Is God Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, Or...?

She was a Christian. She was pro-choice. She said that although she would never choose to have an abortion, she believed every woman should have the right to choose for herself. But one question changed her mind in an instant! Before I tell you what the question was, let me ask you a question.

How do you feel about the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade? If you watch the news, you know many people have very strong feelings, pro and con, about the decision. The question is now in the hands of individual State legislatures—and the battles have only just begun. South Dakota immediately outlawed abortion, but now there is a strong pushback to permit abortion up to the moment of birth. Colorado allows for an abortion even while a woman is in labor. How do you feel about that?

Actually, it doesn’t matter how you feel. It doesn’t matter how I feel. It doesn’t matter how the Supreme Court feels. It doesn’t even matter how your pastor or priest feels. The only thing that really matters is how God feels.

This is where the one question that instantly changed the mind of the young Christian woman who was pro-choice comes into play. What was that question?

If God is love, who does He love more, the mother or her unborn child?

For this young woman, that was all she needed. She immediately realized that if God is love, He doesn’t love the mother more than the child. He deeply loves them both. However, some of our more skeptical pro-choice brothers and sisters, who deeply feel for the plight of the pregnant mother, need more. They need to hear from God what He Himself actually thinks. There’s nothing wrong with that.

In an attempt to give evidence that God considers abortion wrong, many Christians quote Psalms 139:13-16. Verses 13-14 say, “For you formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am wonderfully and fearfully made….”(NAS) It is a beautifully poetic and inspiring passage that gives us hope, but unfortunately those verses never clearly delineate at what point in the process the fetus becomes a person. Look at it closely. All it says is that God “wove me” in the womb, not that I was a person or even fully human in the womb. Personally, I believe the author assumed personhood from conception, but this passage does not provide explicit clarity for the skeptic.

However, there are other passages of Scripture that represent God’s point of view with far less ambiguity. It takes a little more work to get there, but if you really want to effectively communicate God’s perspective it’s worth the effort. Let’s start by looking at three verses:

Luke 1:41a “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb…” (NAS)

Luke 2:12 “’This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’” (NAS)

Luke 18:15a “And they were bringing even their babies to him [Jesus] so that he would touch them.” (NAS)

What do all three of these verses have in common? They all use the exact same Greek word “brephos” to describe a baby both inside and outside the womb.

The first “brephos” is still in the womb. (Luke 1:41)

The second “brephos” is a newborn. (Luke 2:12)

The third “brephos” describes infants in general. (Luke 18:15)

God makes no distinction between babies in the womb and babies outside the womb. The word choices in the Gospel of Luke passages plainly imply God that sees the baby inside the womb the same as the baby outside the womb. The language is clear.

Therefore, if God is okay with killing a “brephos” in the womb, then it logically follows that God is okay with killing any “brephos,” including those outside the womb. Of course, that clearly violates the sixth commandment, “Thou shalt not murder.” Conversely, if God considers it murder to kill a six-month old post-birth “brephos” then it necessarily follows that He considers it murder to kill a “brephos” still inhabiting the womb. Again, God makes no distinction. According to Scripture a “brephos” is a “brephos” is a “brephos.” In this case, segregated personhood (real or imagined) is irrelevant to the outcome. Either God loves every “brephos” or He doesn’t.

Although I regard this as sufficient information on which to make an informed decision about God’s view of abortion, let’s keep going and take a look at it from another perspective. Since many people do not believe that a human being in the womb necessarily qualifies as “person” let’s go to the lowest possible common denominator of what qualifies a person as a person: personality.

Let’s go back to the Scriptures again. Do we ever see a fetus portrayed as a person or as possessing personality?

Open your Bible to Luke 1:39-44. It’s the story of when pregnant Mary meets her pregnant cousin Elizabeth. What does the text say? “…when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby [brephos] leaped in my womb for joy.” (NAS) Did you catch that? The Bible indicates the in utero “brephos” leaped for “joy.” In other words, the fetus felt and expressed joy. In what world does a non-person feel and express joy? If you feel and express joy, you clearly possess a personality trait. And if you possess personality then by the most basic definition you are a person.

If you still remain unconvinced, let’s go back to Luke 1:15. This verse occurs in the middle of the story of the angel informing Zacharias that his wife Elizabeth will bear a son (John the Baptist): “For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb.”(NAS) A “brephos” in the womb was filled with the Holy Spirit. Every other instance of the phrase, “filled with the Holy Spirit,” in Scripture always denotes a person—no exceptions. No donkeys or rocks were ever “filled with the Holy Spirit.” Therefore, the most reasonable conclusion, based on the evidence in Scripture, is that God considered the fetus (“brephos”) in Elizabeth’s womb to be a person.

You get the point. God does not distinguish between a fetus (“brephos”) in the womb and a baby (“brephos”) outside the womb. However, just to be abundantly clear, God also made sure to let us know that babies in the womb are persons because they can feel and express personality traits thereby making them persons in the most basic sense of the word. And finally, God let us know that a fetus can be “filled with the Holy Spirit,” again implying personhood.

So, is it possible to be pro-choice and a follower of Jesus? I am not the Judge, so I’ll leave that between you and your Creator. It really doesn’t matter how I feel. You’re answerable to Him, and Him alone—not me. My intent is simply to give you the best information I can.

The critical question is, if God is love, who does He love more, the mother or her in utero “brephos?” Or to state it in plain English, if God is love, who does he love more, the mother or her unborn child? Both are created in His image. Both possess infinite, irrevocable value in his eyes. He passionately loves both. Therefore, I believe we must extend the love of God to both mother and child.

Let me strongly encourage you, the reader, as you cross paths with women considering abortion, or who have had abortions, never compromise God’s truth, and never compromise God’s love.

God is not Pro-Choice. God is Pro-Love.

GOD is the Issue.

© Brad Bright 2023, All rights reserved.

Click here for the Podcast available 4-17-23!

Faith, Fatalism and America's Future

In the 1980’s I served on the staff of Senator William Armstrong from Colorado. He loved Jesus, and he was exceedingly shrewd and brilliant. Those of us who worked for him used to joke that the only reason he had a staff is so that he wouldn’t make the other United States senators feel bad.

But humor aside, in private this exceptional man confided, “As a United States Senator, I can’t hope to turn America around. I can’t even hope to stop the slide. The best I can do is help slow it down.”

Then there was Chuck Colson, another extremely smart man who loved Jesus. After serving time for his role in Watergate during the Nixon administration, he found Jesus. Then in 1976 he founded Prison Fellowship which ultimately became the largest non-profit serving prisoners and their families. In 1991 he went on to establish the Colson Center for Christian Worldview.

I remember about 20 years ago, my wife got frustrated as she listened to him speak. She said to me later, “He just speaks doom and gloom about America. He said we are beyond the point of no return! What am I supposed to do with that? Does he really think there’s no hope?”

Folks, that was 20 years ago! It was bad then. It’s worse today—a lot worse!

We have more idiots for leaders than ever before in American history.

Mass shootings seem to occur almost weekly.

Child suicide is higher than ever.

Sexual perverts lie in wait for our kids.

Lethal violence boils over into our schools.

Many men believe they are women.

The fentanyl crisis has exploded.

We are being invaded through our southern border.

The rule of law is a complete joke.

Inflation daily devalues our currency.

Social Security is plunging towards insolvency.

We are dependent on nations that hate us for energy.

Another possible Great Depression looms on the horizon.

Not since the Civil War has America been so polarized.

And Russia, China, and Iraq have joined forces against us.

As bad as that is, it’s going to get worse. But there is hope amidst all the darkness.

Do you know what else both Chuck Colson and Bill Armstrong firmly believed? They both believed God is sovereign. God decides. God is fully capable of turning America around. But it will only happen if God causes revival in this nation. Let be cIear. I did not say, only if revival happens, because revival never just happens. Only God can cause revival. That is why I said, only if God causes revival in this nation. God alone is sovereign.

When we say God is sovereign, we mean, God is in complete control.

Some Christians respond to God’s sovereignty: “Well, if God’s in control there’s nothing I can do about it.” That’s FATALISM.

If you listened to my podcast a few weeks ago about my cancer diagnosis and the sovereignty of God, you know I have had a tendency in the past to view God’s sovereignty like a fatalist – more like Eeyore than like Tigger. If you grew up reading Winnie the Pooh you know exactly what I mean. It was probably due to my Presbyterian upbringing which tends to emphasize predestination over free will, and therefore often slides into the abyss of fatalism.

Other Christians respond: “If God is in control, there’s nothing I can’t do, empowered by God’s Spirit.” That’s FAITH.

Faith or Fatalism, which one best describes you? Which one best describes you when you listen to the evening news?

Polls show that a majority of Americans don’t believe the future looks bright. You may be one of them. I’m not! Here’s why. In the final few years before my dad passed away, he often declared, “I believe another revival is coming to America, and it will be characterized by love.”

But before rival can come, we need to ask the two obvious questions. What is our role? What is God’s role?

First, let’s consider the question: What is our role?

Since God is sovereign and He is in control, our primary job is to daily ask him to send revival. If we aren’t doing that, then nothing else matters, because only God can cause revival. We cannot. Without revival, I agree with Chuck Colson that we are far beyond the point of no return. So, we need to be humbly asking God every day to cause a revival across this nation.

However, I do not believe that is enough. We must also recognize that the real problem in America today is not that there is too much darkness. Is there a lot of darkness? Yes! But that is not the problem.

The real problem in America today is that there is not enough light.

The scripture is clear, light casts out darkness. And folks, if that is true, we can each do something about the darkness, can’t we? Jesus said we are to be salt and light. Jesus’ strategy was to use us to spread His light.

It is not the pastor’s responsibility to bring light into my neighborhood; it is mine—and it is yours. If we ignore that, we might as well go home today, close the door, and wait for the inevitable end to come. Because it will. That’s what fatalism looks like.

The second obvious question is: What is God’s role? It is to cause revival. Only He can do that. We cannot.

So, let me ask you the million-dollar question: if you are not willing to pray and be a light in your community and in the nation, how likely do you think it is that God will cause revival? I think you can guess how I would answer that question, but how do you answer that question?

Remember, you can either respond to God’s sovereignty as a fatalist—and do nothing. Or you can respond to God’s sovereignty with faith. And folks, faith is not just belief; faith is acting on belief. Faith is primarily an action. That why James, the brother of Jesus said, “Faith without works is dead.”

Folks, it’s time for you and me to turn up the Light, trusting that our sovereign God will act in response to our faith. America’s very existence is at stake. Our children’s futures are at stake. It’s time for each of us to make God the issue. It’s time to love our neighbors as Jesus commanded.

Like my dad, I believe there’s another revival coming, and it will be characterized by love,

but only if we will pray for our neighbors and our fellow citizens, and then extend the love of Christ to them.

God is the issue. So, let’s go out and make Him the issue every day—in love.

Watch my podcast on YouTube and like and share it! Help us get the message out there!

Brad Bright Podcast

Copyright © Brad Bright 2023. All rights reserved.

Easter and Science: What Three Words Bind Them Together Forever?

Has anyone ever said to you, “I don’t believe in God; I believe in Science,” as though science and God are somehow incompatible?

Let me ask you are harder question: what can you do today to help ensure you never hear those words come out of the mouth of your child as he or she grows into adulthood?

If your child is in public school, they are being taught that Christianity is irrelevant to their daily lives, and that science and religion are at war with each other.

Most Christian schools are only slightly better. They are taught the Bible, and they are taught science, but they are rarely taught where Science and Christianity intersect. Eventually they conclude that either God is irrelevant to science, or that they must choose between science or the Bible. The reason most science teachers in Christian schools never teach about the point of intersection between Christianity and science is because they never learned it themselves.

The purpose of this blog is to help you better understand that point of intersection between science and Christianity so you can converse intelligently with your co-workers and help inoculate your kids from the false dichotomy that God and science are at odds.

It all begins with three words, “HE IS RISEN!” Those three words gave birth to science as we know it today.

Without those three words:

- You’d still drive a horse and buggy.

- Electricity would not have been harnessed.

- Edison would have never created the lightbulb.

- Alexander Graham Bell would have never invented the telephone.

- We’d have no radio.

- No TV.

- No iPhone.

- No computers.

- No internet.

- No air conditioning.

- No cars.

- No airplanes.

- No space ships.

- No satellites.

- No penicillin.

- No antibiotics.

- No vaccine for polio, measles or smallpox.

- The Scientific Method which underlies all these things would still lie undiscovered.

I know you’re probably thinking, “Okay Brad, I don’t get it. Are you really saying that Jesus’ resurrection was critical to the development of modern science?” YES! That’s exactly what I’m saying.

Have you ever wondered why the ancient Egyptians, who designed and built the pyramids,

didn’t come up with the scientific method?

The Babylonians?

The Persians?

The Greeks? Remember Plato, Aristotle and Socrates? They were smart guys.

The Romans? They built roads that still exist today. They built aqueducts that are still considered engineering marvels.

The Chinese? They discovered gunpowder. They invented the compass and block printing.

The Mayans and Aztecs? They built great pyramids. They were great astronomers.

These were all highly advanced cultures with extremely smart people.

Do you really believe that Europeans were significantly more intelligent than all the people in all those other cultures throughout all of history? Did the Europeans have higher I.Q.’s? Or was there something else? What made the difference?

European Christians thought differently than any other civilization in all of history. They saw nature differently because they saw God differently.

Atheism, Polytheism, Syncretism, Ancestor worship, Islam, did not give birth to the systematic study of nature, which we call science. Why? Why did Christianity alone give birth to the systematic study of nature?

Your children and grandchildren will not be taught any of this in public school, and they probably will not learn this in most Christian schools. I doubt you were taught this. I know I wasn’t. Furthermore, there is a frontal assault on Christianity today, specifically on our children. Do you really believe your kids are immune?

I remember being at a Christmas party a few years ago. Kathy and I struck up a conversation with a couple who turned out to be Jewish. They knew I was from a high-profile Evangelical family. We chatted for about an hour. At one point the wife confided that her 21-year-old daughter recently dropped a bombshell, saying, “Mom, God is irrelevant to my life.” I quickly said, “Oh, she went to public school.” Clearly surprised, the woman responded, “Yes, how did you know?” I replied, “You said your daughter thinks God is irrelevant to her life.”

I then asked her a series of related questions. “In science class, did they ever teach your daughter how the Bible is relevant to science? What about history? What about literature? What about mathematics? What about civics? What about art? Was there any subject where they taught her how religion was relevant to that subject?”

The wife still didn’t quite follow, so I continued, “For 13 years your daughter learned that you can study all those subjects without reference to God. So, she finally concluded that God is irrelevant to those subjects. It was then only a small step to conclude, that on a practical level, God is irrelevant to her daily life.” The light of recognition flashed on in her eyes, as she blurted out, “Can we talk more?”

I never want you to hear from your adult children, “Mom, dad, God is irrelevant to my life.” However, that means you must engage with them.

The following few paragraphs will help you have the conversation regarding the intersection between science and God with your kids throughout their sojourn to adulthood, as well as with your friends and co-workers.

Most history books will tell you the Scientific Revolution, the systematic study of nature, kicked into full gear in the mid 1500’s, probably starting with Copernicus. But the development of the Scientific Method began 400 years earlier during the Middle Ages as scholars took a deeper look at the Bible. Some historians of the last 150 years mislabeled this period the “Dark Ages,” attempting to undermine Christianity. You probably heard it called that in school. I did. They would have you believe the Scientific Method sprang to life practically overnight.

The systematic study of nature developed over time beginning in the 12th century. Many of those involved were clergy and theologians. All assumed the rationality of God. It was Christian beliefs about the nature of God that gave rise to the scientific method. Natural philosophers (those who studied nature) assumed the rationality of God and therefore they assumed that nature would reflect that rationality in the form of order.

It wasn’t until that latter half of the 19th century, close on the heels of Darwin and Freud, that this underlying assumption was seriously challenged. That is when the perceived conflict between Christianity and science arose. Up until then, the practice of science was generally based on the assumptions that God existed, that He was rational, and that nature would reflect his rationality.

Up until that time most scientists held the following seven assumptions:

1) GOD EXISTS, specifically the God of the Bible.

2) GOD IS RATIONAL. Where did they learn that? They learned that from the Bible.

3) GOD CREATED THE UNIVERSE. Where did they learn that? Again, from the Bible, beginning in the book of Genesis. Therefore, they assumed His creation would naturally reflect his rationality, exhibited by its order.

4) GOD HAS A WILL. He is not some kind of impersonal force. Where did they learn that? From the Bible.

God chose to make the universe he wanted to make, not the universe he had to make. Contrary to the Greek thought, this implies that you must do more than employ just reason; you must also observe nature in order to discover what God actually chose to create as an act of the will.

For instance, the Greeks believed the planets had circular orbits rather than elliptical, because they assumed a circle was the purest form of motion. Conversely, Copernicus and Kepler first observed the orbits of planets, then drew conclusions. Now we consider observation common sense to the understanding of nature, but this was a complete break from ancient Greek thought.

5) MAN WAS CREATED IN GOD’S IMAGE. Where did they learn that? From the Bible. Therefore, Europeans assumed man must also be a rational being. This meant man should be capable of discovering the order which God embedded in nature through careful observation.

6) BECAUSE OF SIN MAN’S REASON CAN BE FLAWED. Again, this assumption did not come from the Greek philosophers; it came from the Bible. Therefore, hypotheses and conclusions need to be double-checked and triple-checked through repeated observation and experimentation—a critical assumption of the Scientific Method.

7) MATHMATICS WAS APPLIED TO THE STUDY OF NATURE: Because mathematics was all about order, it made sense to systematically apply mathematics to the study of nature because of the order embedded in nature. This was a revolutionary concept. Mathematics had never been systematically applied to the study of nature. This final assumption ultimately led to Newton’s theory of gravity and Einstein’s theory of relativity.

In the words of Johannes Kepler who discovered the laws of planetary motion:

“The chief aim of all investigations of the external world should be to discover the rational order and harmony imposed on it by God and which he revealed to us in the language of mathematics.”

As a side note, atheism could never have given birth to modern science because it does not assume order in the universe. In fact, Richard Dawkins, an Oxford biologist, and one of the leading intellectuals of the New Atheist Movement, stated that there is no real order in the universe, only “apparent order.” What he was inadvertently admitting is that atheism could have never birthed the Scientific Method which was built on the assumption that there is order in the universe.

So, the next time someone says, “I don’t believe in God; I believe in science.” Ask them why the ancient Egyptians, the ancient Greeks, the Romans, the Aztecs, the Mayans, or the Chinese never came up with the scientific method (the systematic study of nature) but the West did. Was it because Europeans were smarter than all those other people and cultures? Did they have higher IQ’s? Or was it something else? What was it? That should start a great conversation as long as you keep your finger out of the air.

And at some point, start having that same conversation with your kids. Don’t lose the battle for your children’s minds by default. When they are young, ask them simple questions:

Can a dog give birth to a cat? Why do you think God made it that way?

Can God think? Can we think?

Does God ever say “Oops!” Does science ever say “Oops!”

As they get older, ask harder questions. By asking questions that involve God’s relationship to science, you will start creating the intersection between God and science in their minds.

In fact, this next week, leading up to Easter, let me give you a fun activity you can do with your kids that will help them begin to make this connection.

Briefly explain to your kids the connection between Easter and Science. Then for the entire week, do the following with them:

When you turn on the lightswitch say, “He is Risen, so therefore we have light.”

When you get in the car say, “He is Risen, so I can start the car.”

When you pull out your cell phone say, “He is Risen, so I can text grandma.”

See how many things you can apply that statement to leading up to Easter. It will help deepen the connection between God and science in their minds.

The resurrection of Jesus gave birth to a new way of thinking about God and nature, which in turn created fertile soil for the birth and growth of science. So, this Easter, when you hear the words, “He is Risen,” I hope you will have an even greater appreciation for the power of those words. Those words changed the course of history. They gave birth to science. They changed the course of my life and my eternal destiny. They gave me peace with God. I hope they have changed the course of your life and give you peace too.

He is Risen!

Watch my podcast regarding the three words that forever bind Easter and Science together!

Podcast

Copyright © Brad Bright 2023. All rights reserved.