My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ God,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
"O Lord, Your works shall be magnified greatly; You
have made all things in wisdom" (Psalm 103[104]:34
Everything God created, including man, is "very good" because God is good. Nothing He created is therefore evil in itself. So then, human nature is good in itself. But sin (αμαρτία) IS A FREE CHOICE OF MAN’S WILL, and it is contrary both to God’s Nature and human nature. Our Creator and God formed the first human being, Adam’s body "out of dust from the ground" (Genesis 2:7). The"breath of life" is the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Giver of Life (Symbol of Faith)). God breathed the BREATH OF LIFE into man’s body and he became "A LIVING SOUL." Therefore, Adam was a living soul because he possessed a body, a soul, and the grace of the Holy Spirit.
Not only did Our Benevolent and Merciful God create Adam and Eve out of dust but he made them in His own "image" and "likeness" (1:26). Therefore, the dignity of each man and each woman is this image and likeness. The "image and likeness" given to the man and to the woman is sacred and holy and must be understood as a great gift from God, honored, and preserved pristinely and completely by man.
We are reminded by the holy Apostle Paul when he asks, "Do you not know your body IS THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT Who IS IN YOU, whom you have from God, and you are not your own. For you were BOUGHT AT A PRICE; therefore glorify God IN YOUR BODY AND IN YOUR SPIRIT, WHICH ARE GOD’S" (1 Corinthians 6:19). It is unquestionably true that our bodies are the "Temple" of the Holy Spirit and "members of Christ" (6:15). Our bodies must always be respected, honored and must not be corrupted through sinful acts. "Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body" (6:18). Our bodies are not our own! They are God’s because we "were bought at a price" (6:20).
When we disobey God, His commandments,and Divine will we divert ourself from God’s path which leads to perfection, and therefore separating ourselves from our Creator, the Source of Life and instead chose death. Is that wise?
God is indeed the Source of Life and through His blessing we were given His "blessing" of producing life as men and women. In other words to procreate. "Then God blessed them, and God sait to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subude it.." (Genesis 1:28). The blessing from God to procreate is sacred for life itself is sacred. The Commandment from God to man is "You shall not commit murder" (Exodos 20:13). Yet foolish man not only continues to find reasons to disobey this very clear Commandment of God but in his defective reasoning feels that he has the right to do it.
"Murder" takes different forms and uses different means to carry it out. Everyone in our contemporary society is a witness to various kinds of murder. Those that commit it have absolutely no regret and do it with impunity. There is no guilt, no remorse, no repentance, no conscience, and no fear of God. Man is openly, defiant, and rebellious against God. We see this impudence with the act of infanticide or the killing of an infant, a child. Millions upon millions are killed throughout the world and in accordance with the ligal system of the various conutries. It is not only considered to be murder but it is considered to be the right of the woman to kill her child. It does not matter if it is soon after conception, after three months, six months, nine months or even after the birth of the baby.
"Thanks to ultrasound allowing a peek inside the womb of the woman, scientists have discovered a virtual sensory playground in which a baby is living. The fetus responds to the mothers voice and other sounds in the room, reacts to light and dark shades as the mother moves from place to place, tumbles as the mother switches positions, and even tastes sweet or spicy foods the mother has just eaten." (Medical Journal)
The womb of the woman God created was to be a sacred and safe place for the baby to grow and develop in. Conception is a time of celebration and joy for a new life is beginning, a life that may make a difference in the world. A gift from God to the parents and to the world. The womb was never meant to be a torture chamber which leads to death. Is it possible in the 21st century with all the science and medical progress not to know that what is growing in the womb is a child? I doubt it. How can a so called civilized society permit the dismamberement of a living human being inside the mother’s womb? What a barbaric act and what a grave and unforgivable sin this is!
The Eastern Orthodox Church considers the act of abortion as murder with grave consquences and penalty. No Orthodox Christian is to be engaged in infanticide and still be a member of the Church.
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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 