Ancient Testimonies Against Abortion

http://blog.adw.org/2012/08/ancient-testimonies-against-abortion/

By: Msgr. Charles Pope

[excerpts]

A couple of years ago a former Speaker of the House, whose name need not be mentioned here at all, showed herself an amateur theologian lacking in even basic knowledge by claiming (on what she called Jesuitical authority) that the Church teaching on abortion was no older than the 1950s. The usually cautious American Bishops lost no time in issuing vigorous correction. And rightly so, of course, as quotes like these will show.

Here then are some of the quotes:

The Didache (“The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles”) ca 110 AD. Thou shalt not murder a child by abortion. (2:2)…The Way of Death is filled with people who are…murderers of children and abortionists of God’s creatures. (5:1-2)

Letter of Barnabas, circa 125: You shall not kill either the fetus by abortion or the new born

Athenagoras the Athenian (To Marcus Aurelius), ca 150 AD: “We say that those women who use drugs to bring on abortion commit murder, and will have to give an account to God for the abortion…, [For we] regard the very fœtus in the womb as a created being, and therefore an object of God’s care… (# 35).

Clement of Alexandria: (circa 150 – 215 AD) Our whole life can go on in observation of the laws of nature, if we gain dominion over our desires from the beginning and if we do not kill, by various means of a perverse art, the human offspring, born according to the designs of divine providence; for these women who, if order to hide their immorality, use abortive drugs which expel the child completely dead, abort at the same time their own human feelings. Paedagogus, 2

Tertullian circa 160-240 AD: For us, we may not destroy even the fetus in the womb, while as yet the human being derives blood from other parts of the body for its sustenance. To hinder a birth is merely a speedier man-killing; nor does it matter when you take away a life that is born, or destroy one that is coming to birth. That is a man which is going to be one: you have the fruit already in the seed. Apology 9:6

Tertullian (circa 160 – 240 AD): …we are not permitted, since murder has been prohibited to us once and for all, even to destroy …the fetus in the womb. It makes no difference whether one destroys a life that has already been born or one that is in the process of birth. Apology (9:7-8)

Tertullian circa 160-240 AD: [John the Baptist and Jesus] were both alive while still in the womb. Elizabeth rejoiced as the infant leaped in her womb; Mary glorifies the Lord because Christ within inspired her. Each mother recognizes her child and is known by her child who is alive, being not merely souls but also spirits. De Aninta 26:4

Hippolytus (circa 170-236 AD): Whence certain women, reputed believers, began to resort to drugs for producing sterility and to gird themselves round, so as to expel what was conceived on account of their not wanting to have a child either by a slave or by any paltry fellow, for the sake of their family and excessive wealth. Behold, into how great impiety that lawless one has proceeded, by inculcating adultery and murder at the same time. From “Refutation of all Heresies” 9:7

Minucius Felix (180 – 225 AD): Some women take medicines to destroy the germ of future life in their own bodies. They commit infanticide before they have given birth to the infant (Octavious (30, 2))

St. Basil the Great (330 – 379 AD): The woman who purposely destroys her unborn child is guilty of murder. With us there is no nice enquiry as to its being formed or unformed. In this case it is not only the being about to be born who is vindicated, but the woman in her attack upon herself; because in most cases women who make such attempts die. The destruction of the embryo is an additional crime, a second murder, at all events if we regard it as done with intent. The punishment, however, of these women should not be for life, but for the term of ten years. And let their treatment depend not on mere lapse of time, but on the character of their repentance. Letter 188:2

St. Ambrose: (339 to 397 AD) The poor expose their children, the rich kill the fruit of their own bodies in the womb, lest their property be divided up, and they destroy their own children in the womb with murderous poisons. and before life has been passed on, it is annihilated. Hexaemeron”, (5, 18, 58)

St. John Chrysostom (circa 340 – 407 AD): Why sow where the ground makes it its care to destroy the fruit? Where there are many efforts at abortion? Where there is murder before the birth? For you do not even let the harlot remain a mere harlot, but make her a murderer also. You see how drunkenness leads to whoredom, whoredom to adultery, adultery to murder; or rather something even worse than murder. For I have no real name to give it, since it does not destroy the thing born but prevents its being born. Why then do you abuse the gift of God and fight with His laws, and follow after what is a curse as if a blessing, and make the place of procreation a chamber for murder, and arm the woman that was given for childbearing unto slaughter? Homily 24 on Romans

St. Jerome (circa 342-420 AD): I cannot bring myself to speak of the many virgins who daily fall and are lost to the bosom of the church, their mother….Some go so far as to take potions, that they may insure barrenness, and thus murder human beings almost before their conception. Some, when they find themselves with child through their sin, use drugs to procure abortion, and when (as often happens) they die with their offspring, they enter the lower world laden with the guilt not only of adultery against Christ but also of suicide and child murder. Letter 22:13

The Synod of Elvira, 306 AD: If a woman becomes pregnant by committing adultery, while her husband is absent, and after the act she destroys the child, it is proper to keep her from communion until death, because she has doubled her crime. Canon 63.

The Synod of Ancyra, 314 AD, Concerning women who commit fornication, and destroy that which they have conceived, or who are employed in making drugs for abortion, a former decree excluded them until the hour of death, and to this some have assented. Nevertheless, being desirous to use somewhat greater lenity, we have ordained that they fulfill ten years [of penance], according to the prescribed degrees. (Canon 21).

Council of Trullo (692 AD): Those who give drugs for procuring abortion, and those who receive poisons to kill the fœtus, are subjected to the penalty of murder. (Canon 91)

Heaven and the Catholic Church

(Sigh)

I always regret being too personal on my blogs, but right now I just want something out there--out there as a document about what I think, in case I get hit by a car. And somehow I am more inspired to write this than do my regular Friday morning paying bills.

(Eye roll--I KNOW this is going to sound sooo prudish and arrogant. I really am NOT.)

But I've been a good girl my whole life. I mean, really really really absolutely trying my best to do what was right. And it was and is difficult to do. Just a little example:

During a fourth grade spelling test, our teacher had to suddenly leave the room and another kid (Duane! the class clown) started spelling the words out loud to everyone. My stomach went sour and I was filled with tension for I thought I was being held hostage to this cheating (even though I plugged my ears so I couldn't hear and didn't change any of my answers).

Oh woe unto me! What to do, what to do!?

I didn't want to be a snitch, but then I couldn't be part of the cheating either. Let me tell you--to a fourth grader this was a purgatorial moment. What was right? I sweated it out....

Later when everyone was at recess I went to the teacher and asked her to give me an F on the spelling test earlier. I told her that I didn't cheat, but that I still wanted an F. (Somehow that just seemed right to my immature little brain.) The teacher insisted on knowing why and I confessed for the kid without giving a name since I also at that time though whistle-blowing to be some kind of sin.

I am not scrupulous, but my life is packed-filled with such incidences. I have turned myself in for almost cheating on many occasions, gone back and apologized for somewhat lying--almost lying--well--having the intension to lie and making up a truthful excuse without being totally truthful.... And because of my conscientiousness--- became the most hated kid in school-- I was such a goody-two-shoes.

There are those who enjoy the role of tattle-tale and goody-goody, but I didn't. I really didn't. I hated myself for it. But I loved Jesus more than I hated myself and so I pushed myself into sacrificing my own popularity to do what is right. And I was relentlessly teased and mocked, made fun of and shunned.

Believe me I didn't always succeed at doing the right thing, but no one ever has tried harder.

The only problem was that I was always unsure what was the right thing. So many of my friends and family didn't behave like me. They just didn't see a big deal in little white lies and little compromises with doing the right thing. I got ulcers over trying to decide what was the right thing to do. Who was I to think I was smarter than my teachers, pastors and parents? This was a very huge burden to bear--always afraid, always unsure that you are making the right decision.

You see in this relativistic culture, nothing was really black and white. What I noticed from early on was that it was about how someone felt--their niceness and sincerity. That was the ultimate in righteousness. How someone felt--their sweetness was what mattered--not what they actually did. It was all VERY confusing to me growing up.

I have spent most of my life in excruciating confusion as to what is right, because I was going to do it... no matter if they persecuted and killed me. I would be one who didn't hurt Jesus. While the world was coming apart at the seams and my friends were cussing and being disrespectful to their parents and listening to rock music and smoking pot--- I WASN'T GOING TO HURT JESUS!

When He looked down and cried, I didn't want it to be over me. I wasn't looking for a pat on the back, or even a star in my crown. I just didn't want to add to the pain all around that I knew God was in heaven crying about. Blending in and disappearing was just fine with me. And doing what was right wasn't heaping pain upon the Cross adding to His sufferings. So, life became all about doing the right thing.

I didn't want to leave my beloved church--the Seventh-day Adventist church--but I did--because it was the right thing.

I didn't want to spearhead the Adventists For Life movement and be labelled rebellious and wave-maker and zealot--but I did it because it was the right thing.

I didn't want to home school my kids--but I did it because it was the right thing.

There were many times I thought I would rather die than stay married and even moments of suicidal temptations, but I stayed married and alive--because it was the right thing!

And it has been a struggle of epic proportions for me. It has at times felt like death. I know hell, I've been through it like so many of you out there.... Life can be hell. And doing the right thing also feels like hell. People don't look at you with pity and tenderness for doing the right thing. They look at you like you are arrogant, prudish, mean, cold.... You are hated. And all you ever really wanted was to NOT cause more pain... for anyone....

Then when people hate you for doing what you think is the right thing, you become even more confused because you are not sure if you are thinking correctly. If EVERYONE out there seems to be pro-choice--even your parents and church and all your church leaders (that was the situation when I started the pro-life organization in the SDA church) what on earth makes you think you alone of all these wonderful people are right? You start wondering if the labels people thrust on you are correct. Maybe you are rebellious on some subconscious level?


Then one day.... I began living happily ever after....

Jesus showed me the Catholic Church.

Besides my kids, there has never been such a breath-taking and overwhelming surprise in my life as the Catholic Church. If we have all been mistaken and misunderstood what heaven is....
If nothing is literally eternal...
If heaven is not an actual place somewhere up in the cosmos...
If all  heaven is--are the few years I have had in the Catholic Church, then that is enough for me.

My only wish is that I can see Jesus for just a few minutes face to face that I may thank Him for the Catholic Church and for allowing me to be a part of it. That is all I desire of heaven.--Just five minutes to fall at His feet and kiss them for letting me join His church. And Jesus, you know that I am speaking absolutely from the deepest part of my heart on this one.

I truly feel as if all I have ever done for Jesus, all I have suffered and sacrificed that I might not cause Him any pain has been rewarded. He has let me, just like Moses, see the Promised land--the Kingdom of Heaven and that is His Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

I know I didn't earn it--nor do I think I can ever earn heaven. But I think Jesus looked down with pity upon this little confused girl who had tried with all her heart and soul for so long to do what was right and gave her a drink from His fountain of life.

The Catholic Church is the beginning of the Kingdom of Heaven. It is the first step and I don't feel a part of the world anymore. I have seen eternity in her masses and in her dogmas and rituals and rites. This beautiful Bride of Christ has lifted a tiny part of the veil between the seen and unseen and I have glimpsed the rapturous glories of God. I have experienced the bliss, the unfathomable bliss, of submitting to His will and dying to my own. Thank you, thank you Jesus!

Why other Catholics don't see what I see? I just don't know.... I don't understand. All I can say is that I have dedicated my life to understanding more and more and more of Jesus in the Catholic church. I have fasted and prayed and searched and read and absorbed everything I could--watching and listening to ETWN, scouring everything I can from ChurchMilitant.tv, reading every book on Catholicism I can and attending daily mass at every opportunity. I eat, breath, and live Catholicism for in it I have found the miraculous. I have experienced a Christ that I cannot describe for words fail utterly to express His Holiness and majesty.

May I spend all time praising Him, for even if there is no heaven except the Catholic Church here and now, my praise to Jesus through His Bride will echo through eternity and my voice will be immortal. Thank you Jesus for the Paradise of seeing You as You are--with no more confusion.

I am home.

Martyrs Today....

Catholics Martyrs in AMERICA? Prepare!

Christian Unity! Our Second Video

Yes, Arthur and I are having fun trying to do these videos. Hopefully we will get really good at it.

Our home video about why we became Catholic!

Question for Catholics

Please, please PLEASE calling all or any Catholics that could answer these questions. I have contacted several Catholic organizations several times--emails and phone calls over and over . I cannot get ANY answers from anyone. My priest doesn't know. Seminarians don't know. My diocese of Raleigh isn't answering my emails. When I CALL I get people who cannot answer--at any level including the Bishops conference!! (Spent an HOUR waiting on a cellphone to get on EWTN Radio and they didn't get to my phone call.) The Catholics at the fortnight of Freedom have no answers. These are CRITICAL questions--life altering questions for the Catholic and they must be answered.

[Background note: As my husband and I were at the Fortnight for Freedom, which in our parish is praying in the church from 7a to 7p, all the people leading the prayers and the people doing the responses would go out and discuss what was going on between shifts. ALL of them--no kidding--not one of them thought the Healthcare Law had anything to do with them personally. They all couldn't understand what we were saying. When we talked about having to personally pay for contraception and abortion in our insurance, they all just said they got their insurance through their employers and that this in no way would effect them! Not one of them understood that they would now have to pay for these coverages themselves. They thought this was only affecting the church organizations! 


When I asked one of the church leaders what we were supposed to do as Catholics, he said that all we could do was pray for the church, because he warned, "this is going to turn into a Tiananmen Square." I just agreed and I saw myself out there getting run over. Then he said, "It's going to make the people in DC really wake up when some of the priests and bishops are jailed." WHAT the HECK? What about US? WE are being forced to purchase contraception and abortifacient  medications now too. Aren't we also, as faithful Catholics supposed to be out there in the square getting run over WITH our priests and bishops? Is there something going on that I am not aware of? Did the bishops okay Catholics purchasing insurance that covered contraception in the past or something? ]

Here they are:

1. Most of the Catholics I have spoken with get their insurance through their employers and have NO idea if it covers abortion or contraception. Is this okay for the Catholic layman? Have the bishops come out and said that is an acceptable decision for the parishioner to purchase insurance that covers contraception and abortion? If so then you can understand their confusion as to why all of a sudden it is now immoral for the government to make the Catholics organizations do something that the parishioners have been allowed to do all along. This is confusing!! Why on EARTH would it be okay for us Catholics to do and not the Catholic organization? Help me out with understanding this.

If the church hasn't actually told its parishioners that it is immoral for it to purchase and pay for insurance that covers abortion and contraception, they have actually created a very terrible situation for themselves. But if it is immoral, then these questions need to be answered:

2. Are the parishioners now supposed to drop their insurance if it covers contraception and abortion?

3. If we choose to pay the fine for rejecting insurance coverage, where does the fine go? The healthcare tax seems to go straight back into the coffers of the healthcare pool that FUNDS the things we are against? Are we supposed to refuse to pay the fine?

And finally, will the USCCB acquiesce to the law once the religious exemptions are expanded to include Catholic organizations and then allow the Catholics (and all other pro-lifers who are not Catholic) to just be ignored? Will they give up the fight then? They say they will not but I have heard Catholic bishops and spokesmen continue to talk as if they will. They say that the primary concern right now is the expansion of the religious exemption. That is very frightening for us. Then WE will have to go to jail and the bishops will not. I cannot believe they would do that to their flock.

Please, if you could forward these questions I would so appreciate it!
God bless,
Arthur and Teresa Beem