Personal Christian Ethic and Abortion
Jason D. Owens
August 14, 2019
Capstone Essay
ETHC101-D20
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Table of Contents
I. Introduction 3
II. Personal Christian Ethic
III. Abortion
IV. Conclusion
V. Bibliography
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Introduction
The purpose of this capstone essay is to explore the Christian ethical perspective on the moral
status of abortion.
Personal Christian Ethic
As a Christian I believe the foundation of ethics must be established upon biblical truth. So then
if I view biblical truth as the bedrock of my ethics, then obviously I have adopted aspects of
moral absolutism1. For me the Ten Commandments are an example of biblically based moral
absolutes. However, my personal views tend to primarily fall in line with duty ethics; I do not
view morals as conditional. I never view my personal ethical theory as dependent on any
particular desired outcome. Additionally, my formulation of my personal meta-ethic is from
posteriori2 principles. What I have experienced in life, whether those experiences were lessons
learned from parents and mentors or trials that I have gone through, have heavily influenced my
current view on ethics.
From a personal perspective “right” and “wrong” are black and white and there should be
no grey areas. Morality is the reflection of the nature of God, who is perfectly good (Jones, 2010,
pg. 108). My basic view or what is moral or immoral is found in biblical teachings. As Christians
we must always strive to be “Christ like” and live in a way that is in line with how he lived. Now
morality of certain actions is something that I have struggled with in the past, because of things
that were required of me during my tenure of military service. However, I do not feel that any
1 Moral absolutism asserts that there are certain universal moral principles by which all peoples’ actions may be
judged.
2 A posteriori principle simply means “following from experience.” (Jones, 2010, pg. 84)
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action that I took while in service to our country was immoral. If I had found any task set before
me to be immoral then I would have considered that task or order to be unlawful, and therefore
inappropriate to follow.
So, what is the best way to approach ethics? For me I approach ethics from a duty
perspective grounded in moral absolutes found in biblical teachings and truth. Additionally, I do
not view ethics as conditional. What makes actions moral or immoral? For me to make the
determination I view actions as either pleasing or displeasing to God, there is no real grey area to
me. I feel justified in this view because it can be accepted that the nature of God is morally good.
I hope I have been able to explain in an effective manner what my personal ethical theory is.
Abortion
The Bible teaches us there are six things that the Lord hates, one of which is hands that shed
innocent blood.3 What then are the unborn, if not innocent? I am personally pro-choice, and I
hold the following to be true:
1. An unborn child, from the moment of conception, is a complete member of the human
community.
2. It is prima facie4 morally wrong to kill any member of that community.
3. Every successful abortion kills an unborn child, a complete member of the human
community.
4. Therefore, every successful abortion is prima facie morally wrong.
3 Proverbs 6: 16-19
4 Prima facie – Based on the first impression; accepted as correct until proved otherwise.
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While the Bible does not directly reference abortion, it does directly reference the
sanctity of life. “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s
womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my
soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in you book
were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none
of them.” (Psalms 139: 13-16, ESV) These verses of scripture along with Proverbs 6: 16-19
provide the Biblical foundation for my ethical views on abortion. Additionally, I make the
supposition that we can all accept the moral absolutes established by the Ten Commandments.
Within the commandments we are instructed to not kill. So then if an unborn child is a complete
member of the human community should they not be protected from abortion? All humans
regardless of stage of life are equally valuable because they all equally bear the image of God.
I understand that my ethical arguments and foundations against abortion will not sway
someone from a secular viewpoint, because my viewpoint is Biblically based. There is an
argument that abortion is a health-care service that allows people to live their individual life the
way they would like to. This argument does not acknowledge that abortion ends a life, and
perhaps this is because it does not acknowledge life begins at conception. It is medically
accepted that an embryo is genetically distinct from the mother. If this is true then ending a life
evening in the embryonic stage is murder and not health care.
I cannot turn from the fact that we are all made in the image of God, and that we are fearfully
and wonderfully made. Ending an unborn life is spilling innocent blood, and something that God,
who is morally good hates. We must all challenge our cultural views and demonstrate love and
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grace to women in a crisis pregnancy. Because a woman considering an abortion is undoubtedly
in crisis
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