What the Bible Says About the Beginning of Life
September 1, 2003 (Updated: May 6, 2005)
by Carrie Gordon Earll

The Bible is far from silent on the topic of the sanctity of human life, especially preborn life in the womb. This resource provides just a few of the Scripture verses that speak to the value of preborn life created in God's image from the moment of fertilization.

Q. Why Should We Value Life?

A."Know that the LORD Himself is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture." (Psalm 100:3, NASV)

"Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and the One who formed you from the womb, I, the LORD, am the maker of all things, stretching out the heavens by Myself, and spreading out the earth all alone . . .'" (Isaiah 44:24, NASV)

"But now, O LORD, Thou art our Father, we are the clay, and Thou our potter; and all of us are the work of Thy hand." (Isaiah 64:8, NASV)

Q. Who Is the Creator of the Preborn?

A."For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works and that my soul knows well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed, and in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them." (Psalm 139:13-16, NKJV)

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." (Jeremiah 1:5, NIV)

Q. How Is God Concerned With the Preborn?

A."But when He who had set me apart before I was born, and had called me through His grace . . ." (Galatians 1:15, RSV)

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for giving us through Christ every possible spiritual benefit as citizens of heaven! For consider what he has done—before the foundation of the world He chose us to become, in Christ, His holy and blameless children living within His constant care." (Ephesians 1:3-4, PME)

Q. Are the Preborn Human Beings?

A."When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit…[saying] ‘As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.'" (Luke 1:41,44, NIV)

The Lord Jesus Christ began his incarnation as an embryo, growing into a fetus, infant, child, teenager, and adult: "While they were there, the time came for the baby to born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son." (Luke 2:6-7, NIV)

Q. Who Is Responsible for Life and Death?

A."Then God spoke all these words, saying . . . 'You shall not murder.'" (Exodus 20:1, 13, NASV)

"I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live." (Deuteronomy 30:19, KJV)

Q. Are Humans Permitted to Take Life Before Birth?

A."If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise." (Exodus 21:22-25, NIV)

Q. Should a Child Conceived as a Result of Rape or Incest Be Aborted?

A."Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers; a person shall be put to death for his own sin." (Deuteronomy 24:16, NKJV)

Q. Should a Child Who Might Be Born Deformed or Disabled Be Aborted?

A."So the LORD said to him, 'Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD?'" (Exodus 4:11, NKJV)

"Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, 'What are you making?' Does your work say, 'He has no hands?' Woe to him who says to his father, 'What have you begotten?' or to his mother, 'What have you brought to birth?' This is what the LORD says—the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: Concerning things to come, do you question Me about My children, or give Me orders about the work of My hands?" (Isaiah 45:9-11, NIV)

"Yet, to shame the wise, God has chosen what the world counts folly, and to shame what is strong, God has chosen what the world counts weakness." (1 Corinthians 1:27, NIV)

Q. How Should A Woman View Her Body and the Preborn Life Growing in Her Womb?

A."Behold, children are a gift of the LORD; the fruit of the womb is a reward." (Psalm 127:3, NASV)

"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, NKJV)

Q. Does God Forgive Those Who Have Had Abortions?

A."In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace . . ." (Ephesians 1:7, NKJV)

"I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins." (Isaiah 43:25, NASV)

Carrie Gordon Earll is the Senior Policy Analyst for Bioethics at Focus on the Family and a fellow with the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity.