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What About Abortion in Cases of Rape and Incest? Women and Sexual Assault
Life News ^ | 4/5/10 | Amy Sobie

Posted on 04/05/2010 3:13:26 PM PDT by wagglebee

LifeNews.com Note: Amy Sobie is the editor of The Post-Abortion Review, a quarterly publication of the Elliot Institute. The organization is a widely respected leader in research and analysis of medical, mental health and other complications resulting from abortions.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Many people, including those whose mission is to help women and girls who are victims of sexual assault and abuse, believe abortion is the best solution if a pregnancy occurs.

Yet our research shows that most women who become pregnant through sexual assault don't want abortion, and say abortion only compounds their trauma.

“How can you deny an abortion to a twelve-year-old girl who is the victim of incest?”

Typically, people on both sides of the abortion debate accept the premise that most women who become pregnant through sexual assault want abortions. From this “fact,” it naturally follows that the reason women want abortions in these cases is because it will help them to put the assault behind them, recover more quickly, and avoid the additional trauma of giving birth to a “rapist’s child.”

But in fact, the welfare of a mother and her child are never at odds, even in sexual assault cases. As the stories of many women confirm, both the mother and the child are helped by preserving life, not by perpetuating violence.

Sadly, however, the testimonies of women who have actually been pregnant through sexual assault are routinely left out of this public debate. Many people, including sexual assault victims who have never been pregnant, may be forming opinions based on their own prejudices and fears rather than the real life experiences of those people who have been in this difficult situation and reality.

For example, it is commonly assumed that rape victims who become pregnant would naturally want abortions. But in the only major study of pregnant rape victims ever done prior to this book, Dr. Sandra Mahkorn found that 75 to 85 percent did not have abortions. This figure is remarkably similar to the 73 percent birth rate found in our sample of 164 pregnant rape victims. This one finding alone should cause people to pause and reflect on the presumption that abortion is wanted or even best for sexual assault victims.1

Several reasons were given for not aborting. Many women who become pregnant through sexual assault do not believe in abortion, believing it would be a further act of violence perpetrated against their bodies and their children. Further, many believe that their children’s lives may have some intrinsic meaning or purpose which they do not yet understand. This child was brought into their lives by a horrible, repulsive act. But perhaps God, or fate, will use the child for some greater purpose. Good can come from evil.

The woman may also sense, at least at a subconscious level, that if she can get through the pregnancy she will have conquered the rape. By giving birth, she can reclaim some of her lost self-esteem. Giving birth, especially when conception was not desired, is a totally selfless act, a generous act, a display of courage, strength, and honor. It is proof that she is better than the rapist. While he was selfish, she can be generous. While he destroyed, she can nurture.

Adding to the Trauma

Many people assume that abortion will at least help a rape victim put the assault behind her and get on with her life. But evidence shows that abortion is not some magical surgery which turns back the clock to make a woman “un-pregnant.”

Instead, it is a real life event which is always very stressful and often traumatic. Once we accept that abortion is itself an event with deep ramifications for a woman’s life, then we must look carefully at the special circumstances of the pregnant sexual assault victim. Evidence indicates that abortion doesn't help and only causes further injury to an already bruised psyche?

But before we even get to this issue, we must ask: do most women who become pregnant as a result of sexual assault want to abort?

In our survey of women who became pregnant as a result of rape or incest, many women who underwent abortions indicated that they felt pressured or were strongly directed by family members or health care workers to have abortions. The abortion came about not because of the woman's desire to abort but as a response to the suggestions or demands of others. In many cases, resources such as health workers, counselors and others who are normally there to help women after sexual assault pushed for abortion.

Family pressure, withholding of support and resources that the woman needed to continue the pregnancy, manipulative an inadequate counseling and other problems all played a role into pushing women into abortions, even though abortion was often not what the woman really wanted.

Further, in almost every case involving incest, it was the girl's parents or the perpetrator who made the decision and arrangements for the abortion, not the girl herself. None of these women reported having any input into the decision. Each was simply expected to comply with the choice of others. In several cases, the abortion was carried out over the objections of the girl, who clearly told others that wanted to continue the pregnancy. In a few cases, victim was not even clearly aware that she was pregnant or that the abortion was being carried out.

"Medical Rape"

Second, although many people believe that abortion will help a woman resolve the trauma of rape more quickly, or at least keep her from being reminded of the rape throughout her pregnancy, many of the women in our survey who had abortions reported that abortion only added to and accentuated the traumatic feelings associated with sexual assault.

This is easy to understand when one considers that many women have described their abortions as being similar to a rape (and even used the term "medical rape), it is easy to see that abortion is likely to add a second trauma to the earlier trauma of sexual assault. Abortion involves an often painful intrusion into a woman’s sexual organs by a masked stranger who is invading her body. Once she is on the operating table, she loses control over her body. Even if she protests and asks the abortionist to stop, chances are she will be either ignored or told that it's too late to stop the abortion.

For many women this experiential association between abortion and sexual assault is very strong. It is especially strong for women who have a prior history of sexual assault, whether or not the aborted child was conceived during an act of assault. This is just one reason why women with a history of sexual assault are likely to experience greater distress during and after an abortion than are other women.

Research also shows that women who abort and women who are raped often describe similar feelings of depression, guilt, lowered self-esteem, violation and resentment of men. Rather than easing the psychological burdens experienced by those who have been raped, abortion added to them. Jackie wrote:

I soon discovered that the aftermath of my abortion continued a long time after the memory of my rape had faded. I felt empty and horrible. Nobody told me about the pain I would feel deep within causing nightmares and deep depressions. They had all told me that after the abortion I could continue my life as if nothing had happened.2

Those encouraging, pushing or insisting on abortion often do so because they are uncomfortable dealing with sexual assault victims, or perhaps because they harbor some prejudice against victims whom they feel “let it happen.” Wiping out the pregnancy is a way of hiding the problem. It is a “quick and easy” way to avoid dealing with the woman’s true emotional, social and financial needs. As Kathleen wrote:

I, having lived through rape, and also having raised a child “conceived in rape,” feel personally assaulted and insulted every time I hear that abortion should be legal because of rape and incest. I feel that we're being used by pro-abortionists to further the abortion issue, even though we've not been asked to tell our side of the story.

Trapping the Incest Victim

The case against abortion for incest pregnancies is even stronger. Studies show that incest victims rarely ever voluntarily agree to abortion. Instead of viewing the pregnancy as unwanted, the incest victim is more likely to see the pregnancy as a way out of the incestuous relationship because the birth of her child will expose the sexual activity. She is also likely to see in her pregnancy the hope of bearing a child with whom she can establish a truly loving relationship, one far different than the exploitive relationship in which she has been trapped.

But while the girl may see her pregnancy as a possible way of release from her situation, it poses a threat to her abuser. It is also poses a threat to the pathological secrecy which may envelop other members of the family who are afraid to acknowledge the abuse. Because of this dual threat, the victim may be coerced or forced into an unwanted abortion by both the abuser and other family members.

For example, Edith, a 12-year-old victim of incest impregnated by her stepfather, writes twenty-five years after the abortion of her child:

Throughout the years I have been depressed, suicidal, furious, outraged, lonely, and have felt a sense of loss . . . The abortion which was to “be in my best interest” just has not been. As far as I can tell, it only ‘saved their reputations,’ ‘solved their problems,’ and ‘allowed their lives to go merrily on.’ . . . My daughter, how I miss her so. I miss her regardless of the reason for her conception."

Abortion businesses who routinely ignore this evidence and neglect to interview minors presented for abortion for signs of coercion or incest are actually contributing to the victimization of young girls. Not only are they robbing the victim of her child, they are concealing a crime, abetting a perpetrator, and handing the victim back to her abuser so that the exploitation can continue.

For example, the parents of three teenaged Baltimore girls pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree rape and child sexual abuse. The father had repeatedly raped the three girls over a period of at least nine years, and the rapes were covered up by at least ten abortions. At least five of the abortions were performed by the same abortionist at the same clinic.3

Sadly, there is strong evidence that failing to ask questions about the pregnancy and to report cases of sexual abuse are widespread at abortion clinics. Undercover investigations by pro-life groups have found numerous cases in which clinics agreed to cover up cases of statutory rape or ongoing abuse of minor girls by older men and simply perform an abortion instead.

In 2002 a judge found a Planned Parenthood affiliate in Arizona negligent for failing to report a case in which a 13-year-old girl was impregnated and taken for an abortion by her 23-year-old foster brother. The abortion business did not notify authorities until the girl returned six months later for a second abortion. A lawsuit alleged that the girl was subjected to repeated abuse and a second abortion because Planned Parenthood failed to notify authorities when she had her first abortion. The girl's foster brother was later imprisoned for abusing her.4

Finally, we must recognize that children conceived through sexual assault also deserve to have their voices heard. Rebecca Wasser-Kiessling, who was conceived in a rape, is rightfully proud of her mother’s courage and generosity and wisely reminds us of a fundamental truth that transcends biological paternity: “I believe that God rewarded my birth mother for the suffering she endured, and that I am a gift to her. The serial rapist is not my creator; God is.”

Similarly, Julie Makimaa, who works diligently against the perception that abortion is acceptable or even necessary in cases of sexual assault, proclaims, “It doesn't matter how I began. What matters is who I will become.”

That’s a slogan we can all live with.


Citations

1. Mahkorn, "Pregnancy and Sexual Assault," The Psychological Aspects of Abortion, eds. Mall & Watts, (Washington, D.C., University Publications of America, 1979) 55-69.

2. David C. Reardon, Aborted Women, Silent No More (Chicago, IL: Loyola University Press, 1987), 206.

3. Jean Marbella, "Satisfactory explanations of sex crime proved elusive," Baltimore Sun, Oct. 31, 1990; M. Dion Thompson, "GBMC, doctor suspected nothing amiss," Baltimore Sun, Oct. 31. 1990; "Family Horror Comes to Light in Story of Girls Raped by Father," Baltimore Sun, November 4, 1990; Raymond L. Sanchez, "Mother Sentenced in Rape Case," Baltimore Sun, Dec. 6, 1990.

4. "Planned Parenthood Found Negligent in Reporting Molested Teen's Abortion," Pro-Life Infonet, attributed to Associated Press; Dec. 26, 2002.



TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: abortion; moralabsolutes; prolife; rape
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To: P-Marlowe; wagglebee; Eagle Eye; xzins
I'm less concerned about the fact that he holds heretical views than that he is so grossly ignorant of what the orthodox Christian teachings actually are. At least when I'm in a heterodox mood, I know what I'm being heterodox from.

Shalom.

481 posted on 04/09/2010 6:50:28 AM PDT by Buggman (HebrewRoot.com - Baruch haBa b'Shem ADONAI!)
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To: Buggman; Eagle Eye
At least when I'm in a heterodox mood, I know what I'm being heterodox from.

All of us are at least honest enough to divulge our current and past religious affiliations since that is very relevant to our current theological positions. Those who refuse to do so are obviously not engaging in honest debate.

482 posted on 04/09/2010 6:53:51 AM PDT by P-Marlowe (LPFOKETT GAHCOEEP-w/o*)
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To: P-Marlowe
Ah, yes, let's find a verse that seems to say what we want it to say and then use that to develop our theology.

Are we to take a single verse and mold everything around that or interpret that text in light of the multitude of clear verses?

Why is it that you expect me to handle everything you toss at me while you duck everything?

And then why do you go at me personally instead of discussing the Bible?

Are you more impressed with back ground and credentials than you are the Word of God?

Or if one comes from low standing and without the accepted schooling or popular denominations do you then reject the Word that they share?

483 posted on 04/09/2010 6:57:01 AM PDT by Eagle Eye
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To: Eagle Eye; P-Marlowe; wagglebee; xzins; Buggman; Alamo-Girl; betty boop; BibChr
Facepalm!

Facepalm? You deny the divinity of Christ to embrace a heresy that flies in the face of two thousand years of Christian belief and your response to us not agreeing with you is "facepalm"?!

One would think that you would understand that God Almighty was referred to as Jehova over and over and over again....The Lord of hosts, the Lord healer, the Lord provider, etc etc etc.

Are you a Jehovah's Witness? YES OR NO.

Do you consider yourself to be a Christian? YES OR NO.

484 posted on 04/09/2010 6:57:49 AM PDT by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: P-Marlowe
All of us are at least honest enough to divulge our current and past religious affiliations since that is very relevant to our current theological positions. Those who refuse to do so are obviously not engaging in honest debate.

Says the respecter of men above being a respecter of God.

Sorry, you don't get to set the ground rules and I have no obligation to meed your demands.

You are simply looking for a way to justify your rejection of the Bible and it is extremely obvious.

485 posted on 04/09/2010 6:59:35 AM PDT by Eagle Eye
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To: wagglebee

If you had read my posts with any understanding at all you would have some of those answers.

But you haven’t. And you won’t. You don’t care about anything other than trying to discredit me. You don’t care about the Bible and what it says.

The pearls are no long in front of you.


486 posted on 04/09/2010 7:02:07 AM PDT by Eagle Eye
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To: Eagle Eye; P-Marlowe; wagglebee; xzins; Buggman; Alamo-Girl; betty boop; BibChr
If you had read my posts with any understanding at all you would have some of those answers.

Well, for about two thousand years ALL Christians have confessed that Jesus Christ IS GOD. So, I guess you DO NOT consider yourself to be a Christian.

But you haven’t. And you won’t. You don’t care about anything other than trying to discredit me.

Nonsense. I posted this thread about rape victims and abortion. I later made a comment about when life begins and mentioned that Jesus Christ was fully man, you disagreed and the thread went off on a tangent.

You don’t care about the Bible and what it says.

Really? I've been asking for several days if you could cite a SINGLE translation of the Bible or an original manuscript where the word name is pluralized, you have systematically avoided that question. You have stubbornly clung to a claim that God is invisible to deny the divinity of Jesus Christ, but ignored innumerable verses that say otherwise. It's not that I don't care about the Bible, it's that I don't care for your interpretation of it.

487 posted on 04/09/2010 7:09:41 AM PDT by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: P-Marlowe; Eagle Eye; wagglebee; xzins; Alamo-Girl; betty boop
Oh, no no no. If you're going to post those verses, you also have to post these:
Isa 41:4 "Who has performed and accomplished it, Calling forth the generations from the beginning? 'I, the LORD, am the first, and with the last. I am He.'"

Isa 44:6 "Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.

Isa 48:12 "Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called; I am He, I am the first, I am also the last.

Anyone want to guess what Name is translated by the word "LORD" above?

Shalom

488 posted on 04/09/2010 7:13:23 AM PDT by Buggman (HebrewRoot.com - Baruch haBa b'Shem ADONAI!)
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To: Buggman

Excellent post!


489 posted on 04/09/2010 7:17:44 AM PDT by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: Eagle Eye; wagglebee; xzins; Buggman; Alamo-Girl; betty boop
Are we to take a single verse and mold everything around that or interpret that text in light of the multitude of clear verses?

Single verse????

I posted a number of verses, in context, containing the very words of Jesus Christ which clearly identify Jesus Christ as the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the Almighty, the one who was dead and is now alive and the one who was, and is, and is to come and the one who is coming quickly and who is identified by John as being the Lord Jesus.

If the very words of Christ are not sufficient to show you who he is, then nothing any of us is going to say will convince you.

490 posted on 04/09/2010 7:20:48 AM PDT by P-Marlowe (LPFOKETT GAHCOEEP-w/o*)
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To: P-Marlowe; xzins; Buggman; Alamo-Girl; betty boop
It doesn't get much more clear than this:

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
-- John 1:1-4, 14

491 posted on 04/09/2010 7:31:57 AM PDT by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: wagglebee; xzins; Buggman; P-Marlowe; betty boop; Eagle Eye
Thank you all so very much for including me in this sidebar and especially thank you for sharing your testimonies!

When we Christians testify of God it is not a matter of our standing here and looking at Him afar, as if He were a thing or a hypothesis.

We are speaking of One we know. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be Christian.

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. – Romans 8:9

Notice the reference to the Trinity in the above passage, and again in the following:

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. – Isaiah 9:6

And again in the following:

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: - Matthew 28:19

And we know this, not simply because it is recorded to language symbols on media. To a non-Christian, the Scriptures are just another set of ancient manuscripts - dead letters. But to us, they are spirit and life because we have the gift of “ears to hear.”

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life. - John 6:63

Why do ye not understand my speech? [even] because ye cannot hear my word. – John 8:43

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned. - I Corinthians 2:14

Likewise we know that Christ IS God, that God is “the” Creator not “a” Creator.

Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all [things] he might have the preeminence. For it pleased [the Father] that in him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, [I say], whether [they be] things in earth, or things in heaven.– Colossians 1:15-20

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. – Revelation 4:11

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. – Revelation 1:8

And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. – Exodus 3:14

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. – John 8:58

As soon then as he had said unto them, I am [he], they went backward, and fell to the ground. – John 18:6

Our testimony derives from our actual life “in” Him.

For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. - Colossians 3:3

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. - Galatians 2:20

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? - I Corinthians 6:19

But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. - I John 2:27

And so my testimony to this thread is the God is not a hypothesis. He lives. His Name is I AM. I’ve known Him for a half century and counting.

Man is not the measure of God.

It is not up to man to declare when God may or may not speak in or through His own Creation whether spiritual or physical.

Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. – 1 Cor 10:1-4

And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here [am] I. - Exodus 3:4

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. - Matthew 28:18

But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught [it], but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. - Galatians 1:11-12

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by [his] Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of [his] glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. - Hebrews 1:1-4

Again, Jesus Christ is the brightness of the Father's glory.

To God be the glory, not man, never man.

492 posted on 04/09/2010 8:51:13 AM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: Alamo-Girl

Outstanding post dear sister in Christ!


493 posted on 04/09/2010 8:56:22 AM PDT by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: wagglebee
Thank you so very much for your encouragement, dear brother in Christ!
494 posted on 04/09/2010 8:59:48 AM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: Alamo-Girl

Your offering regales my soul! Thanks be to God, and to you, Sister in Christ.


495 posted on 04/09/2010 9:00:10 AM PDT by MHGinTN (Obots, believing they cannot be deceived, it is impossible to convince them when they are deceived.)
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To: MHGinTN
"Thanks be to God." Amen.

And thank you for your encouragement, dear brother in Christ!

496 posted on 04/09/2010 9:06:12 AM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: Alamo-Girl; wagglebee; xzins; Buggman; P-Marlowe; betty boop; Eagle Eye

That was awesome. Thanks.


497 posted on 04/09/2010 9:29:49 AM PDT by P-Marlowe (LPFOKETT GAHCOEEP-w/o*)
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To: Eagle Eye; wagglebee; Alamo-Girl; Quix; xzins; P-Marlowe; metmom; hosepipe; stfassisi; kosta50; ...
Based on the clear and unambiguous verses, Jesus Christ cannot be God and God cannot be Jesus Christ!

Which "clear and unambiguous verses" say this?

It seems to me verses in John clearly demonstrate that the Father and the Son are One, "in" one Godhead which also includes the Holy Spirit. There is one divine Substance which expresses as Three Persons.

Since evidently you do not share this view, although you claim to believe in God, possibly you are a deist — in the sense understood by the Founders of our nation. To them — e.g., Franklin, Jefferson — a deist was a person who, though believing in God the Creator, was skeptical of the divinity of Jesus Christ.

I wonder what these verses from John's Gospel would mean to a deist in this sense:

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake. — John 14:6–11

That they may all be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. — John 17: 21–24

People will read these verses according to their best lights. To me, the "thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee" statement strongly suggests a single, ONE divine substance. Thus, to me, the Holy Trinity does not contradict the Shema, "Hear O Israel! The Lord thy God is One!"

Others will disagree.

But really, Eagle Eye, is this the measure of your reasoning regarding the purported falsity of the Trinity: That God cannot be tempted by evil, but that Jesus Christ was so tempted; therefore, Jesus was not God?

That is certainly an easy test. But is it a truthful one? In particular, it is simply oblivious to the idea that the Son of God was incarnated as a man and so to some extent participates in human nature. Recognition of this would seem to counterindicate the application of simple formulas, such as "God cannot be tempted by evil, but that Jesus Christ was so tempted; therefore, Jesus was not God."

Are we to be satisfied with such simplistic, superficial answers to questions of such enormous importance?

498 posted on 04/09/2010 10:02:08 AM PDT by betty boop (The personal is not the public's business. See: the Ninth Amendment.)
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To: P-Marlowe
Thank you for your encouragement, dear brother in Christ!
499 posted on 04/09/2010 10:11:03 AM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: Alamo-Girl; wagglebee; xzins; Buggman; P-Marlowe; metmom; Eagle Eye
And we know this, not simply because it is recorded to language symbols on media. To a non-Christian, the Scriptures are just another set of ancient manuscripts — dead letters. But to us, they are spirit and life because we have the gift of “ears to hear.”

Simply magnificent essay/post, dearest sister in Christ!

To God be the glory!

500 posted on 04/09/2010 10:13:10 AM PDT by betty boop (The personal is not the public's business. See: the Ninth Amendment.)
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