Wrestling With Abortion, the Imago Dei, and a Consistent Pro-Life Ethic (Part 1)

Voxology

Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.7 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 13 February 2019

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

How the Imago Dei—humanity made in God’s image—shapes a consistent, compassionate, and Christ-centered approach to the complex issue of abortion. In this special two-part reflection, Mike Erre opens up about profoundly personal experiences surrounding abortion, pregnancy, and his son with Down syndrome as he responds to a listener’s heartfelt question: “What is your view of abortion, and what advice would you give someone struggling with that decision?”

Avoiding oversimplified policies or blanket moral statements, Mike calls for a relational and deeply human approach rooted in the radical love and life-affirming orientation of the kingdom of God.

Key Takeaways:
• A Relational Approach Over Policy Statements – Why nuanced, personal conversations about abortion matter more than sweeping declarations or political stances.
• Embodying a Consistent Pro-Life Ethic – Mike critiques inconsistencies in the modern pro-life movement while advocating for a view that includes the unborn, the vulnerable, the poor, immigrants, and even the elderly.
• Living Out Gospel-Centered Compassion – An invitation to not only encourage life-affirming choices but to sacrificially support those making them—offering real help, not just opinions.
• The Sacredness of Every Human Through the Imago Dei – A theological exploration of Genesis, image-bearing, and what gives each human intrinsic value and dignity despite capacity, circumstance, or development.
• Not Fitting Political Binaries – Mike explains why he doesn’t align perfectly with any political category, emphasizing Jesus’s call to love, serve, and honor all image-bearers regardless of their stage of life.

Resources Mentioned:
• Genesis 1 – The biblical account of humanity made in the image of God
• David Gushee on Ethics and Imago Dei
• James (New Testament) – On the power of words and honoring the image of God
• Greg Boyd – On Jesus, nonviolence, and kingdom-oriented ethics

Call to Action:

Join the Voxology community in pursuing a Jesus-centered ethic of life and love, one that transcends political labels and puts people first. Subscribe, leave a review, and follow us on social media—and stay tuned for Part 2 of this incredibly nuanced series.

As always, we encourage and would love discussion as we pursue. Feel free to email in questions to [email protected], and to engage the conversation on Facebook and Instagram.

We're on YouTube (if you're into that kinda thing): VOXOLOGY TV

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Learn more about the Voxology Podcast

Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify

Support the Voxology Podcast on Patreon

The Voxology Spotify channel can be found here: Voxology Radio

Follow Mike on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeerre

Music in this episode by Timothy John Stafford

Instagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy

As always, we encourage and would love discussion as we pursue. Feel free to email in questions to [email protected], and to engage the conversation on Facebook and Instagram.

We're on YouTube (if you're into that kinda thing): VOXOLOGY TV.

Our Merch Store! ETSY

Learn more about the Voxology Podcast

Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify

Support the Voxology Podcast on Patreon

The Voxology Spotify channel can be found here: Voxology Radio

Follow Mike on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeerre

Music in this episode by Timothy John Stafford

Instagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy

Transcript

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0:00.0	Christian ethicists have argued that the idea that each and every human being is sacred comes to humanity from beyond humanity.
0:21.6	Hey everybody, Mike here.
0:30.6	Welcome to the Vox Podcast.
0:33.6	So glad you are tuning in.
0:34.6	If you are so inclined, would you like us, rate us, subscribe to us, wherever you get your podcasts. And particularly on iTunes, that goes a long way to keep us discoverable and allows people to find the content that we put out.
0:55.0	And so that's very much appreciated.
0:56.0	Also appreciated are the 125 or 6 people who are Patreon supporters.
1:03.0	It's unbelievable that there are people who believe in this so much
1:08.0	that they are willing to support it financially.
1:10.0	And I'm so incredibly grateful
1:12.2	for that. If you're curious about what that is like, go to patreon.com. Look up Vox Podcast with yours
1:19.7	truly. And you can find us there. Now, we want to spend a little bit of time today. I want to
1:26.2	take the next today and a couple of more
1:29.2	episodes potentially. To answer a question I got regarding abortion. Abortion has been in the
1:36.2	news lately because of some legislation that was passed in New York State, because of some
1:42.7	legislation that was considered in the state of Virginia
1:45.6	and then the governor of Virginia had made some comments in defense of that legislation that were pretty interesting to say the least.
1:56.8	I realize as a white male, I don't know in any way, shape, or form what it's like to be confronted with the potential of pregnancy, to undergo pregnancy to give birth, what it's like to be an unwed mother, or somebody considering kind of giving birth and in and it feeling like a life
2:22.6	sentence because you cannot provide for that child. I don't know what any of those circumstances
2:28.5	are like. And so I want to bring Bonnie on either next episode or the one after.
2:38.4	She's had to wrestle through some very tender, hard things.
2:45.2	I certainly, and granted, I certainly don't understand what it's like to feel and what the world must look like to someone who's considering terminating an unwanted pregnancy. I also realize
	...

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