Q
ONLY ONE STATEMENT IS TRUE. Which one?
- At least one of the four Gospel writers said Jesus was nailed to the cross.
- An Olympic champion swimmer can beat a Nile crocodile in a 50-meter race.
- Apostle Paul, who told Timothy not to let women speak in church at Ephesus, was a married man.
- Abortion is not a topic specifically mentioned in the Bible.
A
Yeah, let’s start the weekend getting in trouble.
The correct answer is number four.
Though the Bible frowns on murder, there’s no specific mention of abortion. And abortions were taking place in Roman times, when Jesus ministered. If he addressed the topic, none of the writers picked up on it. Because there is no mention of abortion, the Bible doesn’t link abortion to murder.
Early Christian leaders, however, did declare abortion wrong.
As for 1-3:
- Thomas presumed Jesus was nailed to the cross, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands” (John 20:24 NLT). But he may have been somewhere hiding during the crucifixion. “The disciples scattered. They all ran away, deserting him” (Matthew 26:56 Casual English Bible).
- A Nile croc swims about twice as fast as the fastest Olympic champion, about 9 mph (15 km).
- Paul was a bachelor. Surprise.
You never shy away from courting the controversial, do you, Steve? Good for you!
I guess if we dare to be evangelicals, we ought to actually read the Bible once in a while instead of just assuming we know what’s in there.
I have purchased all your books and learned from everyone of them. I hope you will list all your books in your emails so I can be sure I do have them all. You make my Christ experience more knowledgeable!
I usually hesitate to do that. But we make so many presumptions that have nothing to do with the Bible.
We might choose to oppose all abortion, for example. But we need to know that the topic isn’t directly mentioned in the Bible. So if we want to draw God into the debate, we need find ways to justify that.
If we were to make a case recommending against abortion on convenience, we might point to science more than the Bible. Certainly the Bible confirms the sanctity of life. But pictures inside the uterus during an abortion make a stronger case about the inhumanity of dismembering a life. Those pictures are wrenching and would give a lady pause about taking that step.
PSALM 139 …
… ” For you knit me together in my mother’s womb. All my days are written in your book, before one on them came to be ” … ” Before I formed you in the womb I Knew you before you were born I set you apart”. ( Jeremiah 1:5/NIV)
Abortion is a cover-up word for “MURDER”.
Many Christians use that poem from Jeremiah to argue that the Bible opposed abortion. But the Bible doesn’t talk about abortion.
Jeremiah knew nothing about the development of a baby. And he wasn’t talking about that. He was using poetry to say God knew from the very beginning, even before Jeremiah was born, that he would call Jeremiah to become a prophet. It’s a metaphor. A poetic way of helping reader visualize a long process.
If we’re going to take the poem out of context and apply it to when life begins, the poem would put it before conception: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” (Jeremiah 1:1 NASB).
But the poem has nothing to do with children, childbirth, abortion, or when God places a soul within a life.
Christians who want to make a case against abortion should probably show the video. The Bible is silent on the topic, but the video is loud and clear.
Still, we’re a couple of guys. What do we know about carrying a growing fetus inside us for nine months? We should probably get in the back seat and let the ladies drive this buggy.