I want to apply some Holy-Spirit-guided hermeneutics to the questions of divorce and abortion.
Divorce
First, what does the Bible say about divorce? Nothing. Unless you wear a veil that blocks out the Holy Ellipses. In that case, you will see a fair bit. For example, in the Old Testament, there are a lot of laws that make it easy for men to get rid of a wife who doesn’t please him. For instance, at any moment during a marriage, the husband can demand some physical proof that his wife was a virgin when they married. If she cannot produce physical evidence that she had been a virgin at that time, she is executed. (I guess that’s not divorce, though, is it?)
But you will also find condemnations of divorce in various places including from the mouth of Jesus himself.
But most of these passages from Holy Scripture are Holy Ellipses.
The Holy Spirit has guided us into a more compassionate society. We realized that most marriages are miserable. If half of marriages end with the participants preferring divorce—which everyone knows is one of the most traumatic things that can happen to a person—think about how many marriages don’t end in divorce just because they are not quite as miserable as divorce!
It is interesting that the response to Jesus’ condemnation of divorce in Matthew 19 was, “are you saying no one should get married?” His listeners understood how difficult married life usually is. Maybe more interesting is Jesus’ answer which amounted to saying that it is easiest for a eunuch to enter the kingdom of God. Ouch! I’m glad the Holy Spirit has elided that part out so that true Christians never notice it!
So what do we do these days? Here is the Holy Spirit’s logic that underlies our current system:
Look, nobody likes divorce! It is one of the most traumatic things that can happen to a person. Nobody is “pro-divorce”. However, we consider the misery that marriage often is and the frequency with which marriages are abusive and destructive. When divorce is illegal, many unfortunate women live in very abusive homes. Under the circumstances, we believe that it is better for divorce to be legal and not prohibitively difficult.
So we build a society in which divorce—as much as we hate it—is legal and not too difficult to obtain. It is up to non-governmental organizations, such as churches, to try to deal with the causes of divorce (selfishness, unpreparedness for marriage, excess anger, etc.)
To argue this method from the Bible is difficult, let’s be honest. We have to look at abstractions such as the teaching that we are all stuck in sin or the importance of compassion for the vulnerable and let things like that outweigh the passages that speak directly on the topic. We also rely on the Holy Spirit to lead us away from the views based on naive interpretations of The Word of God on divorce and toward this view that justifies our behavior.
But we Christians agree that the system here in the US is humane and compatible with a Christian life-style. We don’t murder divorce lawyers or make loud protests against the legality of divorce.
Not only that, we divorce just as often as the broader population. Thus, the Holy Spirit really had to do something about those passages of Holy Scripture.
Abortion
There is only one passage of scripture (correct me if I’m wrong) that deals with the issue of abortion directly: Numbers 5. It is one of the Holy Ellipses that I’ve written about before. The reason it is a Holy Ellipsis is that it allows abortion at the whim of a husband.
So again, considering what the Bible says about abortion directly is out. We look at abstractions again. Since the Holy Spirit has elided those passages of scripture that advocate genocide, capital punishment, and war, we can see that the Bible is all about the sanctity of human life. Therefore, we are pro-life.
But in this case, the Holy Spirit’s way has not won the day in our broader culture. Abortion is still legal!
The anti-life (also called “pro-abortion”) lobby uses the following ridiculous “logic”:
Look, nobody likes abortion! It is one of the most traumatic things that can happen to a person. Nobody is “pro-abortion”. However, we consider the many complex issues that people face, such as rape, lack of education, poverty, etc. When abortion is illegal, many unfortunate women have dangerous, illegal abortions or live with starving children. Under the circumstances, we believe that it is better for abortion to be legal and not prohibitively difficult.
So we build a society in which abortion—as much as we hate it—is legal and not too difficult to obtain. It is up to both governmental and non-governmental organizations, such as churches, to try to deal with the causes of abortion (poverty, rape, ignorance of the causes of pregnancy, unpreparedness for parenthood, etc.)
Obviously, the people who make such an “argument” hate babies unless they are boiled and spiced. How anyone can follow along with a single phrase of that Satanic line of “reasoning” is beyond me! It makes me want to spit and roll my eyes!
This is why we can sympathize with the murderers of abortion doctors. This is why we loudly support laws that hurt poor people and have no effect on us. In Matthew 23.4, Jesus talks about laws that make life difficult for the poor but have no effect on those pushing for the laws. I figure that if Jesus talked about it, it is probably a good thing!
This is why, if you ask me how I’m going to vote, I say, “I love babies.” This makes it clear that anyone who disagrees with me on this issue hates babies.
Conclusion
The Holy Spirit has spoken on these issue. In neither case is the Holy Spirit’s answer particularly Biblical. (Isn’t God mysterious?)
The inexperienced and Holy-Spirit-lacking interpreter of the Bible would say that the Bible teaches that women are the property of men and abortion is a husband’s choice. If you’ve read the Bible and never notice those things, then you have the Holy Spirit working powerfully in you. I’ll write more about this in a future post.
The Holy Spirit has revealed the Truth to us. We can’t help it that the Truth justifies our way of life and let’s us condemn others.
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