​​​​Introduction

According to a conversation I recently had with a Jehovah’s Witness (JW), the Watchtower believe that abortion is murder from the initial conception. The Lords’ Witnesses’ (LW) position is that point is not reached until some 20 weeks after conception. This paper is attempting to rationalise the matter to arrive at something resembling the true position.

 

The JW Understanding

My acquaintance’s position, that a whole human being is effectively formed at conception, is substantiated by the Watchtower. Consequently, we can proceed on the basis that my JW contact  has correctly interpreted the Watchtower position on abortion: https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/g200906/When-Does-a-Human-Life-Begin/.

So, let us start out by reviewing the scriptures provided by my acquaintance to demonstrate the Watchtower’s position. I should point out that, where I do not consider the Watchtower’s New World Translation (NWT) version of the scriptures to be accurate enough, I will use the best available Bible translation for each scripture, which will not necessarily directly equate to the Watchtower’s NWT version: 

5 Before I was forming you in the belly I knew you, and before you proceeded to come forth from the womb I sanctified you. Prophet to the nations I made you. (Jeremiah 1 NWT)

Commentary: Here Jehovah is commenting on His foreknowledge of the spirit that would become the Prophet Jeremiah. This says nothing regarding the point during the pregnancy at which the foetus actually became Jeremiah.

13 For Thou -- Thou hast possessed my reins, Thou dost cover me in my mother's belly.
14 I confess Thee, because that {with} wonders I have been distinguished. Wonderful {are} Thy works, And my soul is knowing {it} well.
15 My substance was not hid from Thee, When I was made in secret, Curiously wrought in the lower part of earth.
16 Mine unformed substance Thine eyes saw, And on Thy book all of them are written, The days they were formed -- And not one among them. (Psalms 139 YLT)

Commentary: Here David is commenting on Jehovah’s foreknowledge of the physical body that would become the King of Israel. Again, it says nothing regarding what point in the pregnancy the foetus actually became David. In analysing the two scriptures thus far, neither of them comments on the whole soul which is the living persona. For more on this crucial point see later.

3 Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne [by me] from the belly, which are carried from the womb:
4 And [even] to [your] old age I [am] he; and [even] to hoar hairs will I carry [you]: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver [you]. (Isaiah 46 KJV)

1 Listen to me, Oh you islands, and pay attention, you national groups far away. Jehovah himself has called me even from the belly. From the inward parts of my mother he has made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49 NWT)

Commentary: Again, I do not see how the two scriptures above confirm when human life truly begins in the womb.

15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. (Luke 1 ASV)

Commentary: Ironically this scripture demonstrates the LW position; see later for details.

22 And in case men should struggle with each other and they really hurt a pregnant woman and her children do come out but no fatal accident occurs, he is to have damages imposed upon him without fail according to what the owner of the woman may lay upon him; and he must give it through the justices.
23 But if a fatal accident should occur, then you must give soul for soul, (Exodus 21 NWT)

Commentary: This scripture certainly has significant merit on the matter at hand since it deems the loss of an unborn child, by a misdeed, to be a capital offence. However, as previously, I shall comment further on this later where again it substantiates the LW position. The phrase 'soul for soul' is of considerable relevance here.

 

Further Watchtower Scriptures

The official Watchtower position on abortion is contained in the following link from their Awake publication: https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/awake-no1-2017-february/abortion-what-bible-says/. I have reviewed the additional relevant scriptures contained in that paper that have not already been provided by my acquaintance and my comments are as follows:

6 Anyone shedding man's blood, by man will his own blood be shed, for in God's image he made man. (Genesis 9 NWT)

Commentary: While this scripture confirms that the shedding of a man’s blood will receive the like punishment, again it does not comment on when a human life truly begins.

9 For with you is the source of life; By light from you we can see light. (Psalms 36 NWT)

Commentary: While this scripture confirms that God is the source of life, once again it does not comment on when a human life truly begins in the womb.

22 'But if it was unexpectedly without enmity that he has pushed him or has thrown any article toward him without lying in wait,
23 or any stone by which he could die without seeing him or he should cause it to fall upon him, so that he died, while he was not at enmity with him and was not seeking his injury,
24 the assembly must then judge between the striker and the avenger of blood according to these judgments.
25 And the assembly must deliver the manslayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the assembly must return him to his city of refuge to which he had fled, and he must dwell in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.
26 'But if the manslayer without fail goes out of the boundary of his city of refuge to which he may flee,
27 and the avenger of blood does find him outside the boundary of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood does slay the manslayer, he has no bloodguilt.
28 For he ought to dwell in his city of refuge until the high priest's death, and after the high priest's death the manslayer may return to the land of his possession.
29 And these must serve as a statute of judgment for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.
30 'Every fatal striker of a soul should be slain as a murderer at the mouth of witnesses, and one witness may not testify against a soul for him to die.
31 And you must take no ransom for the soul of a murderer who is deserving to die, for without fail he should be put to death. (Numbers 35 NWT)

Commentary: While this scripture again confirms that the shedding of a man’s blood will receive the like punishment, again it does not comment on when a human life truly begins. 

 

The LW Understanding on When Abortion Becomes Murder

The official LW understanding and doctrine on abortion can be found at ‘Introduction 41 - When is abortion murder?’. In net terms it concludes that a new life begins at week 20 into the pregnancy, when the thalamus is completely formed. The thalamus is the relay centre of the brain by which the higher brain functions start to operate. Whilst I certainly agree with that conclusion, I found some of the explanation of the LW position to be unnecessarily convoluted requiring knowledge of other LW understandings. This detracted from the core relevant principles to my mind.

What follows is my more simplified take on the matter. The first thing we need to determine is what constitutes a human life in the scriptures. This can be found on the LW website at ‘Introduction 9 -  ‘What is a Soul? What is a Spirit?’. The key takeaway from this is, and I quote:

‘A body without a spirit is a car without a driver. It is just a dead vehicle. The driver is the spirit, the car is the body and the car with a driver is the soul. The whole deal is summed up in Genesis 2 where Moses says...

7 And Jehovah God proceeded to form the man out of dust from the ground [he made the body] and to blow into his nostrils the breath of life [he put a spirit in the body], and the man came to be a living soul [body + spirit = living soul] (Genesis 2)'

Job had a similar tale to tell about his own creation:

4 God's own spirit made me, And the Almighty's own breath proceeded to bring me to life. (Job 33 NWT)

The items in parentheses in the Genesis scripture are Gordon’s commentary on the symbolism contained in the scripture. So, the soul represents a human life which comprises both a body and the spirit of the man. A human life can only exist with a human body that contains the human spirit. A body without a spirit is a dead body. A spirit without a body is a disembodied spirit and therefore not a human lifeform. This is well substantiated in James’ epistle:

26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (James 2 KJV)

And indeed if it were necessary, later on in his letter, James confirms that our spirits dwell within us

5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? (James 4 KJV)

In another example, Jesus resurrects the synagogue ruler’s daughter. He effects this by placing her spirit back into her previously dead body thereby making her a live soul again:

52 And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth.
53 And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead.
54 And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise.
55 And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat. (Luke 8 KJV)

In my paper ‘The Brain's Capability Compared with that of the Spirit’, I demonstrate that the human spirit effectively resides within the physical confines of the human brain and provides the motivations that drive the brain and thereby the physical body. To use a computer analogy, the spirit is effectively the software that runs on the hardware of the brain. In that regard the spirit requires a largely functioning brain prior to it’s taking residence therein. In agreement with the official LW understanding, the brain of a human foetus takes on its main functional capabilities from the fully developed thalamus. It is at this point that the spirit of man can be ‘blown’ into his body and he becomes a whole soul. Considering the Genesis 2 scripture above, God blew into Adam’s nostrils of which he had two. The thalamus connects the two halves of the brain, so this could represent a valid symbolism for God placing the spirit of Adam into his brain. Check out the medical paper ‘Medical Controversy – When Does Life Begin?’.

Prior to this 20-week milestone, on this basis, the unborn foetus cannot therefore be considered to be a live soul since it has not yet received its owner’s spirit. Abortion prior to a 20-week pregnancy is not murder; abortion after that point is a capital offence in the understanding of the LWs.

There are a couple of verses from the Gospel of Luke, the first identified above by my JW acquaintance, that refer to the birth of John the Baptist. Ironically, these substantiate the LW position on the beginning of life. It was prophesied that he would be filled with the Holy Spirit while he was still in the womb:

15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. (Luke 1 ASV)

A little further on, we are told that the unborn baby John leapt in the womb when filled with the Holy Spirit. Well, an initially conceived foetus is not capable of leaping according to the above medical webpage. Consequently, I would argue that this account of the unborn John proves the LW argument that life begins once the Spirit is able to enter the child which is some 20 weeks after initial conception:

41 And it came to pass, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit; (Luke 1 ASV)

Again, to quote another scripture from my JW acquaintance, we see that the unborn child’s life is the soul, i.e. the body + spirit, further substantiating the LW position that abortion, only after week 20, is to be treated as murder. Prior to the 20 week red-line, the foetus is not a whole soul:

22 And in case men should struggle with each other and they really hurt a pregnant woman and her children do come out but no fatal accident occurs, he is to have damages imposed upon him without fail according to what the owner of the woman may lay upon him; and he must give it through the justices.
23 But if a fatal accident should occur, then you must give soul for soul, (Exodus 21 NWT)

There is one circumstance in which it might be deemed lawful for a pregnant woman to have an abortion after the 20-week term. That case would be if the woman’s life were in genuine danger if she were not to have an abortion. Arguably this would be a case of taking a life to save a life so I think would be justifiable under God’s Law. Whilst there is not a scripture that I can find that deals with this specific set of circumstances, I think there is a relevant verse that effectively supports this situation:

2 If the thief be found breaking in, and be smitten so that he dieth, there shall be no bloodguiltiness for him. (Exodus 22 ASV)

According to Exodus 22:2, it is lawful to kill a thief in the act of burglary. This is effectively saying it is lawful to kill a thief to prevent a personal loss. What greater personal loss is there than of one’s own life? I rest my case in this regard. 

 

Conclusion

After revisiting all the previous arguments, I have come to the firm view that in the matter of abortion, the LW understanding of a 20-week red-line is the correct view. The Watchtower understanding is, frankly, based on a few disparate scriptures which do not clarify at which point in a pregnancy a human life actually commences. The Watchtower do not define that a soul is a human life and what it is comprised of. The LW understanding is based on a much deeper review of some more relevant scriptures coupled with known medical science.

Gordon’s original challenging of the Watchtower’s scriptural understandings as being naïve and incorrect is one of the reasons that he left the Watchtower to form the Church of the Lords’ Witnesses. Check out the LW webpage ‘History of the decoding & Gordon's battle with FDS3’ for a taste of this.

The Lords’ Witnesses is a church which actively carries out bible research in which any church member can and does contribute. It is not left to a governing body to hand down their imperfect and unchanging doctrine to their trusting congregations. Typical of this was my challenging the Watchtower’s doctrine that blood transfusions are against God’s Law. As it happened, this was also in the LW doctrine at the time that I first approached Gordon. The difference between the churches was made very clear to me due to this issue. My research was effectively ignored by the JWs whereas Gordon gladly accepted my research and changed the LW doctrine on blood before I had even joined his church. This was one of the deciding factors that lead to my baptism into the Fourth and Last True Christian Church of the Lords' Witnesses. For the full story on this check out Blood and https://www.truebiblecode.com/joining.html#j7.

 
Date of Publication: 18th November 2024 

Abortion

Jewish Lords' Witness

Image Courtesy of john316life.com

What Does The Bible Say About Abortion?