-The Didache: Christians Have Been Pro-Life From The Very Beginning

PRO-LIFE

Q: I have heard pro-choice politicians claim that the pro-life position among Christians is a recent phenomenon that doesn’t reflect traditional Christian beliefs; but is really all about conservative politics and the culture wars?

A: Nothing could be further from the truth. Fact is, Christians have been Pro-Life from the very beginning.

In Seminary, I studied all of the early Christian non-canonical literature extant from the first to the 4th century. One early work- “The Didache: The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles,” specifically addressed abortion and infanticide. Here’s a quote from chapter 2- verse 2:

…thou shalt not procure abortion, nor commit infanticide…

The Didache was a popular early Christian catechism reported to be ‘the teaching of the twelve apostles’ and reflected much of the teaching in the Gospel of Matthew. Scholars date the work from the late First century. So this actually proves that the ‘pro-abortion’ politicians are entirely wrong. Christians have been Pro-Life from the very beginning.