Fake history: 'When Evangelicals were pro-choice'

Yesterday's article in CNN's belief blog, "My Take: When Evangelicals Were Pro-Choice," is the most recent attempt to relativize evangelical convictions about abortion. Author Jonathan Dudley argues that, "The reality is that what conservative Christians now say is the Bible's clear teaching on the matter was not a widespread interpretation until the late 20th century."

Dudley made the same point in his 2011 book Broken Words: Abuse of Science and Faith in American Politics. In the CNN piece, he notes a 1968 Christianity Today issue focused on contraception and abortion. In that issue, Bruce Waltke, at Dallas Theological Seminary at the time, Dudley says Waltke argued that "the fetus is not reckoned as a soul." Dudley also notes that the Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution in 1971 affirming that abortion should be legal, to protect the life of the mother and her emotional life as well.

Continue reading at www.christianitytoday.com

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http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YRJJ7XYJIMFYUTJ5KXUFR3ZEFE Ken Kirkham

Any organized denomination can say anything they wish. If it is not Biblical, it is their problem. Denying that a fetus is living human being is denying God.
- judy64
  
  To my knowledge, the problem of abortion never really existed until the 60's.. Maybe there were some all along, but until the 'sexual revolution' , when all of us went wild in the 60's, I had never heard of abortion. However, I have not researched it… I never heard it mentioned in my home or in my church or even between me and friends until about '68. Back then my friend went to NY to have an abortion and that was my first knowledge of it. Maybe I led a very sheltered life. I just thought if I ever got pregnant, my mom would kill me and then I would have a baby and live a secretive life for a while..
  - Wordmahn
    
    Yes, Judy, in the last 50 years we lost more than we realize. But it was the weakness of our churches that opened the door for all of these cultural revolutions. We did not preach the Word, did not encourage our people to really study and follow their Bibles, and were not diligent about many other things. We were "at ease in Zion." So, the enemy came ran through our camp, ripped down our meager defences, and plundered us greatly. Now there is much to rebuild. But just like it was for the Israelites returning to their land, there will be resistance and much work. Let us confess our foolishness and pray the Lord would be pleased to help us wake up and rebuild a God honoring culture.
aceituna

Lie! The Bible clearly consideres the fetus, a person. It was simply accepted in the past so there was no dialogue about it. Now that we have Roe vs.Wade etc. to make it easy to evade the responsibility of raising a child, the irresponsible want to continue their irresponsibility so they are claiming that the church never was against abortion. Unfortunately the mainstream liberal churches have bought into their lie and proclaim "women's rights" over what happens to their body and disregard the right of the fetus to life. Thus they make a bogus claim.
- daves
  
  I am just curious, where in the old testament does it suggest that a fetus is a person?
  - Evermyrtle
    
    Satan and the other one who knows the scriptures speaketh!!!
  - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1468923133 Christopher Plante
    
    Jeremiah 1:3 God told this prophet, "“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
    before you were born I set you apart;"
    - daves
      
      Thanks.
  - aceituna
    
    Ask Christopher!!!
  - Denise Watts-Wilson
    
    Hi Dave,
  - Denise Watts-Wilson
    
    Sorry Dave, I clicked in before I finished writing. I cannot find the exact location right now, but there is among the laws of Leviticus, Numbers, or Deuteronomy, an indication that if two men are engaged in a physical exchange and an expectant woman happens to be injured so as to lose the child she is carrying (or the child is injured, I can't recall even that now), there is a penalty for that loss. If time permits and I can f ind this site again, I will keep looking and try to get back to you with the exact citation.
- aceituna
  
  Not only are we a person when conceived, we also are sinful and in need of a savior from the time we are conceived. Read in Isaiah 53 — Behold I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. That verse is not condemning the mother for the sexual union between a man and wife is not only clean from sin, but is commanded by God from the time of creation when God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply. It is only pointing out the fact that all are born with a sinful nature and in need of forgiveness. It is important for parents to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. It shows the importance of Infant baptism, because in Romans we read Baptism does now save us. But in Jeremiah we learn that God calls us from the womb to be his servant. Yes, the fetus is a PERSON.
  - http://www.facebook.com/people/Andrew-Patton/592034163 Andrew Patton
    
    The verse you cited concerning Original Sin is from Psalm 51, and the verse on Baptism is from 1 Peter 3.
edc

The 60's and early 70's saw a more liberal SBC than it is now. I remember them recommending a few, what were considered, perverted books in their teen ss quarterly and the uproar it caused. This was due to the leadership at the time. That leader was replaced with a more conservative SBC president and things got closer to where they should be. Every institute rises and falls on leadership.
pcsrocky

This just shows that there have always been people who don't really read the Bible. Or if they do, they take only a portion of the teachings, the ones they like, to make or prove a point. They take parts out of context and warp them. And, unfortunately, there are liberal groups in Churches too.
John J Flanagan

Some progressives do not like historical accuracy and conclusions that conflict with their distorted worldview; therefore, it is imperative for them to rewrite history.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=58215905 Wesley Woods

Evangelicals still are not truly pro-life. they still support the use of birth control. they support exceptions for rape and incest. they are even divided over the HSS contraception mandate. their pro-life stance lasts as long as it is convenient. the muddy of the waters that plan parenthood did in the debate over the person-hood amendment in Mississippi is a blessing in disguise for it pointed out the hypocrisy of many Evangelicals. it is easy to preach against abortion as long as you view contraception having nothing to do with abortion. the same excuses used to support contraception are the same ones used to support abortion. control the size of the family, another child will create an unnecessary hardship. we should look at the truly pro-life stance officially of the Catholic Church.
Michael Payne

"Thou shalt not kill", yet even the so called conservative Christians often think it is ok to suck the brains out of someone made in the image of God, if it involves rape or incest. The other question is why are we having 1 or 2 children in evangelical circles? When did children cease to be a blessing and debt cease to be a curse? Don't we believe that a quiver full of arrows (children) is still a blessing? Then again we think it is Christian to make our neighbors pay for our children's education in grade school or at the university with state funded (read theft) universities or grants. God help us. 200 years ago, most Pagans thought like Christians in this nation, today most Christians think like pagans. Can't say they are all lost, as Leodecia was still a church, and Corinth for that matter. 2 Chron 7:14 and Deut 28.
bigbadude

This is an excuse for some corporation to profit from murdering babies?