandments. Not only is murder objectively wrong , but even hating your brother is murder in your heart.

    As Jesus tells the rich young ruler you must keep the commandments you must not murder, must not steal, must not bare false witness, must honor Mother and Father, etc. Also Jesus said if you love me you will keep the commandments.

    And the Moral law ( The commandments) are written on the hearts of all men. So everyman man knows it is objectively wrong to murder just for the fun of it.

    Then Bob goes on this rant of how God kills all these people, and assume it is murder.

    Killing is not murder. God the Judge is killing law breakers. Just as we do in the courts, and solders do to the enemy.

    Murder is taking the innocent life of a human being.. The holocaust of abortion is an excellent example of this. Every 22 sec a Mother murders her baby.

    The absurdity is Bob ( who is a moral relativist) complaining that there are rights and wrongs. Bob admits there are no absolute right and wrongs. In fact here is exactly what Bob said:

    “Neither is absolutely right or wrong. But I’ll be delighted to render my judgment about what’s right and what’s wrong in my opinion….”

    Does any one see the inconsistency of this statement? Does anyone see it is a self refuting comment.? Bob is making and absolute truth statement. That neither is absolutely right or wrong. So Bob is it absolutely true what you said? Is it absolutely true that “Neither is absolutely right or wrong? A walking contradiction!

    But being Bob is a moral relativist the best he can give us on this abortion issue is his autobiography. All we are hearing is Bob’s autobiography. A report of your autobiography.

    But you have not given anybody any reason to what you have said seriously. Why should anybody ever care what you like and what you dislike? It is all relative. What is true for you may not be true for us. All we ever hear is your autobiography. Just your relative subjective opinion..

    • I think I see your problem.

      I doubt it.

      We know that from Exodus 34:1 and De 10 :14. That God wrote on the 2nd tablets exactaly what God wrote on the first set.

      Another tired attempt to select evidence that fits your preconception.

      We know by comparing Ex. 20 and Ex. 34 that the two are not the same. Can you at least admit this?

      If you want to say that the Bible contradicts itself (Ex. 34:1 says that they’re the same), you’re right, of course.

      I think what you are referring to is verse 27. Not 28?

      Ex. 34:28 addresses your concern about who wrote the Ten Commandments: “Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.”

      If you’re saying that Deut. 10 spins the story so that it fits some sort of agenda, OK, I can accept that. But I don’t see any confusion in Ex. 34 about who wrote what.

      Who ever told you Jesus overrules the Ten Commandments on the Sermon on the Mount?

      How would the audience of Exodus have seen the Ten Commandments? If what Jesus said would’ve made sense to them, that Jesus “interpreted” (I suppose) the Ten Commandments. But if the original audience would’ve rejected Jesus’s words, then he overrode (or rejected) them.

      And the Moral law ( The commandments) are written on the hearts of all men. So everyman man knows it is objectively wrong to murder just for the fun of it.

      Yet another claim for objective moral truths. Please substantiate or stop making this remarkable claim.

      Then Bob goes on this rant of how God kills all these people, and assume it is murder.

      If a certain act by Bob C is “murder,” why is it not murder when God does it? (Please cite the dictionary definition of the word “murder” in your answer.)

      God the Judge is killing law breakers. Just as we do in the courts, and solders do to the enemy.

      There is no situation today where courts would order genocide. And yet God does it. Why can’t God abide by his own standard?

      The holocaust of abortion is an excellent example of this. Every 22 sec a Mother murders her baby.

      That’s a lot of abortions! If you actually care, I suggest you encourage education to minimize unwanted pregnancies. That’ll do quite a bit to reduce abortion.

      The absurdity is Bob ( who is a moral relativist) complaining that there are rights and wrongs.

      Yes, it is hard to imagine a human being in modern society declaring that there are rights and wrongs, but there you have it.

      Bob admits there are no absolute right and wrongs.

      Correct. But there are still rights and wrongs from my standpoint.

      Bob is making and absolute truth statement.

      Wow, is that a tired argument. If I said “there is no absolute truth,” I should’ve said, “I see no evidence for absolute truth.”

      That wasn’t so hard, was it? I’ll be you could’ve figured this out yourself if you cared to.

      Why should anybody ever care what you like and what you dislike?

      Ever seen a discussion or a debate? It’s often two or more people encouraging others to change their minds.

      But I repeat myself. For your new year’s resolution, try to actually read and understand my points so you don’t make ridiculous straw men.

  15. bmmg39: “You’re actually ceding the point (more than you realize) that unborn children are like born children and adults.”

    Bob Seidensticker: “I missed this. Explain.”

    — by making an argument about abortion that one could make about issues involving the killing of born people. We debate whether capital punishment, for example, is right or wrong in the same way that we debate whether abortion is right or wrong. So the zygote, embryo, or fetus has the same status as human being as the condemned prisoner does.

    • bmmg:

      by making an argument about abortion that one could make about issues involving the killing of born people.

      Sure, you could see it that way, and (if I understand your point), that’s the way I see things.

      There’s a spectrum of personhood, with a single cell having 0% personhood and a baby having 100%. If you want to extend the personhood idea to adults, that’s fine. Maybe in that case, the baby isn’t 100% but a fit 22-year-old is at 100% (or figure out the peak of fitness and capability). Of course, you could say that a 22-yo is more fit than a 45-yo, but the 45-yo has better mental maturity. Whatever.

      Back to the point: as we age and lose capability (vision, hearing, mobility), we drop a bit on the personhood scale. Someone who’s lost a limb or had a mastectomy or had a lung removed–these all drop, too. I don’t see a problem here, because (and I repeat myself), the difference between the person who’s lost a leg and a newborn is trivial compared to the difference between that newborn (with functioning arms, legs, brain, eyes, ears, etc.) and a single cell that has none of this.

      I don’t see any problem here.

  16. I am still confused what are you saying?

    You said:

    ….. “I see no evidence for absolute truth.”

    So are you saying it is absolutely true there is no evidence? Or, it may be true there is no evidence or it my be false that there is no evidence for absolute truth? Sorry that you confusing me?

    Seems to me you are saying if there is no evidence then there are no absolute truths. If that is the case then you cannot believe anything absolutely at all, including that there are no absolute truths. Therefore, nothing could be really true for you – including relativism. See the inconsistency?

    We have agreed that your worldview holds to “what is true for you is not true for me. ”

    But what is true for me is that relativism is false, then is it true that relativism is false?
    If you say no, then what is true for me is not true and relativism is false.
    If you say yes, then relativism is false. So I hope you can explain this to me?

    • So are you saying it is absolutely true there is no evidence?

      Obviously not.

      Sorry that you confusing me?

      Your confusion seems to be deliberate.

      Seems to me you are saying if there is no evidence then there are no absolute truths.

      Yeah. Didn’t I say that?

      If that is the case then you cannot believe anything absolutely at all, including that there are no absolute truths.

      Correct.

      Therefore, nothing could be really true for you – including relativism.

      “True” is defined in the dictionary. There’s no mention of absolute anything. It’s really quite simple.

      See the inconsistency?

      No. Instead, I see you struggling like a drowning man to weave something substantial here and coming up empty.

      I don’t see evidence for absolute moral truth. For the umpteenth time, if you think it exists, show me. And if there’s no evidence for it, then stop making the claim.

      We have agreed that your worldview holds to “what is true for you is not true for me. “

      Whose worldview is that? Not mine. This is some sort of contrarian who rejects everything, apparently.

      But what is true for me is that relativism is false, then is it true that relativism is false?

      No, I disagree with you on this point.

      If you say no, then what is true for me is not true and relativism is false.

      I have no idea what this means or what point you’re trying to make.

      Hey, here’s an idea: why not just engage openly and honestly? Read what I say and don’t keep repeating the same tired arguments that I’ve already responded to. I’m sure we’ll find disagreements, but a broken-record repeat of your arguments doesn’t advance the conversation. Additionally, when I ask you a question or when I pose a challenge, respond to it instead of ignoring it. And if you have no answer (which seems apparently in my request for an argument for absolute moral truths), be man enough to admit it.

  17. So are you saying it is absolutely true there is no evidence?

    Obviously not.

    So you just said It is absolutly true that you are not saying there is no evidence.
    You just can not avoid the inconsistencies of moral relativism. You commit Plantinga’s “Philosophical tar baby”. When relativists try to use certain objections against moralists, they get stuck on their own objections

    • Nope. Once again a (presumably deliberate) response that mischaracterizes my position.

      Don’t we have enough to talk about honestly? Don’t you get at least a little pang from your conscience when you pretend I said something I didn’t? Or do you just not understand?

  18. Mother Teresa was no more or less moral than Hitler, that torturing three-year-olds for fun is neither good nor evil, that giving 10 percent of one’s financial surplus to an invalid is neither praiseworthy nor condemnable, that raping a women’s neither right or wrong, and that providing food for shelter for one’s spouse and children is neither a good thing nor a bad thing.

    As you continue to write your blogs I will continue to point out that your claim that there are no moral absolutes fail. As you try to argue as a moral relativist you get caught in the “tar” of moral absolutes.

    • Bob C wrote: As you Mother Teresa was no more or less moral than Hitler, that torturing three-year-olds for fun is neither good nor evil, that giving 10 percent of one’s financial surplus to an invalid is neither praiseworthy nor condemnable, that raping a women’s neither right or wrong, and that providing food for shelter for one’s spouse and children is neither a good thing nor a bad thing.

      It is a false dichotomy to say that unless there is an absolute morality, then there is neither right or wrong.

      As you continue to write your blogs I will continue to point out that your claim that there are no moral absolutes fail.

      Christians today cannot even imagine their God commanding anyone to kill anyone, but at one time, God commanded His followers to kill in the Bible. Which is the greater evil, killing a human or disobeying God?

      Do you not see that while you are arguing for an absolute morality, at the same time you are arguing that morality is relative to the changing will of God?

      As you try to argue as a moral relativist you get caught in the “tar” of moral absolutes.

      Funny, I was thinking the exact same thing about your position.

    • Mother Teresa was no more or less moral than Hitler, that torturing three-year-olds for fun is neither good nor evil, that giving 10 percent of one’s financial surplus to an invalid is neither praiseworthy nor condemnable, that raping a women’s neither right or wrong, and that providing food for shelter for one’s spouse and children is neither a good thing nor a bad thing.

      In an absolute, transcendental, or supernatural way, correct. In the ordinary way, you know that atheists are about as moral as Christians.

      Evolution explains nicely why we have the moral instinct that we do, and the dictionary makes clear that the definitions of right, wrong, good, and evil don’t depend on anything absolute.

      As you continue to write your blogs I will continue to point out that your claim that there are no moral absolutes fail.

      Why bother? Your simply claiming that they exist, without evidence, makes your position laughable. I’ve asked you half a dozen times to show me that absolute moral truths exist. Having no response, you just ignore me.

      Dude, you’re shooting blanks here! Put up or shut up–this is the best you’ve got to convince us that absolute moral truths exist? Just asserting that they do?

  19. The top of my comment got chopped off.
    It started with:
    For you to deny the existence of universally objective moral distinctions, you must admit Mother Teresa…….. As continued above.

  20. Retro said:

    “It is a false dichotomy to say that unless there is an absolute morality, then there is neither right or wrong.”

    It is a false dichotomy just because you say so? The Christian worldview ( and other people) hold to absolute truth and absolute morals, or objective morality. If one denies objective morality they hold to subjective morality, relative morality. Here is an example “For the fun of it” is an objective moral truth. If you insert “For the fun of it” after lets say murder, theft, lying, you have an objective moral truth. Like you should not murder little children “for the fun of it” Or you should not Steal food “for the fun of it” or you should not lie “for the fun of it”. So we can see right and wrong are objective moral truths. You and Bob would reject this idea. Which is ok. But what you are left with is moral relativism. right and wrong now become subjective and relative to each person depending on situations. What might be right or wrong for you in a situation may not be right or wrong for someone else in a situation. It is relative to the person. So all you can give is you autobiography of your relative opinion of right and wrong. That is why we say in your worldview there is no right or wrong. You have no objective or absolute standard of right or wrong. Or ought and ought-not. Only the Christian worldview can account for ought and ought-nots. That is why we say the holocaust of abortion is the Murder of innocent lives is absolutely wrong. Our opinions are irrelevant. All arguments are irrelevant. We do not go with our subjective feelings. The Murder of innocent Children is absolutely wrong, no matter what we feel or no matter what the situation is. the absolute truth transcends our physical minds. What you and Bob hold to is situations of when it is ok to murder babies. Like the mother should have a choice, or it is not really a life,of what if the mother is raped. Se all these are relative to the situation. And may be Right for you and maybe wrong for someone else. That is all you have is your subjective relative opinion. Where the Christian says all those examples are irrelevant it is always wrong to take the life of innocent babies. All men have these absolute morals God gave us written on our hearts. Moral relativist like you and Bob deny this Absolute truth in unrighteousness. You know this God and shake your fist at Him.

    Retro said:

    “Christians today cannot even imagine their God commanding anyone to kill anyone, but at one time, God commanded His followers to kill in the Bible. Which is the greater evil, killing a human or disobeying God?”

    Killing is not murder. God is killing law breakers. Not murdering innocent people for “THE FUN OF IT”.

    Retro said:
    “Do you not see that while you are arguing for an absolute morality, at the same time you are arguing that morality is relative to the changing will of God?”

    Nope God’s nature and character never changes. And nether does absolute truth and absolute morality ever change. As it is God’s nature revealed to us an written on our hearts.

    • Bob C wrote: But what you are left with is moral relativism. right and wrong now become subjective and relative to each person depending on situations.

      And YOUR morality is subjective and relative to God’s will and the situation too.

      If God tells you to kill, then killing is moral. If it’s in self defense, then it’s moral to kill. There is nothing absolute about your Biblical morality Bob Calvan.

      Where the Christian says all those examples are irrelevant it is always wrong to take the life of innocent babies.

      Do I really need to start quoting Bible verses where God commanded babies to be killed? Are you really going to argue that the babies God commanded to be killed were not innocent?

      Killing is not murder. God is killing law breakers. Not murdering innocent people for “THE FUN OF IT”.

      Explain the death of King David’s son to me.

    • Bob C:

      you should not murder little children “for the fun of it” Or you should not Steal food “for the fun of it” or you should not lie “for the fun of it”. So we can see right and wrong are objective moral truths.

      They’re “objective” in the sense that they’re widely or easily accepted but not in the sense that they’re supernaturally derived.

      That is why we say in your worldview there is no right or wrong. You have no objective or absolute standard of right or wrong.

      Do you read what anyone else says? This confusion has been put right many times before.

      Let’s imagine that I say that abortion is permissible and you say it’s not. Two opinions. “Is abortion permissible?” has two different answers, depending on which of us is posed the question. It’s relative. You can still disagree with my position, and you might take action to make my position legally prohibited.

      That’s how laws are made, and that’s how people argue. I presume we’re on the same page. So why inject into this the issue of absolute standards of right and wrong? Why are they needed to explain the facts in this situation?

      Here’s a challenge for you: You’ve said that “abortion is permissible” absolutely false. Show me why this is absolute. Are you saying that your statement is absolutely true because you have special insights that the rest of us don’t have? Or are you saying that this is as obviously true to any of us as “a dropped ball falls to the earth”?

      That is why we say the holocaust of abortion is the Murder of innocent lives is absolutely wrong.

      And you stamping your little feet and contorting your face as you say this doesn’t help your argument one bit. You say it’s absolutely wrong–OK we’ve got it. Now prove it. For the sweet love of Loki, prove it!

      Killing is not murder. God is killing law breakers. Not murdering innocent people for “THE FUN OF IT”.

      Agreed–not for the fun of it. God ordered the murdering of children, babies, and fetuses because they were camping out on prime real estate that God had his eye on. Or, maybe because they were bad people and justice demanded that they die. Wow–that’s a weird definition of justice. Do you think we should bring back these principles to our courts today?

  21. Your “personhood spectrum” idea might have a little more validity if you could demonstrate that the functioning limbs, brain, eyes, ears, nervous system et al are physically “added.”

    • I don’t follow. They aren’t there in the single cell; they are there in the newborn. That makes the newborn more of a person (indeed, it makes it fully a person), while the cell has no such claim. Where’s the problem?

      • It’s one or the other, Bob. Either all develops from the very first cell, or you need to demonstrate when they’re “added” later on. Does a woman swallow a vitamin that will “add” working limbs to her unborn child (or “single cell,” if you prefer)?

        • Your dichotomy is still meaningless to me. If you go from 1 cell to a trillion cells, material is added. But new cells come from existing cells; it’s not like an airplane assembled in Everett with parts built in China and Kansas.

          You seem to be struggling to argue that the baby is little different from a single cell. But that seems to be like arguing that the universe is little different than a single quark. After all, the universe is just more of the same, right?

          And let me emphasize that the trillion-cell baby isn’t just a trillion times more than the single cell. It’s clearly far more, because the cells are interconnected in a specific way. Similarly, a single brain cell doesn’t think, just a billion times slower. The single brain cell doesn’t think at all.

        • Yes. New cells come from existing cells, which, in turn, come from cells that existed before them, and so forth until you work backwards all the way to that first cell. Hence, all comes from that first cell.

        • And where does this leave us? Have you eliminated the spectrum argument from consideration? Have you shown that a newborn is equivalent in every relevant way to the single cell?

        • I guess we agree then. The blastocyst and the newborn are night and day different from each other.

          If a blastocyst is no different from a newborn, it’s hard to imagine anything being different from anything.

        • Bob Seidensticker: “The blastocyst and the newborn are night and day different from each other.”

          No, they aren’t. Again: the newborn child does not have any physical component that the human blastocyst doesn’t have. Nothing has been “added;” instead, everything develops.

        • With that kind of logic, nothing is different from anything else. I’m the same as a tree because we both have eukaryotic cells, we’re composed of proteins, we use carbohydrates as fuel.

          My point is simply that the difference between a newborn and you is trivial compared to the difference between the newborn and a single cell. You and the newborn have eyes, ears, arms, legs, skin, brain and nervous system, heart and circulatory system, stomach and digestive system, and so on, while the cell has none of these things. Pretty huge difference.

        • “I’m the same as a tree because we both have eukaryotic cells, we’re composed of proteins, we use carbohydrates as fuel.”

          You and the tree are members of different species (not to mention phyla, kingdoms, etc.). The blastocyst and the newborn are different stages of life for the same exact organism.

          “You and the newborn have eyes, ears, arms, legs, skin, brain and nervous system, heart and circulatory system, stomach and digestive system, and so on, while the cell has none of these things.”

          Why do you insist upon backtracking to old ground? We’ve already established that all of the above ARE present in the first cell. They are not “added” later.

        • Then, Bob, you need to demonstrate exactly when those things are added from the outside, and explain how. Again: does a woman swallow a vitamin that will “add” a nervous system, and then another for the limbs, and so on, creating a little Potato-Head doll?

        • I have no idea what your question is.

          You understand how a single cell grows into a newborn as well as I do. You also understand, as I do, how vastly more the newborn is than the cell–both in the brute number of cells as well as things that we think of as being person-like (that is, those things we see when we look at society around us–person components like arms and legs, rather than invisible cell components like mitochondria and DNA).

          No, little arms and legs don’t float together and snap on as with Mr. Potato Head. Now that we share an understanding, what’s the question?

        • It’s one or the other, Bob. Either the single cell contains all these parts (in undeveloped form), or they are added, as I’ve said. You’ve now said that the first isn’t true, and that the second doesn’t occur. But we know spontaneous generation does not occur. So which is it?

        • After 15 back-and-forths over a month’s time, I’m no wiser about what your point is. Why the riddles? We both share an understanding of how the cell develops; just tell me your point.

          all comes from that first cell.

          Obviously.

          And all of chemistry comes from the handful of elements in the periodic table. That doesn’t dismiss the complexity behind chemistry.

          If your point is that complexity comes from simple beginnings, I agree. Arms and legs develop using molecules from the outside that are added one at a time. There are no little arms and legs in that first cell, just instructions for making them.

          Now–how does this address the spectrum argument? Or was that not your intention?

        • The point: as numerous biology textbooks confirm, fertilization is the beginning of a human being’s life. The resulting blastocyst is a human being, just as the seven-month old fetus, or the newborn, or the adult is.

        • “Well, I’m still puzzled why I can’t see a single cell and a newborn is plainly visible, but your logic is irrefutable. A single cell is identical in every conceivable way to a newborn. Absolutely no difference of any kind.”

          Not what I said, Admiral Straw-Man. They differ in size and stage of development. That just doesn’t disqualify either one as a human being.

        • I never said it did, Commodore Straw-Man. I’m talking about persons.

        • No, the wishful thinking is yours.

          If you want to say that the fetus is a “human being” from conception through birth, I can accept that. Then what does the newborn have that the single cell doesn’t? Confronted with this vast spectrum, I would say that the newborn is a person and the single cell isn’t. That is, the spectrum is a spectrum of Personhood.

          If that isn’t how you define “person,” that’s fine–you tell me then: what does the newborn have that the single cell doesn’t?

        • “Then what does the newborn have that the single cell doesn’t?”

          Nothing. That’s the point. The newborn is more fully developed, but has no component that the “single-cell” does not.

        • Arms, legs, and head aren’t “components”? Are we again at some sort of dictionary impasse?

          I’d encourage you to find a word besides “components” that describes the rather obvious body elements that newborns have and the single cell has only as potential, but it sounds like this conversation has run its course.

        • As you admitted, Bob, those arms and legs aren’t added. Which means they’re present (albeit still undeveloped) in the first cell. Which means the newborn, again, doesn’t have anything that the blastocyst does not. Which means the blastocyst is equally a person as the newborn.

        • Well, I’m still puzzled why I can’t see a single cell and a newborn is plainly visible, but your logic is irrefutable. A single cell is identical in every conceivable way to a newborn. Absolutely no difference of any kind.

          Maybe the legs and head and liver and so on are coiled tightly in vibrating strings far smaller than quarks, like the invisible dimensions that string theory posits.

      • I take it by the typical splitting of hairs between the terms “human being” and “person” that you have acknowledged that we have a human being from fertilization. To support abortion, then, one must assert that it is acceptable to kill certain human beings in a very early stage of their lives.

    • Then, Bob, you need to demonstrate exactly when those things are added from the outside, and explain how. Again: does a woman swallow a vitamin that will “add” a nervous system, and then another for the limbs, and so on, creating a little Potato-Head doll?

  22. Retro said:

    “And YOUR morality is subjective and relative to God’s will and the situation too.”

    Nope. Christian worldview hold to absolute truths and absolute morality. The reason there is absolute truth and absolute morality is because of the nature and character of God. All men know these absolutes but some deny them.

    Retro said:

    ” If God tells you to kill, then killing is moral….”

    Yes when God commanded the killings in the OT, God was just and right. All those killed are guilty law breakers . No one was Murdered.

    Retro said

    “…If it’s in self defense, then it’s moral to kill. There is nothing absolute about your Biblical morality Bob Calvan.”

    There is a difference between killing and murder. And how do we know there is a difference? Because Murder is absolutely wrong ( Thou shalt not murder) written on the hearts of men from God.

    Retro said:

    ” Are you really going to argue that the babies God commanded to be killed were not innocent?

    Why do babies die? Because they are sinners. Born in sin. No one is innocent. Hitler was a baby.

    Killing is not murder. God is killing law breakers. Not murdering innocent people for “THE FUN OF IT”.

    • Bob C said: There is a difference between killing and murder.

      So which one is running a sword through a baby? (1 Samuel 15:3, Deuteronomy 2:34, Judges 21:10)

      Why do babies die? Because they are sinners. Born in sin. No one is innocent. Hitler was a baby.

      With thinking like this, one could easily justify abortion. Didn’t you recently say something about killing babies is ALWAYS wrong?

    • All men know these absolutes

      A bold claim … with zero evidence.

      Fail.

      All those killed are guilty law breakers . No one was Murdered.

      Fetuses, too? I thought you liked fetuses. Maybe not.

      Why do babies die? Because they are sinners.

      God made them “sinners” by your philosophy; they didn’t do anything to deserve this. So straight to hell they go?

      You can see why atheists get the tiniest bit irked at Christian thinking. What would cause a sane, educated person in the West in 2012 to argue something as bizarre as “the babies deserved to die”? Only religion.

  23. Pingback: 16 Arguments Against Abortion, with Rebuttals | | Cross ExaminedCross Examined

  24. ” You can see why atheists get the tiniest bit irked at Christian thinking. What would cause a sane, educated person in the West in 2012 to argue something as bizarre as “the babies deserved to die”? Only religion.

    Or in your world view. Babies deserve to die in the womb. Talk about a hypocrite! Only in relativism.

    • Babies deserve to die in the womb.

      Absolutely not! Babies are people. Single cells, on the other hand, are obviously not people.

  25. Bob said:

    “Absolutely not!..”

    Bob you need to rephrase your words. “Absolutely not” is an objective absolute statement. ( inconsistent again) Just can’t get around it can you?

    “… Babies are people. Single cells, on the other hand, are obviously not people…..”

    Well, first of all this is another autobiographical statement. May be true for you but not true for others.. Just about all states determine if a pregnant mother is murdered at any stage in her pregnancy it is a double murder two living human beings. So the laws disagree with you.

    Second- You always call this baby single cells. Tell us how many cells there are at the earliest detection of the conception? ( As if the number of cells is even relevant, but how many are there?)

    Third you said “.. on the other hand, are obviously not people…” Well again all we have is your subjective autobiography which is irrelevant to the argument..At least write ” “In my own personal subjective opinion which is true for me, I think an unborn fetus is not a human. But this is just my opinion. And I do understand this may only be true for me. And I understand the law’s in most states agrees this is a baby. But being there is no absolute right or wrongs my opinion holds the same weight as the state laws do. And I will be tolerant and respect all other views, in fact it is hypocritical for me to mention that they are “obviously not people”, because that would mean I am intolerant of their opinions.” That is what you should write if you were consistent.

    • ( inconsistent again) Just can’t get around it can you?

      Just don’t get it do you?

      May be true for you but not true for others.

      Obviously. Why do you keep repeating this observation? Is there something perplexing here?

      So the laws disagree with you.

      Most people understand that a pregnancy can be a very, very good thing or a very, very bad thing. For the case where it’s a good thing, this law was enacted.

      You always call this baby single cells.

      Nope. I call a baby a “baby,” and I call a single cell a “single cell.”

      Well again all we have is your subjective autobiography which is irrelevant to the argument.

      What does “autobiography” mean here?

      We apparently have different opinions about how two people discuss or debate an issue. You tell me how you think it works.

      “In my own personal subjective opinion which is true for me, I think an unborn fetus is not a human. But this is just my opinion. And I do understand this may only be true for me. …”

      Thanks for the tip. I’ll qualify every statement I make from not on in this longwinded fashion so that no one is confused.

      Or not, since no one is confused.

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