Imago Dei: Man As Incarnate Subject

"God created man in His own image"

The concept of the image of God as the "dwelling place of God's Spirit" makes the important point that the sacredness of man's life is not limited exclusively to his conscious mental functions. If the crucial aspect of the divine image is constituted by the presence of the divine Spirit, then it is clear that the Spirit is not limited to the conscious aspects of man's life. This latter Identification has been the dominant tendency in the Cartesian and humanistic understandings of human nature. But God's Spirit can be just as much a reality in the body of an unborn, child or a comatose, dying patient as in the body of a healthy, fully conscious adult. In the biblical view, the value of a person's life is not limited to conscious mental function (see especially D. J. A. Cline's, "The Image of God in Man" Tyndale Bulletin 19 (1968): 53-217; and M. G. Kline, "Creation in the Image of Glory in Spirit," Westminster Theological Journal 39.2 (1977): 250-272).

Historical Perspectives:

1. Legal abortions increased from 898,000 in 1974 to 1,574,000 in 1982 according to researchers at Alan Guttmacher Institute.

2. Abortion represents a $800 million a year industry in the USA alone.

3. These figures mean that each day an average of ca. 4,500 unborn human beings are aborted in the USA. In Washington, D.C., the nation's capitol, abortions now outnumber live births.

4. First known prescription for an oral abortifacient written by Chinese Emperor Shen Nung in the period 2737-2696 B.C.

5. In his Republic, Plato wrote that ill-conceived embryos should not be brought to birth.

6. Aristotle was of the opinion that deformed children should be exposed and left to die.

7. Hippocrates (oath) "I will not give a woman a pessary to cause abortion."

8. Code of Hammurabi (1728 B.C.) contains prohibitions against abortion.

9. Early Church resolutely opposed abortion which was common in the Roman world.

10. By the fourth century, Christian condemnation of abortion was reflected in Canon law (Augustine).

11. Anglo-Saxon law prohibited abortion.

12. 1803 - British criminal law forbade abortion.

13. Until 1967 abortion was illegal in most states. Between 1967 and 1969 laws extended conditions for "therapeutic" abortion.

14. January 22, 1973 - Supreme Court ruling in Roe/Wade case—made "abortion on demand" legal.

15. July 1, 1976, ruling in Planned Parenthood of Missouri vs. Danforth—Parents are not allowed to veto abortion decisions of their minor daughters, nor fathers allowed to veto power over abortion of children they helped to conceive.

16. June 30, 1980 (by 5 to 4 margin) the court held in Harris vs. McRae that congress ruled that the states may cut off funds for 'medically necessary' abortions (Hyde Amendment, Sept. 1976) restricted federal funding of abortion).

17. June 15, 1983, the city of Akron vs. Akron Center for Reproduction Health, Inc.

18. January 27, 1987 — ???

19. Supreme Court, 1989 - beyond Roe-Wade.

20. Beyond the 21st Century.

Bibliography

Concerning 'personhood' see Gabriel Pastrana, "Personhood and The Beginning of Human Life," Thomist 41, 42 (1977): 247-94; John A. Rasmussen, "Abortion: Historical and Biblical Perspective," CTQ 43 (1979); and James C. Mohr, Abortion in America (Oxford, 1978) traces developments in American law.

Dr. James Strauss

Theology/Philosophy

Lincoln Christian College and Seminary

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