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I find it pretty hilarious that #Christians claim to be #Prolife on christian grounds when the #bible explicity tells people that not only abortions are ok, but actively tells you that you SHOULD have abortions (under certain circumstances).
Dont take my word for it, the bible is pretty clear about this.
> If she has made herself impure and been unfaithful to her husband, this will be the result: When she is made to drink the water that brings a curse and causes bitter suffering, it will enter her, her abdomen will swell and her womb will miscarry, and she will become a curse. -- Numbers 5:24-27
also not quite as direct but still pretty damn suggestive:
> Cursed be the day on which I was born! … Cursed be the man who … did not kill me in the womb. -- Jeremiah 20:14-17
and the penalty for violently hurting a woman causing a miscarriage is just a fine, but killing the woman is death, almost as if the lives arent equal...
> When people […] injure a pregnant woman so that there is a miscarriage, and yet no further harm follows, the one responsible shall be fined […]. If any harm follows, then you shall give life for life. -- Exodus 21:22-25
b e a r d
@freemo it's worth noting which version of the bible you're referring to, because the KJV's version of Numbers 5 doesn't actually mention anything about the womb or miscarriage. As far as that goes, it only says that if the woman is not guilty of sin after drinking the water she will be given the miracle of childbirth. It also doesn't seem like this is some strange concoction, it's just some holy water with dust so it is implied that it is the work of God who decides what happens in this scenario.
In researching this, it seems that most people who are actually Christians and not just trying to get "gotchas" on them believe that this would either disfigure the woman in conjunction with not being able to bear children, or it was more of a psychological test to show the man if the woman was honest. A woman who was not afraid to drink the water would likely do so quite eagerly, while a woman who had sinned wouldn't be so sure about it.
As always, there are so many different interpretations of what is in the Bible and it is usually best to read and think about it for yourself, some meditation and prayer on things. I have seen criticisms of the NIV, and I personally like the KJV the most as I find that, although it has a bit of a high reading level requirement as well as a certain level of understanding that not everything is meant to be taken so literally, it tends to be accurate and I always fall back on it when I see people posting verses from other versions. Pardon the mildly sacrilegious comparison, but it's sort of like how literal Japanese to English translation of an anime or manga might be harder to understand without a wealth of knowledge over that of the average consumer, but when it is localized it goes through some other person's lens and you can end up with something missing or just outright changed.
https://www.biblestudytools.com/kjv/numbers/5.html
The Jeremiah passage is 100% a "gotcha" because that isn't someone who is suggesting that abortion is a good thing, it is the typical lament of "I wish I was never born."
The passage from Exodus has a lot of people talking about it with different interpretations and opinions as well, but I will just say that in my view, it speaks more about the law of the land than anything else. This is actually how we still do things I believe; if you cause a miscarriage in someone you won't get charged with murder, but if you kill a pregnant woman with a reasonable knowledge that she is pregnant you will get two charges for murder. It is all about the >intent< of what you are doing, not about what has actually been done. In that case, one could make the argument that the intent to end the life of a fetus could constitute as murder.
There are also a lot of pretty wild old world laws in general, and Jesus actually sought to remove/change many of them. The reason the Jews were so upset with Him is because they saw what He was trying to accomplish as blasphemous, as they saw those laws as coming from God. When Jesus said they weren't necessary anymore, claiming He was the Son of God, they were angry. I say this to illustrate that many things in the Old Testament are thus made null and void or changed and it is important to keep that in mind. One of Jesus's disciples, though I forget which one, even taught that circumcision was not necessary.
On a personal note, I do think it is morally bankrupt to terminate a pregnancy willfully when there are no complications. When it comes to something like rape/incest there is a small part of me that is still saddened that the situation exists at all, but I understand why someone would want to abort their child in that circumstance. As far as the law goes, I think it should be legal perhaps through the first trimester, but like many other things that are legal I do still find it horrible to do. As for my religious bias, I am more or less a Christian, but coming from a place where I was raised Mormon and completely left Christianity for several years when I left the church. I have rediscovered Christ since then and reject the notion that I need someone else to tell me how I should interpret His words. I honestly do not think that the bible condones abortion and I think that what is far more important to God is the intent of someone's heart in taking such an action.
If you would like more scholarly dissections of these examples instead of a more opined one from an average dude, you can read these posts:
https://www.reddit.com/r/OpenChristian/comments/uhk9n2/deleted_by_user/i77ah5c/
When i speak of translations of the bible I pick the one closest to the original language it is written in (the language depends on the book in question).
In this case we are talking about the original which was in a form of hebrew.
The specific word here in Hebrew used is "בִטְנָ֔הּ" which means her womb or thigh.
Similarly the word "וְנָפְלָ֖ה" can mean "will shrivel" or "to fall" as well as "to miscarry".
Here are various translations, as you can see the translation is consistent:
New International Version:
> If she has made herself impure and been unfaithful to her husband, this will be the result: When she is made to drink the water that brings a curse and causes bitter suffering, it will enter her, her abdomen will swell and her womb will miscarry, and she will become a curse.
New Living Translation:
> If she has defiled herself by being unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings on the curse will cause bitter suffering. Her abdomen will swell and her womb will shrink, and her name will become a curse among her people.
English Standard Version:
> And when he has made her drink the water, then, if she has defiled herself and has broken faith with her husband, the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain, and her womb shall swell, and her thigh shall fall away, and the woman shall become a curse among her people.
Christian Standard Bible:
> “When he makes her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings a curse will enter her to cause bitter suffering; her belly will swell, and her womb will shrivel. She will become a curse among her people.
New Revised Standard Version:
> When he has made her drink the water, then, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain, and her womb shall discharge, her uterus drop, and the woman shall become an execration among her people.
