A Matter of Maturity

nam-eno · Newbie Joined: Jul 05, 2007 Posts: 77 Status: **Offline**

In another Internet discussion group, I saw a message where a woman stated in reference to the issue of abortion: â€œOur Lord had nothing to say on this issue.â€ She then asked, â€œ"Is an embryo a person?"

I sat stunned at what she observed and what she asked. If we search in the Bible for the word, â€œabortion,â€ the woman is correct, the word does not appear. But does this mean that our Lord truly had nothing to say on this issue?

Perhaps it might be helpful if the woman considered the following scripture:

Matthew 22:34-40 (American Standard Bible)

"When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them [a scholar of the law] tested him by asking,'Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?' He said to him, 'You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.'"

The Lord's statement that, "The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments" implies that all we do should be considered in the light of what these commandments mean. The first commandment guides us in our relationship with God, but the second guides our relationship with each other. At conception, a life is begun, another being that we should love as ourselves. After that single point, what follows is a matter of maturity. What is created is not just a matter of dividing cells, but a person that is growing. As we live, our body continues to be a maturing being of dividing cells, the vessel of our soul, until our body dies and our soul is at the mercy and grace of our Lord. I say again, after conception, it is all a mater of maturity.

"Is an embryo a person?" There is no other more defining moment than conception. Everything that defines a person starts at this point. To kill an embryo ends a life. Whatever excuse may be used doesn't change the fact that a maturing life is halted. Abortion is the killing of a maturing person, the vessel of a soul. How can abortion then be reconciled with what is meant by the second of the most important commandments?

I pray that all who attempt to rationalize abortion may learn and consider this Gospel and teaching of our Lord.

Nam Eno