Question about abortion and God's Will

[JimmyJeff]

I’m asking this here even though I’m not Catholic because the Catholic Church has the most consistant pro-life position.

I hope this doesn’t sound like a stupid question but my husband and I went and saw the movie Jesus Camp this weekend. The subject of abortion came up in the movie and the minister basically said that God put each of us in the book of life and had a purpose for every one of us. By having an abortion, you have basically messed up God’s will.

Now I’m not here to debate the movie because I found most of it sickening. However after the movie, my husband starting talking about how his girlfriend (I think they were 17 at the time) had an abortion and how guilty he feels about it. But here’s the thing, when I met him when I was 24 I wouldn’t have been the slightest bit interested in dating a man who had an 8-9 year old child with another woman. But he didn’t and we married. We have 3 beautiful, smart, moral children. Do they have the right to exist? Are they in God’s book of life? If my husband tampered with God’s Will, are my children really meant to be seeing as they wouldn’t exist had my husband had a child as a teen?

I believe they are but I’m just wondering what the Christian position is on this?

Thanks!

JJ

 

[Zahmir]

One of the beautiful things about God and His Will is that good can come from anything. Even through the worst evils God can achieve good. (Notice how true evil can never come from a true good.)

In the Old Testament, Jacob tricked his father and received the blessing destined for Esau. Jacob also committed all sorts of evils and “bad things.” Yet, the nation Israel was carried through him and thus continued the line of kings.

Evil is always evil and evil should never be done, but evil is transitory and good will always win out. Be sorry for the evil that was done, but be grateful for God’s ever lasting presence in your life.

I stress, the ENDS never justify the MEANS, but God can make a good end out of a horrific means.

 

[Della]

The minister in the film either doesn’t understand the complexity of free will vs. predestination or he was attempting to “guilt” the young people into not getting abortions.

We cannot know the will of God for anyone, born or unborn. You cannot know if you husband would have married the girl who was pregnant with his child or if the marriage would have lasted or any other variables that may have arisen–only God can know that.

Since this is so, we cannot base our lives on what might have been, since we cannot know what might have been. But it is true that a child’s life was taken from him/her, and for that your husband is justified in feeling badly about it. The taking of any innocent life is always to be regretted, no matter what the circumstances may have been.

The fact that your children exist means that God always knew they would exist. Whether or not it was his direct will that they exist is an issue that no one can really answer, for it resides strictly in the heart and mind of God.

 

[1ke]

God has Divine Will and permissive will. In other words, he has a plan, but when we act out of our free will and go against his plan then God allows it and the consequences we bear.

For example, with your husband. God’s will for us is never sin therefore having sex with his girlfriend outside of marriage and conceiving a child were not his will. Killing the child through abortion was not his will. But, perhaps meeting and marrying you was his will all along. Your husband just took the hard road to get there. If they had not aborted their daughter, perhaps God would have softened your heart to allow you to date this man anyway. Or, they could have chosen to place their baby for adoption rather than kill her.

Now, years later, God is giving your husband a chance to repent and heal from this sin by bringing it up at this time in his life. I would recommend your husband seek post-abortion counseling and forgiveness for his part in the abortion. There are several good ministries you can turn to: Rachel’s Vineyard and Project Rachel being two of them. Google “post abortion help” and you’ll find help for him.

 

[JimmyJeff]

Thank you for your replies. So much to think about.

 

[Prodigal_Son]

The key here is providence.

God provided for all our sinfulness in advance, so it is no contradiction that a) a bad choice was made, and b) a mutually exclusive good outcome resulted. Providence is a trait that exists outside of time.

Let’s see if I can explain the idea, here. It might be hard to follow.

Scrap the idea that “God created the universe.” Replace it with “God is creating the universe.” God, in creating the universe, chooses to place certain limitations on Himself. By giving us free will, for example, God allows evil to exist – presumably because the positive outcome of free will is SO GOOD that it’s worth the cost.

Nevertheless, God is still omnipotent. Everything that he has not freed is not free. He is also omniscient, knowing all the past and all the future. As He is creating the world, He allows for what He knows about creation. He allows for His knowledge that your husband would make that bad decision.

Since He’s God, He can’t help but make good things come out of that bad thing. Furthermore, since he always knew your husband would choose that way, your subsequent children were always in his perfect will.

Even though they could not exist without that sin, they cannot help but exist – God is so good that he “provided for” them.

Providence is a marvelous mystery to wrap your head around. Thank you for posting; you’ve spurred me on to think about some Truths that are amazing.