Verhey, Allen. Reading the Bible in the Strange World of Medicine. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans Pub., 2003. Print.

The topic of my final paper is how pro-life and pro-choice activists inappropriately use biblical literature to back their claims because they lack an interpretive lens. My search for a book that I would eventually use as a reference for my final paper began with a simple search in the online card catalog. I searched “Bible, Abortion.” From this I was led to a variety of different text sources regarding this topic. “Reading the Bible in the Strange World of Medicine” drew my attention because I believe it allowed for an interesting perspective on the issues surrounding abortion. I found this book on the top floor of the library and the books surrounding it mainly considered medical ethics, mainly the topic of euthanasia. I did not look into any of the other books in this section, as I believed “Reading the Bible in the Strange World of Medicine” was the most relevant.

“Reading the Bible in the Strange World of Medicine” is a collection of essays that analyzes scripture of the Christian bible, both Old Testament and New Testament, in regards to medical ethics. Further, this work of literature applies this lens of medical ethics to controversial issues within the Christian community such as assisted suicide and the topic of my paper, abortion. This book turned out to be useful for my paper as it did reference how the Bible was written in a time that was medically different. In addition, this book discussed how the bible was tough to interpret based off its strangeness, difficulty, and diversity of scripture. Both of these points I emphasize to back my topic mentioned earlier.

This post is in response to the reading we had to do earlier this semester about how the film Noah was “whitewashed.” The newest biblical epic Exodus: Gods and Kings, which is due to be out in December is facing much of the same backlash that was faced by Noah. In Exodus: Gods and Kings, the major characters are once again not accurately portrayed in terms of racial identity. In addition, the leading cast is all Caucasian whereas the supporting cast of servants, thieves, and slaves are primarily played by actors of color. This “whitewash” of Exodus: Gods and Kings is not even strictly limited to the actors as even the set designers are being accused of making Egyptian monuments such as the Great Sphinx look more white. As a result, a movement has been started primarily through twitter to boycott this film.

Attached is a link if you would like to read further into this topic

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/05/exodus-gods-kings-whitewash-boycott_n_5652499.html

Internet Issue: Abortion

Pro-Life
PristsforLife.org
http://www.priestsforlife.org/articles/4376-the-bibles-teaching-against-abortion

In this online post, Father Frank Pavone explains how the Bible explains that abortion is wrong. Pavone is an American Roman-Catholic priest who serves as the national director of the organization “Priests for Life” and has made a name for himself by adamantly opposing abortion. Within his argument, he cites several different passages from the bible that he believes backs his stance on abortion. I will discuss a few of his major points below.

Genesis 1:26-31; 2:4-25 “God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them.” Pavone believes that since humans are created in God’s image he cherishes our lives more than other living things. Further, he believes that because humans are created in in God’s image human life is more sacred than we can even imagine and not something that should willingly be “disposed” of.

Psalm 127:3 “Truly children are a gift from the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward.” Pavone believes that since God allows us to reproduce that it is sinful to interrupt this process.

“You have been my guide since I was first formed . . . from my mother’s womb you are my God” (Psalm 22:10-11). Pavone believes that God recognizes fetuses still within their Mother’s wombs as humans.

Pro-choice
Beliefnet.com
http://www.beliefnet.com/News/2003/01/The-Biblical-Basis-Forbeing-Pro-Choice.aspx

In this online post, Marjorie Brahms Signer explains why abortion is not opposed in the bible. Singer is the communications and policy director of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice and is widely published author of pro-choice literature. Unfortunately, I was not able to find out what religious denomination Signer is, but the aforementioned organization she is a part of consists of more than 40 different religious denominations. Signer does not use as many explicit quotes from the bible as Pavone, but still does reference some biblical passages in her argument defending pro-choice. In fact, one of Signer’s arguments was that the Bible does not even mention abortion.

Genesis 1:26-31; 2:4-25 “God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them.” In opposition to Pavone’s interpretation, Signer believes that because humans were created in God image, we are able to act in a morale manner. In addition, Pavone believes that since God has given humans free will we are able to treat our bodies in the way that will be most beneficial.

“God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). Signer references this quote to further her point out how the bible does not explicitly mention how people are to properly reproduce and if there any stipulations regarding this process.

“When men fight, and one of them pushes a pregnant woman and a miscarriage results, but no other damage ensues, the one responsible shall be fined according as the woman’s husband may extract from him, the payment based on reckoning” (Exodus 21:22-23). Signer uses this biblical passage to discuss the inequality that exists between fetuses and people.

The book I found in the library is entitled Reading Biblical Narrative: An Introductory Guide by Dr. J. P. Fokkelman. I used the Lafayette College card catalog to search for my book. I first searched Noah & the Flood, which took me to Biblical Archaeology: A Very Short Introduction by Eric H. Cline on the 2nd floor of the library. However, this book mainly concerned biblical sites and the excavations of these sites, so I figured I would continue my search for a more relevant book. After looking at the books adjacent to this book I found Reading Biblical Narrative.

I was surprised to see how potentially beneficial this book could be for my studies in this course. Many of the learning outcomes of this book run in unison with the learning outcomes of our course. Reading Biblical Narrative teaches amateur readers of the Bible certain skills to enhance their analysis and understanding of the bible. Fokkelman provides the reader with a thorough breakdown of the Bible’s organization, point of view, narration, etc. Reading Biblical Narratives discusses mostly the Old Testament of the Hebrew bible, but does offer some analysis of the New Testament. I thought this to be the most relevant book to this course in this section of the library; especially considering a majority of the surrounding books concerned the Christian Bible.