Skip to content
  • Explore
    • Explore All
    • Multimedia
    • Read
    • Watch
    • Listen
  • Get Involved
    • Ways to get Involved
    • Events
    • Online Learning
    • Our Chapters
  • About
    • About Us
    • Team
    • Contact Us
    • FAQ
  • Store
  • Library
  • Login
  • DONATE
  • Explore
    • Explore All
    • Multimedia
    • Read
    • Watch
    • Listen
  • Get Involved
    • Ways to get Involved
    • Events
    • Online Learning
    • Our Chapters
  • About
    • About Us
    • Team
    • Contact Us
    • FAQ
  • Store
  • Library
  • Login
donate
  • Explore
  • Publication
  • How Can God Judge a Human Fetus?
Fetus,Inside,The,Womb;,3d,Illustration
Publication

How Can God Judge a Human Fetus?

by Hugh Ross
July 2, 2021

Question of the week:  How can God judge a human fetus who dies before being born?

My answer: This question is the subject of much divergent debate among Christian scholars. What follows is my personal interpretation of certain relevant Bible texts. Several scholars that I highly respect disagree with me.

In Psalm 51:5, David declares that he has been a sinner since he was conceived in his mother’s womb. The reason I and many other Christians are against abortion at any time after conception is that based on this text and Exodus 21:22–25 (see The Fetus in Biblical Law), such an act is taking the life of a spiritual being. If the fetus is indeed a spiritual being, then it is likely that God’s Spirit can communicate with the fetus’s spirit independent of education, experience, and brain development.

Exactly how this communication occurs I do not know. However, based on John 1 I am persuaded that it does. John 1 declares that God’s spiritual light has been communicated to every human being. If any human receives God’s spiritual light, that person proceeds toward redemption and salvation. If any human rejects God’s spiritual light, that person proceeds toward condemnation. As for what exactly is God’s spiritual light, John addresses that question in 1 John. 1 John 1 declares that God is light. 1 John 2–4 explains that God’s spiritual light has three components: life, love, and truth. God the Son gives us life. God the Father gives us love. God the Spirit gives us truth. Evidently, every fetus somehow has the capability of perceiving God’s life, love, and truth. Another scriptural example is Luke 1:39–45, where the fetus in Elizabeth responds to the fetus in Mary. 

Bible
SOCIALICON
How Do I Respond When Others Are Curious about My Faith as a Scientist?
How Do I Respond When Others Are Curious about My Faith as a Scientist?
A few weeks ago I had the privilege of interacting with apologists from the RZIM (Ravi Zacharias International Ministries) Connect online community in a...
Theology
“What’s All This Higher Dimensionality Stuff?”, Part 4 of 7
“What’s All This Higher Dimensionality Stuff?”, Part 4 of 7
For many years science fiction writers have used the so-called “fifth dimension” (a fourth spatial dimension) to serve as a platform for telling fascinating...
Bible
Why Doesn’t God Prove His Existence by Visibly Revealing Himself to All?
Question of the week: If God is so powerful, why does he not just come into our dimensional realm and visibly reveal himself so...
Bible
  • Explore
  • Get Involved
  • About
  • Store
  • Library
  • Search
  • Login

Support Our Mission

Your support helps more people find Christ through sharing how the latest scientific discoveries affirm our faith in the God of the Bible.

Donate Now

facebook twitter
  • Contact Us
  • Careers
  • FAQ
  • Privacy Policy