A Blessing to Your Land (Part 2)

In my previous post, I drew attention to Proverbs 11:10-11, which teaches that the righteous are a blessing to society. We who are saved by Christ are members of our respective communities and countries, and we ought to seek their welfare with a grateful patriotism, exercising by God's grace a righteousness that is both private and social. Today, let us look at Proverbs 28:1-5, which helps us see how the righteous are a blessing. It describes some of the qualities of the righteous. 

“The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.” (Proverbs 28:1)

Let us be righteous, that we might be bold. The one who walks in the ways of the Lord can be confident. It is a sure path with no regret. This is not the case with the way of the wicked. 

If you are righteous and are doing what is right, then therefore be bold. You have reason to be bold and confident. A scared righteous man is like a cowardly lion. 

Do not be scared of the wicked, for they flee even when no one pursues. They may look powerful and fearsome, but looks can be deceiving. 

The righteous are a blessing to their city because they provide courage and confidence. Whether that courage is needed in a literal battle or in facing other challenges, it is helpful to have courage in a people, a strength given through the grace of God.

The righteous are also a blessing because they are bold in doing the right thing and in opposing what is wrong. They have a courage that is directed to the right end. They are able to withstand temptation and threats and ridicule, and press on in doing what is right and good. 

Consider the boldness of those who have done good to their people through courage. Consider Jonathan, who took on the enemy accompanied only by his armor bearer. Consider David, who took on Goliath. Consider Esther, who approached the king for her people. Consider the boldness of Jesus Christ, who went confidently to his sacrifice, laying down his life, despising the shame.

“When a land transgresses, it has many rulers, but with a man of understanding and knowledge, its stability will long continue.” (Proverbs 28:2)

The reference to “many rulers” refers to political instability, whether there are multiple rival rulers at the same time or a quick succession of different rulers or dynasties. You can see this exemplified in the northern kingdom of Israel, with many short reigns and dynasties, in contrast to the kingdom of Judah, which enjoyed longer reigns from the same dynasty.

As the transgressions of a land are judged by and lead to national instability, so the opposite is implied: when a land is righteous, it is stabilized and exalted. In America, it is normal to have multiple people running for office, but I think it is fair to say that people are troubled by an increase in polarization, division, and turmoil in politics. It was a blessing when we had presidents like Washington, who enjoyed widespread support from the country. If America wishes to be blessed and not judged by God, it should turn from transgression unto God and practice righteousness in its government, laws, culture, and common life. America's hardships are from the Lord. America ought to humble itself and repent from sin unto God. 

The first line implies its opposite, but the proverb leaves it merely implied and spends the second line on something additional. It goes on to describe the usefulness of even one individual with knowledge and understanding. It can be discouraging to live in a land where there is so much transgression, but that is not a reason to give up hope of being useful. There are many examples in Scripture where a nation has been blessed and its life extended, or even revived and reformed, by a wise individual, either as a ruler or advisor or official, who had knowledge and understanding. Consider Joseph in Egypt, King Josiah of Judah, Jehoiada the High Priest, Daniel in Babylon, and the reforms of Ezra and Nehemiah.

Therefore let a land turn away from transgression, and at the same time, let each of you be and promote individuals of understanding and knowledge who will bless their land. In other words there is a corporate responsibility of a country to be righteous, so that it may be blessed with good rulers, and not with political instability. At the same time there is a responsibility to be or promote wise leaders that will be a blessing to the people. You should not trust in politics alone, apart from the general condition of a country, neither should we only focus on the general condition of the country and neglect the provision of good leadership.

This can apply also to other organizations and businesses. You, if you are wise and understanding, may be a great blessing to your work place or organization, so that its stability long continues.

“A poor man who oppresses the poor is a beating rain that leaves no food.” (Proverbs 28:3)

You would think that a poor person would have compassion and other poor people. But that is not always the case. The poor person who oppresses the poor is like a rain, which seems promising, but then disappoints. Such a person neglects the golden rule that Jesus taught us, “whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.” 

The righteous are a blessing to their land because they will not oppress the people, but have compassion upon them. A righteous magistrate will protect them, look out for them, so that others might not take advantage of them (Ps. 82:3-4). A righteous citizen will treat his neighbor well, dealing generously and fairly with him (Ps. 112:5). 

“Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law strive against them.” (Proverbs 28:4)

Those who forsake the law are set adrift without that anchor and end up praising the wicked. Therefore, be those who keep the law, that you might stand fast against the wicked. Proverbs 25:26 says, “Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.” Such a righteous man is like a polluted fountain, for just as you expect a fountain to provide refreshing drinking water, but are disappointed to find it polluted, so it is right to expect a righteous man to oppose the wicked, and are disappointed to find them giving way before them. That a righteous man may remain resolute in righteousness, he must attend to and keep the law of God.

Those who are reconciled to God through faith in Jesus Christ find the law no longer a threat, but a blessed rule of life. Jesus raises his people by the Spirit to new life, writing the law on their hearts. By his grace, through a use of the means he has given us, we can learn and keep the law, more and more.

Those who truly keep the law are not content to let wickedness prosper, but will be active and opposing the wicked. They are active and engaged. They care about others and their society. They are opposed to wickedness from the heart and oppose it by taking action.

This is not limited to politics, but certainly that is one area of conflict. The role of civil government is to strive against wickedness, at least external expressions of it, to be a terror to evildoers and to praise the good (Rom. 13:1-7).

Different people are called to different levels of political involvement. Voting wisely is a basic adult responsibility in American society. You can also write to your legislators. Some will speak with their legislators. Some will donate to candidates and organizations. Some will attend rallies and events. Some will volunteer for campaigns, causes, or organizations that provide education on political issues. Some will run for office. American citizens have a responsibility to strive against wickedness and seek the well-being of their country through politics, and it is those who keep the law who will do this well, although this can look different for each person, since you have different gifts, callings, and stages in life.

Politics is far from being the only area where you must strive against the wicked. Those who keep the law, oppose the wicked in their personal life, resisting temptation. They strive against the wicked by seeking to persuade the wicked to change their ways. They strive against them by counteracting their influence in families, social circles, work places, businesses, and other organizations. They strive against them by arguing against wickedness and for that which is good and right and true.

When John Witherspoon preached on a fast day in the May of 1776, he encouraged his listeners to promote public virtue.

Suffer me to recommend to you an attention to the public interest of religion, or in other words zeal for the glory of God and the good of others. I have already endeavoured to exhort sinners to repentance, what I have here in view is to point out to you the concern which every good man ought to take in the national character and manners, and the means which he ought to use for promoting public virtue, and bearing down impiety and vice. This is a matter of the utmost moment, and which ought to be well understood, both in its nature and principles. Nothing is more certain than that a general profligacy and corruption of manners makes a people ripe for destruction. A good form of government may hold the rotten materials together for some time, but beyond a certain pitch even the best constitution will be ineffectual, and slavery must ensue. On the other hand, when the manners of a nation are pure, when true religion and internal principles maintain their vigour, the attempts of the most powerful enemies to oppress them are commonly baffled and disappointed.

Sin is social, spreading and corrupting society and custom. But by God’s grace, the righteousness of Christ’s disciples is also social, spreading and reforming society and custom. Both sin and God’s kingdom are compared with leaven. The influence of the wicked must be opposed; and those who keep the law are equipped to do this work.

“Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD understand it completely.” (Proverbs 28:5)

Evil men are compromised; their sense of justice is corrupted. Evil men do not understand justice. To understand justice, you should seek the Lord. From the Lord, man is able to gain a right understanding of justice among men. 

Where is God to be found? God is found in his word. Seek God in his word with reverence and teachableness, that you might understand his ways. Scripture shows us the way to God through Christ and Scripture teaches the law of God, which is a joy to those in Christ. Scripture provides a knowledge of justice. As Moses said in Deuteronomy 4:8, “And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?”

Seek the Lord and listen to his word. Make his law your meditation day and night. His word is perfect and it speaks to matters of righteousness and obligations and the right reaction of man to man in society. Study his word to gain a true understanding of it. Consider the case laws he gave Israel, for example. They are profitable to direct modern man in our social interactions and our understanding of justice, even though their particular context must be kept in mind (more on that here and here). Consider the book of Proverbs and the prophets and the teachings found in the Gospels, and indeed the whole of Scripture. And pray for an understanding and practice of righteousness, as Solomon did. "Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?" (1 Kings 3:9) Seek the Lord in his word and through prayer, that you might understand justice and practice it in your life and society.

Conclusion

Those whom Christ saves from sin, he makes a blessing to their land. Therefore, those who rest upon him for salvation should seek to be a blessing to their land by his grace.

Pursue righteousness, for to this you were called. If you are in Christ, then you have been released from the tyranny of sin. Be therefore righteous, that you might be a blessing to your land. Your community, your neighbors, your country are in need of the righteous. The land rots without the salt of the earth. Be grateful for what you have received in its civic fellowship and come to its aid through the grace of Christ. Go forth this week to work in this world diligently and usefully, not growing weary in doing good, putting forth in action the virtues that God is working within you. Unto him be the glory!

A Blessing to Your Land (Part 1)

Next week we will come to our country’s Independence Day, the 4th of July. While America’s roots go back to the early 1600s, it was 250 years ago on July 4th, 1776, that these United States declared independence from Great Britain and its king. Not only did we successfully maintain our independence in battle, but we have grown and been blessed in many ways since that time. These blessings ought to be ascribed to Almighty God, from whom all blessings flow. A remembrance of our country’s independence should cause you both to be grateful to that founding generation and other generations that have built up what you enjoy today, as well as to give thanks to God and to recall your personal and national obligation to him. As the fourth verse of our national anthem says,

O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their lov'd home and the war's desolation!
Blest with vict'ry and peace may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the power that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!

As you reflect upon God’s blessings upon the labors of previous generations, it should also recall you to your calling, that you might preserve and build upon the blessings of the past and seek by God’s grace to improve and pass on a country to your children that will be a blessing to them. Those whom Christ saves from sin, he makes a blessing to their land. Therefore, those who rest upon him for salvation should seek to be a blessing to their land by his grace.

When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices,

and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness.

By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted,

but by the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown. (Proverbs 11:10–11) 

Verse 11 makes explicit what is implied in verse 10. The city rejoices when it goes well with the righteous, because the righteous are a blessing to the city. There are shouts of gladness when the wicked perish, because the wicked tear down their city by their mouth. Consider the example found in the book of Esther: when the decree of Haman was published, the city of Susa was thrown into confusion, but when Mordecai received Haman’s position and went out in royal robes and a golden crown, the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced.

The righteous are a blessing to their city. As John Witherspoon preached in 1776, “it is in the man of piety and inward principle that we may expect to find the uncorrupted patriot, the useful citizen, and the invincible soldier.” God does not call you to a merely private devotion, but to an exercise of righteousness that is also social. Your righteousness must be personal and private, but it must not stop there. In the same Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus teaches us to pray in secret before God, he also teaches us to let our light shine before men, that they may see our good works and give glory to our Father who is in heaven. Your righteousness must be sincere and for God, not hypocritical praise-seeking, but it must also be exercised in the social realm. You must not hide your light under a basket. Jesus has established you all as a city on a hill and as the light of the world. His kingdom is in the world like leaven is in dough - it transforms the whole thing.

“The blessing of the upright” includes prayer for your land and your words and actions in society. The upright bless those around them by their diligence in their work, their honest dealing and faithfulness, and their deeds of mercy. The upright bless others by their wise and righteous use of words - as the mouth of the wicked overthrows the city, so the mouth of the upright is a blessing. May you be upright and exercise that righteousness in your words and deeds, that you might be a blessing.

In Jeremiah 29:7, God told the Jewish exiles in Babylonia, “But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” If the Jewish exiles were to seek good of the foreign city they lived in for seventy years, how much more should you seek the good of our own city, your own land?

Whether you like it or not, you participate in the well-being of your country. This is all the more the case when when you dwell in your own country, as citizens, not as exiles. In its welfare, you will find your welfare. You are born into a society full of riches you did not work for - institutions, laws, cultural heritage, language, infrastructure, relatives, neighbors, etc. You inherit a place in a commonwealth. This places obligations upon you of filial piety, of reverent gratitude. As R.J. Rushdoony wrote concerning the fifth commandment, 

honor to parents, and to all older than ourselves, is a necessary aspect of the basic law of inheritance. What we inherit from our parents is life itself, and also the wisdom of their faith and experience as they transmit it to us. The continuity of history rests in this honor and inheritance. A revolutionary age breaks with the past and turns on parents with animosity and venom: it disinherits itself. To respect our elders other than our parents is to respect all that is good in our cultural inheritance. The world certainly is not perfect, nor even law-abiding, but, although we come into the world naked, we do not enter an empty world. The houses, orchards, fields, and flocks are all the handiwork of the past, and we are richer for this past and must honor it. (Institutes of Biblical Law, p. 166)

Patriotism is a virtue. Patriotism is an application of the fifth commandment. It is an extension of the command to honor father and mother. You are to honor and make return to your mother country, your patria.

You and I do not have absolute control over whether it will go well with the righteous or not. Ultimately God raises up and casts down. But for our part, may we be among the righteous who are a blessing, so that if we are exalted, it may be a good thing for our society, as when God raised up Joseph and Daniel and Esther. May you be such a person, by God’s grace, that the city rejoices when it goes well with you.

Christian Education

What follows here is adapted from the first lesson of a lesson series I am teaching on Christian education. You can listen to the recordings here. The series looks at a Christian view of education and the various fields of study. This first lesson is an introduction to Christian education, giving an overview of some biblical principles for education.

Great are the works of the LORD,

        studied by all who delight in them.

Full of splendor and majesty is his work,

        and his righteousness endures forever.

He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered;

        the LORD is gracious and merciful. (Ps. 111:2-4)

The works of God are great and are studied by all who delight in them. We delight in them, since they are wondrous works full of splendor and majesty, and therefore we study them.

The works of God include not only his work of redemption, which is an especially wondrous work, but also his works of creation and his works of providence in general. His world ought to be studied, as it is the work of God. It should be studied as his world, as our Father's world, in the light of his word. It should be studied to the glory of its maker and governor, for that is what we are doing in this psalm, saying, "great are the works of the LORD." One motive in education and study is simply to wonder and delight at God's glory displayed in his works. 

This would have been done quite easily in man's innocency before the fall. As Adam walked around the garden, he would have quickly noticed the wisdom, power, and goodness of God in creation. Sin has come into the world and hinders this realization and makes us more self-centered, neglecting our Maker. But we can still see it. We should preserve that sense of wonder, the wonder of children in their Father's creation, eager to investigate the world with that wonder and delight. 

We are to study God's word and his world, and his world in light of his word. After all, how can we study man and the world without considering God? How can we educate man to maturity while neglecting his chief end? This purely secular approach to education, an education without considering God and man's chief end - which is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever - is quite prevalent today. This approach is not only deficient. Its neglect of these things distorts education and gives it an atheistic bent. It promotes a view of the world and man that is practically atheistic. It ends up giving a distorted view of man and the world.

In the opening of John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion, he notes that the study of God draws us to a better knowledge of ourselves, and the study of man also leads us to a knowledge of God, our Maker. These subjects are intertwined, we will not have a clear knowledge of the one without a knowledge of the other.

So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." (Genesis 1:27–28)

One purpose of studying God's world is so that we might be good rulers over his earth and its creatures. Any good ruler should have a good knowledge of what is under his care. As Proverbs 27:23 says, "Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds..." We are set over the world as those who are made in God's image and set over the works of his hands. If we are to rule the earth, to subdue it, to cultivate it, to take care of it, we should study it and understand it. 

Notice also that this text says that we are made in the image of God. This reality is important for education, for a correct understanding of what man is and what it means for man to be brought up to maturity. Being made in the image of God includes being made in knowledge, as rational creatures, able to perceive, able to reason (Col. 3:10). Man was first made in true knowledge with a true knowledge of God. That has been distorted by human depravity, yet man remains a being who is able to know and reason. As we are restored in Christ, we should use that faculty rightly in the light of his word.

Our use of our senses and our reason to study God's world are supported by biblical teachings. Sometimes in apologetics, we might ask the unbeliever, why do you trust your senses? Why do you trust your reason? What is the foundation of your worldview? But we should be careful to not think that our senses and reason is useless. The unbeliever might not be about to account for it, but we can. We believe that God made man, that he fit us to know him and to have dominion over the work of his hands. We believe that God is a God of wisdom and knowledge and that we are made in his image, also able to think and to reason. Our senses and reason point to God's design of mankind. Being gifted in this way as rational beings, we should use God's gifts and use them rightly and well. 

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4) 

First of all, this verse says to bring them up. This is of the essence of education, to bring humans up to maturity and to fit them for the responsibilities of adulthood. Education aims at the maturity of the whole person in knowledge, in virtue, in skill. It aims at fitting you to be a good member of a family, a good member of your community, a good member of your nation, and a good human, which also in this age means a good Christian, as grace restores and perfects nature unto the glory of God. To be a good human we need Christ to restore us, that we might be sanctified and truly live as we were made to live. 

The verse also says fathers. It is addressed to fathers. The family has a primary and basic responsibility for the education of children, and this is especially the responsibility of the father as head of the household. This is not to say that fathers, or even parents, must be the only the ones to teach children. They may make a wise use of other people and resources in the education of their children. But parents are the primary teachers and are responsible to oversee the process. They must bring them up.

Regarding religious instruction, not only do parents give this to their children, but both parents and children also receive it from ordained teachers of the church (1 Cor. 12:28, James 3:1, Acts 20:20). In one sense all education ought to be religious, done in the fear of God. By "religious instruction" I mean instruction in what we are to believe concerning God and what duty God requires of man. The church has an educational ministry to teach Scripture, the whole counsel of God, to everyone, and especially to the whole people of God, which includes children. Christians ought to embrace this education and bring their children to it as well. The instruction is not meant to replace parental instruction, but ought to strengthen it and help equip parents. The very context of Ephesians 6:4 is Paul writing to the church, and his specific instruction to fathers is to bring up their children in the Lord, and his specific instruction to the children is to obey their parents in the Lord. 

The verse also speaks of the discipline and instruction of the Lord. In context, that especially means the Lord Jesus (cp. Eph. 4:4-6, 6:5-9, 23-24).

As man's chief end is to glorify and enjoy God forever, and as this is now only done through the Lord Jesus, all education ought to be Christian education. All of life is to be done unto God's glory, in accord with his word, through Jesus Christ. All people should be given a correct understanding of the world and the way to fulfill their chief end in all things through Christ.

In addition to this, Christian households are uniquely bound by God's covenant to give their children a Christian education. Christian parents are bound to bring up their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, to lead their households in the ways of the Lord (Gen. 18:19). We say with Joshua, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Josh. 24:15a). Our children are covenantally consecrated unto Christ as his disciples to be raised as such (Acts 2:28-29, 16:31-34, Matt. 28:18-20). They are directly addressed in Ephesians as fellow members of the household of God. They are to be raised up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord Jesus as his disciples who have been baptized and are now to be taught to observe everything that Christ has commanded. Christ is to be their teacher.

Lastly, notice the terms discipline and instruction. This process of bringing them up includes discipline and instruction. The two Greek words are translated differently in different translations (e.g. nurture and admonition). The two Greek words are paideia and nouthesia. Paideia is the word for training and education. It refers to the whole training and education of children, mind and morals, body and soul, both by instruction and correction (related to the word for child). Nouthesia refers to admonition and instruction (to “put in mind” or “call attention to,” often with a sense of warning). It can be proactive in the giving of instruction and reminders or corrective in the giving of admonition. 

A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. (Luke 6:40) 

Disciple is not a uniquely religious or biblical word, but was the common word for a learner, a pupil, a student - someone who had a teacher and was being taught by a teacher. This verse teaches us that education aims at passing on the knowledge, skills, culture, wisdom, or character of the teacher to the disciple.

Thomas Sowell once said, "Each new generation born is in effect an invasion of civilization by little barbarians, who must be civilized before it is too late." Education involves the process of enculturation, the passing on of civilization from one generation to the next. Children must learn biblical doctrine and the language, heritage, and customs of their particular people, that they might live well as members of it. We begin as ignorant, foolish, and unskilled people, but we can benefit from the knowledge, skill, and wisdom of others as it is passed down to us. 

Of course, the Teacher that we should all be like without exception is the Lord Jesus. We should rejoice in ever greater conformity to him. 

This verse is also a warning. The verse right before this verse says, "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?" Being like your teacher might not be a good thing. A bad teacher can lead disciples astray. So parents should be sure they are not blind as they teach their children how to see. They should also be careful about the teachers and mentors that they give their children as they get older.

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9) 

The Lord our God is one. He deserves your single-minded devotion with your whole being. His words ought to be on your heart, and you ought to diligently teach them to your children, every day, throughout the day. You should apply them indeed to all of life - to the work of your hands, to the way you see the world with your eyes, to the life of the home (the doorposts), and to the life of the society (the gates of the city). God is one. His word ought to be on the inside and the outside all the day, in every area, as it is all under him. The one God is over all of life.

Deuteronomy 6:7 refers to the teaching of God's words. But those words that are taught diligently should inform all of life, all the rest of education, not quarantined from them. Things ought to be fit together as a system, a unified way of thought and life. So there is a need for theology and biblical ethics from God's Word to shape the rest, and for the rest to serve its proper ends unto the glory of God.

Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. Zillah also bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah. (Genesis 4:20-22)

While "father" might refer here to a natural father or ancestor, it seems (with the reference to "all") that it means here someone who excelled with the field and taught it to others, as we might refer to Gregor Mendal as the "father of modern genetics." The Larger Catechism cites this verse as it notes that the fifth commandment has implications for how we treat all superiors, whether in age or gifts or authority (WLC 124). 

In Genesis 4:20-22, we see how human culture and education developed even among those who rejected God. We find here agriculture and music and technology. By God's common grace, rebellion against God did not mean a cessation of all human culture and advancement in education. Total depravity does not mean that unbelievers get everything wrong. They still live in God's world. They still are made in God's image, although it is now corrupt. God's common grace restrains the full development of sin. Unbelievers still have useful insights and studies on earthly things. As John Calvin wrote, 

What then? Shall we deny that the truth shone upon the ancient jurists who established civic order and discipline with such great equity? Shall we say that the philosophers were blind in their fine observation and artful description of nature? Shall we say that those men were devoid of understanding who conceived the art of disputation and taught us to speak reasonably? Shall we say that they are insane who developed medicine, devoting their labor to our benefit? What shall we say of all the mathematical sciences? Shall we consider them the ravings of madmen? No, we cannot read the writings of the ancients on these subjects without great admiration. We marvel at them because we are compelled to recognize how preeminent they are. But shall we count anything praiseworthy or noble without recognizing at the same time that it comes from God? Let us be ashamed of such ingratitude, into which not even the pagan poets fell, for they confessed that the gods had invented philosophy, laws, and all useful arts. Those men whom Scripture calls ‘natural men’ were, indeed, sharp and penetrating in their investigation of inferior things. (Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1.2.15)

Thus, Christian education does not mean you have to turn everything on its head, teaching the opposite of what pagans teach. We need not cast away what good has been done by non-Christians. We should ascribe to God the glory for his gifts given to them and put these developments to a right use, reforming what is amiss. Augustine compared this process to how the Israelites "plundered the Egyptians" when they left Egypt. The idea is that of receiving what is good and in accordance with the truth and putting it to the right use. Sometimes reform is simply that, directing something to the right end. Other times, man's sin has further distorted his culture, causing there to be greater need for reform. Discernment is needed.

"Plundering the Egyptians" is part of a biblical motif. The biblical model is that the treasures of the nations, both material and intellectual, are brought into the service of God as the kingdom advances (Hag. 2:6-9, Mic. 4:13, Rev. 21:24-27). This must be done with wisdom, not simply uncritically adopting everything, but neither simply rejecting things because they came from the pagans. Remember that the treasures received from Egypt went to the building of the golden calf as well as to the tabernacle. When done rightly, the treasures of the nations come in and glorify the house of God. As he extends his kingdom among mankind, Christ is taking human culture away from the service of the devil unto the glory of God.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7) 

The fear of the Lord is fundamental to a good education. Those who do not fear God will remain fools in a very important respect. Even if they are insightful on one thing or another, this is God's world and we must not leave him out of our calculations. To be ignorant of some very important factor is to be unwise. The most fundamental thing is God, the Creator of all things. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge. Education without the fear of the Lord will be deficient and distorted by this neglect. Speaking of the importance of an education in the fear of God, A.A. Hodge wrote,

The claim of impartiality between positions as directly contradictory as that of Jews, Mohammedans and Christians, and especially as that of theists and of atheists, is evidently absurd. And no less is the claim absurd and impossible that a system of education can be indifferent on these fundamental subjects. ... The physical as well as the moral universe must be conceived either in a theistic or an atheistic light. It must originate in and develop through intelligent will - that is, in a person - or in atoms, force, or chance. Teleology must be acknowledged everywhere or be denied everywhere. … I am as sure as I am of the fact of Christ's reign that a comprehensive and centralized system of national education, separated from religion, as is now commonly proposed, will prove the most appalling enginery for the propagation of anti-Christian and atheistic unbelief, and of anti-social nihilistic ethics, individual, social and political, which this sin-rent world has ever seen. (A.A. Hodge, “The Kingly Office of Christ,” Popular Lectures on Theological Themes (1887), p. 281-284) 

Likewise, those who fear the Lord will be teachable. If we fear the Lord, we will be humble. We will be eager to learn. We will be able to receive correction. We will prize wisdom and instruction enough to diligently seek it out and to endure correction, which is unpleasant. This is a theme that you will find throughout Proverbs. The one who is humble, who fears the Lord, will be ready to endure the hardship of education. Is it sometimes hard to do schoolwork? Can it be hard to press on? Yes, but if you love wisdom, if you love knowledge, if you delight in God's works, then you are going to be able to do the hard work of doing the study, writing the paper, getting corrections on your homework, and growing. 

Let us therefore be diligently to raise up our children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. And may we all delight in God's works, and therefore continue to study them, unto his glory and for the good of ourselves and others. 

"He Made from One Man Every Nation of Mankind"

In Acts 17:22-31, Paul spoke in defense of the faith to the Athenian Areopagus. In the course of his speech, he taught some important truths about the peoples of mankind. 

In verses 24-25 and 28-29, Paul taught that there is one Creator of all. Everything owes its source to him. All of us are God’s offspring, made in his image. God is not our offspring - a tribal god or a product of man’s imagination and art.

In verse 26a, Paul said, "And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth..." There is only one origin to the human race. We are all sons of Adam. We are ultimately one biological race. We have a shared history (the first 11 chapters of Genesis). We all inherit the image of God, with its dignity and honor, as well as the guilt and corruption of sin. In Adam’s fall, we sinned all. This unity in Adam should promote respect, sympathy, and humility.

In verse 26, Paul teaches that from this one man came a diversity of people - every nation of mankind on all the face of the earth. God said, “fill the earth,” dispersing them over the earth. He had them disperse as communities. Genesis 10 describes this dispersion: “in their lands, each with his own language, by their clans, in their nations” (10:5). 

These people groups were bound together by location, language and culture, and family ties. The Bible realizes there are multiple factors that bring people together, and describes people groups with multiple terms like tribes, peoples, languages, nations, and lands. These things tied people together in communities for mutual support. It is good for people who live together to have a shared way of life. At the same time, none of this was immovable. People can assimilate into another culture. While it took effort, a person could move, learn a new language, marry someone of a different people or culture, or be adopted by a family or people (e.g. Gen. 12:1, Num. 12:1, Ruth 1:16, 2 Sam. 11:3).

Notice the difference between diversity of this kind and sex difference. During the creation week, God made from the man a woman. The sex difference is part of the creation order. Thus men and women are forever distinct and this distinction should not be blurred (Deut. 22:5). But the subsequent diversity of the peoples of mankind is is not rooted in creation, but develops in the course of God's providence and is more superficial and flexible. That there would be variety is natural, but the particular varieties are not fixed parts of the creation order.

Paul says in verse 26 that God made from one man every nation of mankind, "having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place..." As families seek a home to live in with boundaries, nations also seek homelands to dwell in with boundaries. National borders should be respected by all and wisely regulated by the civil authorities. But what does it mean that God determined their allotted periods and boundaries? It means that God is sovereign over the times and boundaries of the nations. This is neither a call to ethnic purity or to the abolition of borders, but a call to humility before God. Cultures and peoples change over time. They can improve or decline, they can expand or shrink, they can become prominent or marginalized, and they can develop over the generations, responding to their situations. But God is sovereign over it all. The earth is his, and he portions it out to the peoples as he desires (Deut. 2:1-12, 32:8). He uproots and he plants. He divides the peoples and gives them what they have. Each people owes its existence to God. No people is guaranteed its current position - not even ancient Israel was. God blesses the peoples and judges them.

Men error when they confuse existing providential conditions as static and fixed in nature, or as demonstrating their might and superiority. Let no one say with Nebuchadnezzar, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30), lest he be humbled like him. Let all flesh be humble and grateful before the Lord. “The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts” (1 Samuel 2:7).

Finally, in verses 27, 30-31, Paul makes the point that all peoples ought to seek their common Father, repent from their idols, and turn to the risen Christ. God’s intention was that all peoples should seek him. Even as they are united by common decent from Adam, so they are called to be united in the service of their common Creator through Jesus Christ. God now commands everyone everywhere to repent. Salvation is offered to all without partiality. Christ preaches peace to all peoples. Those who turn to him become fellow members of the household of God (Eph. 2:11-22). The church of Jesus Christ is composed of the redeemed from every tribe, tongue, and nation, with a Christian communion extended to everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord Jesus. This unity does not abolish national or ethnic distinctions, but it ought to bring about spiritual unity and fellowship among those of different nationalities; peace among the nations rather than ill-treatment of one another in thought, word, and deed; and the reformation of each one according to the word of God (Is. 2:1-5).

OPC Statements and Communications on Issues in Society

From time to time, as situations have arisen, the General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) has spoken to issues in society, whether by statements, letters, or petitions. Here are a few examples:

1. 1937 Statements on Atheistic Movements, Communism, and Pacifism.

At its third general assembly (1937), the OPC (then called the Presbyterian Church of America) adopted an overture to warn all their churches to take their stand against atheistic movements and “that to tolerate communism in our midst is equivalent to the destruction of our Church.”

WHEREAS atheistic movements under various names are working through the Church life of this nation, not only to overthrow the Christian faith of the present adult generation, but seriously to impair the the faith of the growing youth of our nation, therefore: 

BE IT RESOLVED that the Presbytery of California, Presbyterian Church America, respectfully overtures the Third General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of America, meeting in Philadelphia, June 1, 1937, to warn all of our churches and churches which will ultimately be formed to take their stand against all such movements, and so to indoctrinate our people in the doctrines of the Christian faith that they will be able to discern the true from the false, and that to tolerate communism in our midst is equivalent to the destruction of our Church. 

Passed by unanimous vote of the Presbytery of California, of the Presbyterian Church of America, on April 13, 1937.

Concurred in by Northwest, Chicago Area.

Concurred with slight amendment, Iowa.

The overture was approved by the General Assembly by a vote of 42 to 30. The same assembly also adopted another overture in amended form publicly reaffirming WCF 23.1-2 in light of “widespread confusion of thought in this nation on the relation of Christians to military institutions of duly constituted civil authorities”.

2. 1972 Statement on Abortion

In 1972, the 39th General Assembly of the OPC adopted a statement affirming that voluntary abortion, except possibly to save the physical life of the mother, is in violation of the Sixth Commandment (Exodus 20:13). 

Believing that unborn children are living creatures in the image of God, given by God as a blessing to their parents, we therefore affirm that voluntary abortion, except possibly to save the physical life of the mother, is in violation of the Sixth Commandment (Exodus 20:13). We state the following reasons:

1. The Bible treats human personhood as beginning at conception (Psalm 139:13-16; 51:5; Jeremiah 1:4,5; Luke 1:14-44; 1:29-38; Exodus 21:22-25). 
2. The Bible considers the human person to be a complete person (Genesis 2:7; Numbers 23:10; Deuteronomy 6:5; 1 Thessalonians 5:23). This unity is severed only by death and then only temporarily until the natural, intended union is restored at the resurrection (2 Corinthians 5:8; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). 
3. The Bible forbids murder because man is created in the image of God (Genesis 9:5, 6). The Bible further says that succeeding generations of men are conceived in the image of God (Genesis 5:1-3). 

We call upon society and the church to show compassion toward unwed mothers and mothers of unwanted children. To this end, not only sympathetic counsel, but also concrete help should be extended (1 John 3:16-18; James 2:14-17).

But we also call upon our society to return to the law of God, recognizing the Word of God that "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people" (Proverbs 14:34).

You can find this statement on the OPC website here and in the minutes of the 39th GA of the OPC (Minutes, May 15-20, 1972, pp. 17-18, 149). The background for this is that the General Assembly set up a study committee on the topic in 1970 in response to an overture from the Presbytery of New Jersey asking the assembly to declare "that life being given by God should not be terminated by abortion, apart from valid medical grounds related to the preservation of the life of the mother." (1970 was the same year that Roe v. Wade reached the Supreme Court of the USA.) This study committee delivered its report to the assembly in 1971. This report was sent to the presbyteries, and two of them (NJ and Northern CA) sent overtures to the next assembly with similar proposed statements. A slightly amended version of one of these was the statement adopted in 1972. (The Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade in 1973, a decision that was later overruled by its Dobbs decision in 2022.)

There was a protest submitted by some members of the assembly against making this statement, not for the content, but because they objected to making such statements apart from particular judicial cases. The assembly's response to the protest called attention to WCF 31.2 and added "The church of Christ, in assembly at Jerusalem, resolved a case of doctrine and conscience not brought to it as a judicial proceeding against any individual (Acts 15). Granting that resolutions on such cases should be made with discretion and only in matters of great concern, the Assembly reaffirms its right and duty to declare the truth ministerially to the people of God and the world in which we live."

3. 1993 Petition to the President Regarding the Sin of Homosexual Activity

In 1993, the 60th General Assembly of the OPC submitted a humble petition to President Clinton, asking him to stand against the sin of homosexual activity. The terminology of "humble petition" comes from our Confession of Faith, which says that "Synods and councils ... are not to intermeddle with civil affairs which concern the commonwealth, unless by way of humble petition in cases extraordinary; or, by way of advice, for satisfaction of conscience, if they be thereunto required by the civil magistrate" (WCF 31.4). 

Bill Clinton had been elected president in 1992 and in his campaign he had indicated he would allow homosexuals to serve in the military. Once he became president, he called for legislation that would lift the ban that prohibited this. In this context, the Presbytery of Northern California sent an overture to the General Assembly with proposed language for a petition, and this was amended and adopted. This petition can be found on the OPC website here as well as in the minutes of the 60th GA of the OPC. 

The 60th General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church humbly petitions the President of the United States of America to stand against the sin of homosexual activity. We support this petition with the following considerations.

Based on the Word of God and his creation law, homosexuality (including bisexuality and lesbianism) violates God's non-negotiable moral standard and therefore is sin. According to the Scripture of the Old and New Testaments, it is an abomination and contrary to nature as God intended for man and woman. "Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable" (Leviticus 18:22). "Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion" (Romans 1:26-27).

The practice of homosexuality is a reproach to any nation. It undermines the family, and poses a substantial threat to the general health, safety and welfare of our citizens. Your own Christian background ought to demonstrate to you the practical benefits of upholding the biblical stand against homosexuality, especially in light of the current epidemic of AIDS and other diseases spread through homosexual conduct.

And, specifically, we urge you as Commander-in-Chief of all the armed services not to lift the ban on homosexuals in the military. Lifting the ban would effectively discriminate against chaplains who hold to biblical ethics by forbidding them to preach God's law against this sin. Such a prohibition compromises the Free Exercise of Religion clause as well as the gospel message which delivers homosexuals from this destructive practice. "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Moreover, any such preaching subsequent to lifting the ban might be considered a hate crime.

Therefore, for the honor of Christ and his Church, and the welfare of our nation, we exhort you to remember the words of the wisest magistrate, "Righteousness exalts a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people" (Proverbs 14:34). Our prayers go with you, your family and your administration, and we commend to you the salvation that comes only though Jesus Christ our Lord. "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness" (1 Timothy 2:1-2).

Very respectfully submitted,

The General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church

June, 1993

At the end of that year, the "don't ask, don't tell" policy was adopted by the Department of Defense as a compromise measure that continued to bar openly homosexual persons from the military.  

4. 2001 Statement on Women and the Military

In 1998, the General Assembly of the OPC set up a study committee on women and the military, in light of the possibility that the requirement to register for the Selective Service might be extended to women. This committee presented an initial report in 1999. The General Assembly returned the report and pending motions to the committee for further study and reflection and added two more members to the committee. In 2000, the General Assembly ran out of time to consider the expanded report. In 2001, the 68th General Assembly of the OPC heard the report and responded by adopting the following statement: 

The 68th GA declares that the use of women in military combat is both contrary to nature and inconsistent with the Word of God.

The OPC was not alone in making such statements. I have posted about this before, and you can read the statements from the PCA, RPCNA, and ARPC at this link.

There was a protest made by some members of the assembly over whether there was sufficient biblical grounds for the statement, objecting that the statement rested on a report that argued largely from Old Testament narrative and civil law, supposing this to be in contradiction to WCF 19.4. The General Assembly responded that it adopted the statement because it was convinced there was sufficient biblical grounds, that New Testament passages affirm the principles that lay behind the direct teaching of the Old Testament on the topic, and that it is legitimate to declare a position argued largely from Old Testament narrative and civil law (giving examples of where this is done in our confessional standards). I think the General Assembly got it right here and that this is a good example of how the judicial laws of the Old Testament continue to bind nations today as far as their general equity requires (WCF 19.4). In the Bible, men alone are assigned the responsibility for national defense (Neh. 4:14, Num. 1:2-3, Deut. 24:5), and this was not something pertaining to ancient Israel alone, but a principle based in the creation order (Gen. 1:27, Is. 19:16, Jer. 51:30, 1 Peter 3:7). I have written more about WCF 19.4 and general equity here and here. 

5. 2010 Letter to the Department of Defense 

In 2010, the 77th General Assembly of the OPC sent a letter to the The Department of Defense Comprehensive Review Working Group. You can find the letter on the OPC website here, and I will quote both the stated clerk's note regarding the context as well as the letter itself. 

Stated clerk's note: The United States Secretary of Defense has established a Department of Defense Comprehensive Review Working Group to "review issues associated with the possible repeal of 10 U.S.C. §654, which would allow homosexuals to serve openly in the military, and to develop an implementation plan, should Congress repeal the law." In the course of that review the working group solicited comments from agencies that endorse chaplains. The 77th General Assembly of the OPC has responded to that request with the following letter.

The Orthodox Presbyterian Church

Office of the General Assembly

George R. Cottenden, Stated Clerk

July 20, 2010

TO: The Department of Defense Comprehensive Review Working Group

c/o Chaplain (COL) Gary Linsky

SUBJECT: Concern about Repeal of the Current Military Policy Prohibiting Homosexual Behavior

The Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) is thankful for the opportunity to respond to the letter of Major General (S) Gregory A. Biscone, USAF, Chief of Staff and the subsequent letter from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense under the signatures of Chaplain (Major General) Douglas L. Carver, USA, Chairman and Army Chief of Chaplains; RADM; CHC, Robert F. Burt, USN: Chief of Chaplains; and Chaplain (Major General) Cecil R. Richardson, USAF, Chief of Chaplains soliciting our "views ... regarding the impact of the repeal of [10 U.S.C. §654]" and promoting dialog "with civilian organizations regarding religious issues" (see attachments 1 & 2). We regret that the Assembly itself could not make the 15 May 2010 deadline, for our denomination did not meet in deliberative session until our July General Assembly. This is the official response that supersedes the earlier communication you received 15 May 2010 (see attachment 3).

The Orthodox Presbyterian Church is gravely concerned over the potential repeal of 10 U.S.C. 8654 that governs the service of homosexual individuals in our military. Therefore, we are grateful for your desire to consider carefully the moral implications of your approving sexual practices that God has explicitly condemned.

We are concerned that the repeal of the current law may go so far as to force our currently serving chaplains to choose between violating their ordination vows and resigning from the military. They have affirmatively answered the following question in their ordination: "Do you believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice?" Thus, OPC chaplains preach and counsel from the Scriptures because they are convinced that "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17). (All Bible citations are from the English Standard Version.)

We are concerned that other members of the OPC who are serving in the Armed Forces may also be coerced to teach and enforce a policy that explicitly violates the Word of God. When they took their membership vows in an Orthodox Presbyterian Church they answered "Yes" to this question: "Do you believe the Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testaments, to be the Word of God, and its doctrine of salvation to be the perfect and only true doctrine of salvation?"

Several Bible passages forthrightly state God's condemnation of homosexual behavior. From the Hebrew Bible, Leviticus 18:22: "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination." Romans 1:18-33 in the New Testament historically and prophetically describes how the wrath of God is revealed against people who, by their own sinful behavior, suppress the truth about the one true God and how the moral disintegration of society follows. In the consequent moral disintegration in human society, the acceptance of homosexuality is a prominent symptom: "26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature: 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error."

Our military chaplains and members are concerned about the following specific consequences:

• Chaplains may be open to charges of discrimination or command reprimand when they preach or counsel in accordance with the passages in the Bible which directly speak of the sin of homosexual practice. Such threats compromise the First Amendment protection of the free exercise of religion clause and the freedom of speech as well as the gospel message which delivers homosexuals from this destructive practice (1 Corinthians 6:9-11—Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.)

• Bibles in military chapels and on military bases may be under the threat of excision of all passages which speak very directly to the sin of homosexual practice. Whether it be under the guise of opposing "hate speech" or alleging insubordinate opposition to a policy of the Department of Defense, the effort may be made soon after the repeal of the law.

• Marriage and family retreats conducted by chaplains intended to strengthen traditional marriages and families may have to include homosexual couples, which will violate chaplains' faith tenets and may discourage the voluntary participation of unmarried, heterosexual couples.

• Homosexual couples may seek union ceremonies or marriages, which are in violation of the beliefs and ordination vows of a large percentage of military chaplains, not just those from this denomination. Refusal may invite the charge of discrimination and command reprimand.

These expressions are consistent with the Chaplain's Manual of the Presbyterian and Reformed Joint Commission on Chaplains and Military Personnel, Section "Policy and Guidance; V. HOMOSEXUALITY" (we will be happy to provide a copy upon request) and our own denomination's Instruments of the General Assembly, Appendix A (www.opc.org/GA/Instruments2009.pdf, p. 3023, starting at line 530).

We provide this response for the good of the nation, for the integrity and effectiveness of the chaplains who serve the nation on behalf of their church, for the military and spiritual welfare of our members who serve in the Armed Forces, and for the protection of the constitutional principle of the free exercise of religion.

Sincerely,

George R. Cottenden

Stated Clerk, The Orthodox Presbyterian Church

Enclosures: 3

DOD Comprehensive Review Working Group

Office of the Under Secretary of Defense

Committee on Chaplains and Military Personnel to CRWG correspondence

cc: Major General Douglas L. Carver, Chief of Chaplains, U. S. Army

Rear Admiral Robert F. Burt, Chief of Chaplains, U. S. Navy

Major General Cecil R. Richardson, Chief of Chaplains, U. S. Air Force

Rear Admiral Mark L. Tidd, Chaplain of the Marine Corps

Chaplain (COL) Thomas E. Preston, Executive Director, Armed Forces Chaplain Board

Presbyterian Statements on Women and the Draft

Since it is in the news again that the US Senate Committee on Armed Forces is proposing (once again) to start requiring women to register for the draft in the 2025 NDAA (see here), I thought I would share a few statements from Presbyterian denominations in NAPARC on women and the draft/military. This is not comprehensive, as other denominations have made similar statements. My local church also has its own statement on this in its constitution. Hopefully this provision is taken out of the final bill, and perhaps these statements might be worth including in a letter to your senator or representative. I believe the requirement for women to register for the draft to be both unwise and immoral on account of the distinction between the sexes revealed in creation and in the Bible. In the Bible, men alone are assigned the responsibility for national defense (Neh. 4:14, Num. 1:2-3, Deut. 24:5), and this was not something pertaining to ancient Israel alone, but a moral principle based in the creation order (Gen. 1:27, Is. 19:16, Jer. 51:30). 

Orthodox Presbyterian Church, 68th General Assembly, 2001:

“The 68th GA declares that the use of women in military combat is both contrary to nature and inconsistent with the Word of God.”

Presbyterian Church in America, 30th General Assembly, 2002:

"1. Acknowledging that the child in the womb is 'a person covered by Divine protection' (Statement on Abortion, Sixth General Assembly); and that women of childbearing age often carry unborn children while remaining unaware of their child's existence; and that principles of just war require the minimization of the loss of life-particularly innocent civilians; the PCA declares that any policy which intentionally places in harms way as military combatants women who are, or might be, carrying a child in their womb, is a violation of God's Moral Law. Adopted

"2. This Assembly declares it to be the biblical duty of man to defend woman and therefore condemns the use of women as military combatants, as well as any conscription of women into the Armed Services of the United States. Adopted

"3. Therefore be it resolved that the Thirtieth General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America adopts the above as pastoral counsel for the good of the members, the officers, and especially the military chaplains of the Presbyterian Church in America. Adopted

"4. Be it further resolved that the Presbyterian Church in America supports the decision of any of its members to object to, as a matter of conscience, the conscription of women or the use of women as military combatants. Adopted"

Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, 168th Synod, 1998:

“Therefore, be it now resolved: That, while recognizing the right and duty that women have to self-defense, which may involve physical violence (Judges 9:53), it is our conviction that Biblical teaching does not give warrant to employ women for military combat.”

Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, General Synod, 2016, Index 20:

“The Word of God gives no warrant expressed or implied that women are to be conscripted into military service or required to participate in military combat. Therefore, the General Synod of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church opposes the registration of women for Selective Service and the assignment of women to combat duty or to duties which involve a significant risk of engaging in combat.”

Many of these quotes are also found in Paul Barth's post on the topic: Women in the Military and in Combat. The PCA and OPC's statements can be found along with the committee reports that preceded their adoption here (PCA) and here (OPC), although I would note it is the statements rather than the reports that were adopted by the general assemblies. You can also find my earlier post about the 7th century "Law of Adamnan" on this topic here.

A Christian Nation? - American Presbyterians (1850-1950)

In preparing for a lesson in my series on American Presbyterian history, "A Christian Nation?," I thought I would share a few resources from four Presbyterian seminary professors between 1850 and 1950 on the relation of Christianity to civil government and society. Nearly all these resources are available online (click on the links to find the resources), thanks to the Log College Press and Westminster Media.

Charles Hodge of Princeton Theological Seminary

“The Sabbath Laws” in his Systematic Theology, vol. III (1873), pages 340-348

“Province of the Church” (1859), in Discussions in Church Polity, pages 100-106. 

James H. Thornwell of Columbia Theological Seminary

“Relation of the State to Christ” (1861)

A.A. Hodge of Princeton Theological Seminary

“The Kingly Office of Christ,” “The Kingdom of Christ,” and “The Law of the Kingdom” in Popular Lectures on Theological Themes (1887), currently published by Banner of Truth as Evangelical Theology. I have posted quotes from these before, here, here, and here. 

John Murray of Westminster Theological Seminary

“The Christian World Order” (1943)

“The Church – Its Identity, Function, and Resources" (not available online in full, but see quoted paragraph here)

God's Reign Over Every Sphere of Life - A.A. Hodge

Shortly before his death in 1886, Archibald Alexander Hodge gave a series of popular lectures on theology. This series is available online as Popular Lectures on Theological Themes and are currently published by Banner of Truth as Evangelical Theology. Three of the lectures give attention to the reign and kingdom of Christ: "The Kingly Office of Christ," "The Kingdom of Christ," and "The Law of the Kingdom." I have quoted from the first one here and the second one here. Here I would like to share a couple quotes from the third of these lectures.

He begins by speaking of how the gospel of grace accords with the pursuit of the practice of righteousness in accord with God’s revealed will in the Holy Scriptures. Since our obligation to God is universal and absolute, Hodge goes on to note that God's law demands obedience in every sphere of a person's life. 

"This law, moreover, demands instant and absolute obedience, not only from all classes of Christians, but also in every sphere of human life equally. A Christian is just as much under obligation to obey God's will in the most secular of his daily businesses as he is in his closet or at the communion table. He has no right to separate his life into two realms, and acknowledge different moral codes in each respectively--to say the Bible is a good rule for Sunday, but this is a weekday question, or the Scriptures are the right rule in matters of religion, but this is a question of business or of politics. God reigns over all everywhere. His will is the supreme law in all relations and actions. His inspired Word, loyally read, will inform us of his will in every relation and act of life, secular as well as religious, and the man is a traitor who refuses to walk therein with scrupulous care. The kingdom of God includes all sides of human life, and it is a kingdom of absolute righteousness. You are either a loyal subject or a traitor. When the King comes how will he find you doing?"

He discusses the three uses of the law - to restrain the wicked for the good of society, to convince us of our sin that we might embrace Christ, and to be the rule and goal for the regenerated and progressively sanctified Christian who obey out of love and in the Spirit. Then he goes on to speak of the implications of this obligation for our social responsibilities. 

"Since the kingdom of God on earth is not confined to the mere ecclesiastical sphere, but aims at absolute universality, and extends its supreme reign over every department of life, it follows that it is the duty of every loyal subject to endeavour to bring all human society, social and political, as well as ecclesiastical, into obedience to its law of righteousness. It is our duty, as far as lies in our power, immediately to organize human society and all its institutions and organs upon a distinctively Christian basis. Indifference or impartiality here between the law of the kingdom and the law of the world, or its prince, the devil, is utter treason to the King of Righteousness. The Bible, the great statute-book of the kingdom, explicitly lays down principles which, when candidly applied, will regulate the action of every human being in all relations. There can be no compromise. The King said with regard to all descriptions of moral agents in all spheres of activity, 'He that is not with me is against me.' If the national life in general is organized upon non-Christian principles, the churches which are embraced within the universal assimilating power of that nation will not long be able to preserve their integrity."

What this looks like in practice will vary in accord with each one's place and calling, but it is a project and goal that Christians should share. With the respect to the last sentence of that quote, it might be objected that it is possible for churches to resist assimilation into a national life that is non-Christian. It is possible, but it is also a real challenge. It might be easy for us to underestimate this challenge and overestimate the church's ability to be able to resist these forces, especially if Christian give up the effort to apply Christian principles to their life and culture. The more the life of a community or society is organized upon Christian principles, the better it is for that society and for the spiritual welfare of the people living in it. National life has an assimilating power, and it is better when this is a force for good that encourages faith and obedience, rather than a force that encourages unbelief and unfaithfulness.

A Letter to the Exiles

Jeremiah 29 records a letter that God directed Jeremiah to write to the Jews who had already been carried off into exile around 597 BC (the final fall of Jerusalem occurred around 587 BC). This letter came to a community that was dislocated. They had become a minority and their whole world had been shaken. What were they to do? The letter provides an important message for the church today. It helps us to address the question: what should Christians do when they find themselves increasingly marginalized and caught up in the tumult of the nations?

In the letter Jeremiah stressed that this exile was not a mistake, that it would last for seventy years, and that despite appearances God's intentions were for their good. God's plans for them were for "for welfare and not for evil," to give them "a future and a hope" (29:11). He had sent them there, and he intended to bless them. “I have sent into exile… I will…bring you back…I will hear you…I will be found by you…I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations” (29:4, 10-14). God cares for his people, disposes all things for their good, and restores their fortunes in his timing.

Not all of Israel shared in this plan. Some were cast off and killed. Some would be uprooted. Yet a remnant would be blessed. The letter described how some had missed out on this: they had ignored God’s words and opposed his prophets. Some had proclaimed false and rebellious prophecies and committed adultery. That was the wrong way. 

So how should a person respond in difficult times to this message of a future and a hope?

1. Call upon the Lord with faith.

"Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you." (Jeremiah 29:12) 

Verses 12-13 describe how the people would receive God's restoration. They would find him through prayer. They would be blessed as they sought the Lord with sincerity. These years were intended to train the exiles to look to God with faith. And through faith, they would participate in this future he had prepared for them.

When Daniel read Jeremiah's prophecies at the end of those 70 years, he acted upon it by praying a prayer recorded in Daniel 9. “O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake…” (Daniel 9:19) 

In other words, believe in God and his promises and call upon him to fulfill them. Persevere in faith, in prayer, in believing expectation. It is by faith in God and his promises that we participate in God’s grace. Those who seek the Lord with sincere faith will not be cast out. “They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith” (Romans 11:20).

Like the exiles, we continue to await more of what is promised, both in what we expect in history and eternity. God’s word here teaches you to persevere in seeking the Lord and believing his promises.

And by this faith, a believer acts upon God’s word. The following points describe how God’s people express their faith by their deeds.

2. Build and plant.

“Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce.” (Jeremiah 29:5)

Imagine them having just arrived in Babylon. What should they do? Should they expect a quick return? Should they give up hope of a return altogether? In either case, they would lack motivation to work on long-term projects.

But Jeremiah told them to invest themselves in improving their situation, digging in for a while, building homes and planting gardens. Just because they were exiles, that didn’t mean they were supposed to hold back and live in tents. They would be there for seventy years, so it was worth it to dig in. And their stay was not forever, so it was worth it to persevere. There was light at the end of the tunnel. 

Likewise, Christians are called to fulfill their callings and serve the Lord where they are. Dig in. Do not be held back by a pseudo-spiritual pietism that interprets our identity as exiles as if that means we shrink back from earthy things. You are called to take dominion of the earth in accord with your particular calling, building and planting. Develop where you live and use what you have so that it may be fruitful and productive. Do not linger in indecision, but work with what you have to maintain yourselves and others.

The apostle Paul sharply rebuked those who lived in idleness. He said, “we urge you, brothers … to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one” (1 Thess. 4:10–12).

3. Get married and have children.

"Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease." (Jeremiah 29:6) 

Get married. Get your children married. They are imperatives, just as in Paul’s epistles (1 Cor. 7:2, 1 Tim. 5:14). While there are exceptions (1 Cor. 7:7-9, 1 Tim. 5:9-10), there is a general responsibility to seek marriage.

Getting married involves a number of steps. It includes preparing for marriage. But marriage is a goal to work towards. When a person is ready, finding a spouse is a task to pursue.

Notice in Jeremiah's letter that both singles and their parents have responsibility. Both those who are getting married and their parents should be working towards this goal together. Unfortunately, in our day parents are either generally uninvolved or involved in a primarily negative manner, with a focus on preventing bad marriages. But the emphasis here is positive. Parents should help their children to get married to good spouses and to form good marriages. Again, this includes preparation (character, skills, calling) and finding a spouse.

Why? To multiply and increase. Marriage provides the basis for the future of a community. One reason for marriage is to provide offspring. If the exiles were to multiply, their singles would need to get married and have children. 

Married couples should have children, as this perpetuates and multiplies the human race (Gen. 1:28), their nation (Prov. 14:28), the church (Mal. 2:15), and their family (Ps. 127:3, 128:3-4). In particular, the focus in Jeremiah 29 is on God’s people multiplying and increasing. Certainly that happens by evangelism as well, but this is in addition to natural increase and the covenantal nurture of children. 

This instruction implies a community of believers. The community of believers is a vital part of this survival plan! One cannot survive for the long term without a community. The community (or communities) of believers provides the spouses and it is the community of believers which is being increased. The letter is addressed to the exiles of Judah, a community with recognized leaders, their elders, priests, and prophets.

God teaches his people in this text to think multi-generationally: God’s plans extend beyond one generation. God also teaches his people to live with hope: there is a future for their children and grandchildren. So many people today do not have enough hope or enough purpose to have children. They don’t mind if their people, their family, or their church dies out. But God teaches his people to think otherwise. The church of Jesus Christ has a purpose and a future and a hope!

Therefore, even when the present is difficult or discouraging, the call to get married and have children remains. Yes, there may be some like Jeremiah and Paul, with the gift of continency, who may remain single, especially in times of distress. But the community in general are called to get married and multiply.

Remember Exodus 1:12: “But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel.”

4. Seek the welfare of the city where you dwell and pray for it.

"But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare." (Jeremiah 29:7) 

I was talking to someone recently about patriotism. Is it a good thing? Should one be devoted to one’s country? Even when your country does many wicked things? Certainly this devotion can be taken to excess when it is pursued without qualification. Jeremiah was thought to be unpatriotic when he criticized his people and rulers and told them to surrender to Babylon. But consider this: the Jews were told by God to seek the welfare of Babylonian communities. Babylon was not godly - it was pagan. And not only were the Jews not religiously united with the Babylonians, they were not of the same nation either. They were doubly strangers. 

You and I may rightly feel alienated by the secularism of our country. We should not assimilate into secularism. Parents must be diligent to teach their children God's word and raise them to keep the way of the Lord. But if the Jews were to seek the welfare of Babylonian cities, how much more should we "seek the welfare of the city" when it is our own nation and people? You should seek the welfare of your city, county, state, and country. You should work for the good of those around you.

Think of biblical examples. Joseph brought blessing to his Egyptian household, prison, and country. Daniel was a blessing to the Babylonian and Persian kingdoms. Mordecai saved the Persian king’s life and served in his administration. Nehemiah served a Persian king as cupbearer.

How does your work bless others around you? How do you contribute to the welfare, the well-being, of your community or country? Your contributions might not be as visible as those of Daniel and Mordecai and yet still serve an important role in our interconnected society. Figure it out and work on it with diligence, knowing that you are serving the Lord. You are also serving your own interest! “...for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”

One way to seek the welfare of your community that God specifies is to pray for it. Similarly, Paul urges the saints to pray for kings and all in high positions, “that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Timothy 2:2).

5. Do not be immobilized by false prophets.

Do not be misled by false prophets. Instead, hold fast to the word of God. This is the focus of verses 15-32. God will judge false prophets (Jer. 29:22-23, 31-32, cp. Rev. 2-3). Do not be misled by messages of despair or messages of quick and easy prosperity. Be careful about who and what you listen to and where those messages are leading you. False prophets and teaches often lead people away from godliness into speculation, idleness, and/or immorality. 

Conclusion 

God intends good for his people. His church has a future and a hope. Therefore, call upon him with with faith, and exercise that faith: build and plant, get married and multiply, seek the well-being of your community. Do not be immobilized by false teachers, but get to work, serving the Lord. Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Bible and Abortion

On the one hand, one does not need the Bible to understand that abortion is immoral. It is against the law revealed in the natural order and conscience that a mother should seek the destruction of her unborn offspring. She is designed and meant to nourish and care for this little living human being. 

On the other hand, I want explain the biblical case against abortion for three reasons. First, the Bible is the true and faithful and authoritative word of our Creator, and I am a minister of this word. Second, many people profess to accept the authority of the Bible. Certainly Christians do. Even some non-Christians have respect for it. Politicians on all sides will quote it to support their policies. Third, over the years, I have seen people claim that the Bible supports abortion, a dangerously misleading interpretation not only out of accord with Christian teaching from the 1st-3rd centuries to the present, but out of accord with the Bible itself.

Let me recognize at the outset that many women resort to abortion in the midst of difficult circumstances. Childbearing itself is difficult, and this is even more the case in some situations. Yet difficult circumstances are not necessarily exemptions. They can also be temptations to do the wrong thing. And that is the case in these difficult situations that motivate women to seek abortion. They do not justify the killing of the unborn, but should be addressed in other ways. I do recognize, as do our state laws that prohibit abortion, that there are rare cases (e.g. ectopic pregnancy) where it is justified to remove the baby before it is safe to do so to save the life of the mother, although this is quite different from what is normally called abortion.

While the Bible does not explicitly deal with abortion, it does so implicitly by condemning the murder of human beings and recognizing unborn children as human beings. As my denomination stated in 1972, "Believing that unborn children are living creatures in the image of God, given by God as a blessing to their parents, we therefore affirm that voluntary abortion, except possibly to save the physical life of the mother, is in violation of the Sixth Commandment (Exodus 20:13)." To support this, let me review some passages of Scripture.

Genesis 5:1-3 and 9:6

“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” (Genesis 9:6)

In Genesis 9, God explains that murder is wrong because it unjustly takes the life of one who bears God’s image. Biblical ethics provides a reason to value all humans, grounding their right to life not on their level of intelligence, physical abilities, racial identity, or usefulness to society, but as beings made in the image of God.

Genesis 5:1-3 explains how this identity is conveyed to the next generation. It is not imputed to them at some point in their life. Rather, humans have the image of God by being produced from other images of God. “When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God…When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth” (Gen. 5:1, 3). Mankind, like the rest of creation, produces according to its kind. From conception, the child is made in the image of God.

Genesis 2:7

“…then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” (Genesis 2:7)

Some justify abortion with this verse, saying that life begins with breath. But life is given to Adam with a breath since Adam was created as an adult, and living adults generally breathe. But if an adult stops breathing, are they dead? Not necessarily. We do CPR. Why? Because there is hope they will breathe again. The unborn do not yet breathe, but at birth they will. Their lack of breath is not proof they are dead. It is proof they need the care of others. But they are biologically alive, not dead. Additionally, the Bible also speaks of the life of flesh being its blood (Lev. 17:11, 14), and does so in the context of prohibiting murder (Gen. 9:4-5, 4:10). Living humans and animals generally have blood circulating through them sustaining their life, and this includes unborn children (15-21 days post-fertilization). Again, I do not think this is meant to define life with scientific precision, but it is more to the point in this discussion, and it shows the Bible can use more than one marker to identify life.

Exodus 21:22-25

“When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.” (Exodus 21:22–25)

This case law describes a situation where men are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and her children come out with two results, no harm or harm.

The first case (no harm) involves a premature birth and a penalty for striking the woman in such a way; the second case (harm) involves harm to the woman and/or her children, with a further penalty that fits the harm done. This is the traditional interpretation. I think this is still the best interpretation, since (1) in the first case the word for miscarriage is not used, nor do the words used indicate such a meaning, and (2) the harm is not specified, leaving it applicable to the woman and her children mentioned in the passage. Both the father and the judges had responsibility to protect and seek justice for the pregnant woman and her children. If that is the case with harm due to carelessness, how much more when harm is premeditated. 

Some, though, interpret it differently. They say the first case involves a penalty for the accidental causing of a miscarriage, and the second case includes a further penalty if the woman is harmed. But even if this interpretation is correct - and I do not think it is - it does not greatly change its implications for abortion. Note that the child dies in both of these cases, and in both there is a penalty. The penalty in the second case is for compound crime toward both the mother and child. It is not comparing the death of the child to the death of the woman. Also, that the accidental causing of a miscarriage is penalized with a fine does not mean the child is not a person or alive. There is also a monetary fine in Exodus 21:32 for the death of a slave (and others, Ex. 21:29-31) by an ox accustomed to gore, but the Bible affirms their personhood and life (e.g. Ex. 21:2, 12, 16, 20, 26-27, Job 31:13-14). 

Numbers 5:11-31

“May this water that brings the curse pass into your bowels and make your womb swell and your thigh fall away.’ And the woman shall say, ‘Amen, Amen.’” (Numbers 5:22)

Some claim that this passage provides a God-approved instance of abortion. This passages describes a highly unique test for when a husband was overcome with jealousy, believing his wife to be guilty of adultery without witnesses to verify the claim.

First, this “trial by ordeal” was different from those found in other nations because it used a symbolic but naturally harmless substance (water with some dust and ink) which could supernaturally produce a harmful result in the guilty, rather than using a naturally harmful substance in the hope that the innocent would be supernaturally delivered.

Second, if this passage refers to the death of an unborn child, it would be God alone who caused this, and so this would not give anyone the right to take this matter into their own hands. God gave life and he can take it away. He has laid a curse upon all mankind in response to our fall into sin that all will die, and he chooses the day of our death.

Third, this passage does not refer to the death of an unborn child. In the case of a guilty woman, it says it would make “your womb swell and your thigh fall away,” or as the CSB puts it, “causing your belly to swell and your womb to shrivel.” These terms are best understood in light of 2:28, which says that the innocent woman “shall be free and shall conceive children.” So rather than referring to miscarriage, the punishment is best understood as a visible disease indicating guilt and causing infertility. In this case, the outcome for the guilty woman would be curse and infertility, while the vindication of the innocent woman would include the blessing of conception and children.

Psalm 51:5

“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psalm 51:5)

In this confession of sin written by King David, he confesses not only his sinful acts, but his sinful nature. This verse does not refer to the sins of his mother, since it is a confession of his sins and since it refers in the same way to both his birth and conception. He is stating a fundamental truth in Christian theology that following Adam’s sin, all his descendants by ordinary generation are sinners by nature and under condemnation (Rom. 5:12, 18-19, Eph. 2:3), who may be saved only by Christ (who can save born and unborn infants as well as adults, see next point). As Psalm 51:5 teaches, this sinfulness is true of us from the beginning of our existence. And this begins with conception. If an unborn child can be considered a sinner, then unborn children are to be regarded as distinct living human beings.

Psalms 22:9-10 and 71:5-6

“Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.” (Psalm 22:9–10)

“For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O LORD, from my youth. Upon you I have leaned from before my birth; you are he who took me from my mother’s womb.” (Psalm 71:5–6)

Not only are unborn children participants in man’s fall, but they may also be participants in man’s renewed covenant with God. God can show this mercy to all unborn children, and he has particularly given us hope regarding the children of believers, to be their God (Gen. 17:6). As the writers of the Psalms looked back to their relationship with God over the years, they could look back even to their life in the womb. If an unborn child can be considered as a believer in God in relationship with him, then unborn children are to be regarded as distinct living human beings made in the image of God.

Judges 13:4-5

“Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” (Judges 13:4–5)

These words were spoken by the Lord to the wife of Manoah, telling of how she would conceive and bear Samson. Samson would be a Nazirite from the womb, and so his mother would need to abide by the dietary laws of the Nazirite, since the child receives his nourishment from his mother. A Nazirite was one who was specially consecrated to the Lord (Num. 6:2-3). If an unborn child can be a Nazirite, already bound by Nazirite laws, then unborn children are to be regarded as distinct living human beings made in the image of God.

Luke 1:15, 44

“…he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.” (Luke 1:15)

John the Baptist was filled with the Spirit from his mother’s womb for his work of making known the Son of God in the flesh. John began this work while he was yet unborn. When pregnant Mary visited John’s mother Elizabeth, Elizabeth said to her, “And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.” (Luke 1:43-44) Again, this implies that the unborn are distinct living human beings.

Matthew 1:18

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:18)

The Son of God took on human nature when he was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, of her substance. He was a distinct living human from his conception onward. Jesus is also eternal God, but with respect to his humanity, he was made like us in every respect, except without sin (Heb. 2:17, 4:15).

Conclusion

The law which commands us, “Thou shalt not kill” (Ex. 20:13, KJV), applies to unborn children. The Bible teaches that we are to regard them as distinct and living human beings made in the image of God, and that therefore we ought not to murder such beings. The Bible makes no distinction within the life in the womb such as viability. It assumes a continuity of personhood and existence from conception to after birth. 

It is a mother’s duty to care for the helpless infant entrusted to her womb, just as it is likewise a father’s duty to care for the infant he has begotten. This parental responsibility of care and protection begins at conception. Often these duties are made easy by the parental affection and fulfillment which often accompanies this work. But things can get quite difficult, especially as we labor under the curse (Gen. 3:16-19), and so these duties ought to be reinforced by encouragement, support, and praise, as well as by custom, education, and law. When things break down to such an extent that a mother begins to contemplate the destruction of her child at the hands of the abortionist, the government has a duty to defend the life of the innocent and protect the unborn child from abortion (Psalm 82:3-4, Prov. 30:8-9, Rom. 13:3-4).

This position should be part of a larger program that supports marriage and the family (Ex. 20:12-14, 1 Cor. 7:2, 1 Tim. 5:4, 8-16). This includes passing laws such as those that limit divorce (Matt. 19:3-9), deliver the afflicted from violence (Ps. 82:3-4), hold men accountable for premarital sex (Ex. 22:16-17), and punish rapists (Deut. 22:25-27). It also involves extended family and other people and institutions stepping in when the nuclear family breaks down (1 Tim. 5:3-10, Deut. 14:29, Ruth 1-4). But while this full program ought to be promoted, the unborn should not be neglected until everything else is in place. Let them be protected by the law of the land, and let the church call people to turn from this sin and to turn to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who gives forgiveness and hope to all who repent and believe.