The Bible and Abortion
John Hobbins is off to a promising start discussing what the Bible says about abortion. I’ll be interested in seeing his take on Exodus 21:22-25, and may post some thoughts of my own when the time comes.
John Hobbins is off to a promising start discussing what the Bible says about abortion. I’ll be interested in seeing his take on Exodus 21:22-25, and may post some thoughts of my own when the time comes.
In my book When People Speak for God, I discuss testing messages that people claim are from God. There is a passage in Deuteronomy 18:21-22 that is commonly used in connection with this. In that passage the message is tested by whether the word from God comes to pass. There are some interesting questions this…
I’m planning to finish resume and complete my blog series on Seven Marks of a New Testament Church with added commentary from the books Thrive: Spiritual Habits of Transforming Congregations, and Transforming Acts: Acts of the Apostles as a 21st Century Gospel. This process was interrupted by SBL, by some bug I picked up in…
Terms like “bipartisan” and even “post-partisan” were employed throughout the campaign and are being used now in criticism of the Obama administration that is taking shape. The problem is that we have gotten used to the notion that bipartisanship involves people from two parties who happen to agree on an issue working together. Thus moderate…
In an article that I find very agreeable, Chaplain Mike of the Internet Monk site discusses the way in which some churches major on the minors, making people who disagree with specific doctrinal positions uncomfortable. But I want to object to one line in that post, and it’s one I hear frequently in real life…
Via Pandagon I found this story, also reported here. These are serious accusations, and more and more people are coming forward. Such a story should emphasize several things to those of us who are in ministry, including how transparent our ministry practices should be. Teach and behave in such a way that an accusation such…
This past Sunday I was reading the Lectionary passages for Christ the King Sunday in which the epistle is Ephesians 1:15-23, in which Paul gives thanks for the Ephesian believers. I find the style of Ephesians quite fascinating, and especially these long prayer passages. In fact, I used two of them in a pamphlet I…
In my book When People Speak for God, I discuss testing messages that people claim are from God. There is a passage in Deuteronomy 18:21-22 that is commonly used in connection with this. In that passage the message is tested by whether the word from God comes to pass. There are some interesting questions this…
I’m planning to finish resume and complete my blog series on Seven Marks of a New Testament Church with added commentary from the books Thrive: Spiritual Habits of Transforming Congregations, and Transforming Acts: Acts of the Apostles as a 21st Century Gospel. This process was interrupted by SBL, by some bug I picked up in…
Terms like “bipartisan” and even “post-partisan” were employed throughout the campaign and are being used now in criticism of the Obama administration that is taking shape. The problem is that we have gotten used to the notion that bipartisanship involves people from two parties who happen to agree on an issue working together. Thus moderate…
In an article that I find very agreeable, Chaplain Mike of the Internet Monk site discusses the way in which some churches major on the minors, making people who disagree with specific doctrinal positions uncomfortable. But I want to object to one line in that post, and it’s one I hear frequently in real life…
Via Pandagon I found this story, also reported here. These are serious accusations, and more and more people are coming forward. Such a story should emphasize several things to those of us who are in ministry, including how transparent our ministry practices should be. Teach and behave in such a way that an accusation such…
This past Sunday I was reading the Lectionary passages for Christ the King Sunday in which the epistle is Ephesians 1:15-23, in which Paul gives thanks for the Ephesian believers. I find the style of Ephesians quite fascinating, and especially these long prayer passages. In fact, I used two of them in a pamphlet I…
In my book When People Speak for God, I discuss testing messages that people claim are from God. There is a passage in Deuteronomy 18:21-22 that is commonly used in connection with this. In that passage the message is tested by whether the word from God comes to pass. There are some interesting questions this…
I’m planning to finish resume and complete my blog series on Seven Marks of a New Testament Church with added commentary from the books Thrive: Spiritual Habits of Transforming Congregations, and Transforming Acts: Acts of the Apostles as a 21st Century Gospel. This process was interrupted by SBL, by some bug I picked up in…
Here’s my treatment of the Exodus passage:
http://ancienthebrewpoetry.typepad.com/ancient_hebrew_poetry/2011/01/under-what-circumstances-abortion-is-permitted-in-jewish-tradition.html#more
I discuss it in light of the text’s impact and trajectory in Jewish tradition.
Another approach would be discuss it against the background of ANE analogues. The Hittite laws vary the monetary compensation based on the gestational age of the fetus. The legal consequences of causing a woman to miscarry if the woman dies are variations on the principle of lex talionis in the Code of Hammurabi and the middle Assyrian laws. If the pregnant woman who dies belonged to the upper class, her assailant’s daughter was put to death – an example of vicarious punishment. The Middle Assyrians even prescribe torture of the guilty side. Only the oldest laws, the Sumerian laws, make a distinction between accidental and intentional assault.
You covered what I would have (the ancient background), and I agree with your summary, and then you covered a bunch more. There’s nothing for me to add!