A Social History of Christian Thought on Abortion: Ambiguity vs. Certainty in Moral Debate

• Date: 01 January 2017
• Published date: 01 January 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/ajes.12174
• Author: Ignacio Castuera

A Social History of Christian Thought

on Abortion: Ambiguity vs. Certainty

in Moral Debate

By IGNACIO CASTUERA

ABSTRACT. The authority of Christian thought is based in scripture,

tradition, reason, and experience, with the Bible and church history as

the major sources. The abortion debate in the USA has been closely

tied to claims that rely on Christian authority. However, Christians have

never held uniform views about abortion. The almost complete silence

on abortion in the Bible and by the two most important Christian

theologians—St. Augustine in the 5

th

century and St. Thomas Aquinas

in the 13

th

century—undermine sweeping claims about a definitive

Christian position. Dogmatism and ethical certainty on abortion were

rare in the past and only became dominant themes in the 19

th

century.

This article examines both intellectual debates in the Church and social

conditions that influenced thinking on sexuality, the role of women,

and the internal politics of the Catholic Church. In the 19

th

century, the

mostly Protestant medical profession played a pivotal role, not only by

creating anti-abortion politics on a national scale, but by taking the

place of the patriarchal family in supervising the behavior of women.

Protestant churches in the 20

th

century became politicized and divided

into liberal and conservative factions, in part over questions of

contraception and abortion. Evangelical Protestants were not deeply

troubled by the prospect of liberal abortion laws until they became

politicized for extraneous reasons. Christian attitudes on abortion

continue to form a maze, nevera straight line, just as in the past.

*Born in Mexico. BS, 1964, California State University at Long Beach. Doctor of Reli-

gion, 1970, Claremont School of Theology (California). Served churches in Hawaii

and southern California, 1968–2014. Board member, National Coalition for Abortion

Rights/Religious Coalition for Reproductive Rights. From 2001 to 2007, National Chap-

lain for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, rallying support of churches for

reproductive rights. Email: agne23@aol.com

American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Vol. 76, No. 1 (January, 2017).

DOI: 10.1111/ajes.12174

V

C2017 American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Inc.

Introduction

The general consensus of Western Christian theologians and Church

leaders since Augustine has been to regard abortion as an act of mini-

mal moral significance until the fetus initiates self-generated activity,

which occurs around the 24

th

week of a pregnancy. That does not

mean the Church endorsed abortion, but it did tolerate abortion for

periods of hundreds of years. Throughout history, a minority of Christi-

ans have regarded abortion to be grievously immoral from the moment

of conception. That view gained strength after 1860, when the newly

formed American Medical Association adopted a resolution calling on

states to criminalize the intentional removal of any zygote, embryo, or

fetus growing inside a woman. Only afterthat shift occurred in a secular

institution did the Catholic Church reverse centuries of its own tolera-

tion of abortion to begin the process of becoming a leading opponent

of reproductive rights.

Although it is dangerousto make sweeping statements about any his-

torical topic, it seems almost certain that there was never a time before

the late 20

th

century when abortion was viewed within the Catholic

Church as an issue of moral absolutes. Historically, it was a gray area,

surrounded by ambiguities, both ethical and theological, and it remains

so for many Jews, Protestants, and Orthodox Christians. There are, of

course, some Protestant traditions that have absolutized the issue of

abortion in the same way as the Catholic Churchhas done, but the bulk

of the historical account occurs before Protestantism began.

At the time of the 19

th

-century condemnation of abortion by the

Catholic Church, it was not the dominant issue it has become in recent

decades, surpassing almost every other issue in importance. Since overt

infanticide (killing of newborn infants) was widely practiced in previ-

ous centuries, it would be incorrect to think that the moral climate of

our era is laxer than it has been in the past. The intense focus on the

abortion issue by the Church remains something of a mystery.

The purpose of this article is not to justify any particular theological

view or church edict. Our aim here is to provide readers with an over-

view of past teachings and practices so that each individual can judge

the historical meaning of statements made by church leaders in recent

decades.

The American Journal of Economics and Sociology122

Our central thesis is that any claim to certainty about the Christian

view of abortion is na

€

ıve. If we look honestly at the historical record,

both individual and institutional views have varied widely. There is no

solid line of reasoning that either affirms or condemns abortion in the

early stages of pregnancy. The variability of moral judgments about the

stage at which a fetus becomes a person, a central point of contention

in the abortion debate, shows that 1) many writers made no attempt to

define that point because they did not know, 2) the most influential

Christian thinkers have seldom supported the extreme viewthat a fertil-

ized egg is a person, and 3) the Catholic Church itself adopted that

view only in the 19

th

century. Yet, now that it is has become official

doctrine, its proponents have written hundreds of books and tracts

claiming that view with absolute certainty and projecting it into the

past. Many of the scholars who have taken this perspective have

engaged in intellectual dishonesty by glossing over the past Christian

views that disagree with current conservative teaching and by claiming

sharper distinctions by Church Fathers than one can find in their actual

writings.

The mere fact that various views have been held historically by

esteemed teachers does not make any of them “right” in a moral sense.

We do not claim that an understanding of the pastprovides us with cer-

tainty in the present about what constitutes ethical behavior. We merely

believe that our current beliefs should be informed by accurate knowl-

edge of how our ancestors grappled with moral dilemmas. Scientific

knowledge also gives us new insights about the process of gestation:

the stages of development of life in the uterus. But science also cannot

give a definitive answer about whether a zygote or a fetus of 12 weeks

is a “person” or not. These are matters of judgment, and in matters of

judgment, claims of absolute certainty arenever more than that: claims.

The Greek Philosophers

Some may find it strangeto start an article discussing the Christian histo-

ry of teachings and practices regarding abortion by referring to Greek

philosophers, but Roman Catholic and Protestant theologies are as

much influenced by Plato and Aristotle as they are by the Bible. Many

of the doctrines that became central to the teaching of later Christians

Ambiguity vs. Certainty in Moral Debate 123