Consistently Pro-Life


Book Description

Description: Consistently Pro-Life is a book about killing. Specifically, it takes up the question of when and under what circumstances is it morally justifiable for a Christian to take human life. The murder of abortionist Dr. George Tiller on Pentecost Sunday 2009 reignited the national debate over abortion by focusing attention on the seeming hypocrisy of those who would kill to defend life. But many times, those who would condemn the killing of Dr. Tiller would readily justify the killing of human beings in other circumstances. This leads to the question: What basis do we have to judge a specific act of violence as morally good or ethically justifiable in light of the gospel of Jesus Christ? Rob Arner explores these issues and argues that the deliberate killing of any human being is incompatible with the moral life of a follower of Jesus. Readers will discover in the witness of the ancient Christian church an example of how modern Christians might consistently apply gospel precepts toward questions of the taking of human life. Through a new taxonomy that categorizes the ancient Christian witnesses according to individual issues such as abortion/infanticide, killing in war, and the bloody Roman ""games,"" Consistently Pro-Life demonstrates that the early church consistently opposed the killing of human persons, and suggests that the discipline and moral clarity of the ancient Christians on issues of violence can show us a new way forward in a time of polarizing culture wars. Endorsements: ""Many have noted that in our 'time between the times' we have much to learn from the ecumenical consensus in the early church. Others have called us to attend to the 'ancient-future' practices of the church for a revitalization of current Christian worship. Some have even reminded us that grace and good works cannot, according to the early church, be separated. However, almost no one has reminded us as clearly as has Rob Arner, in this compelling and wonderfully written book, that if we are to be true to the substance of the teachings of the Ancient Church, true to the Spirit by which it was animated, then we must recover their commitment to a Consistently Pro-Life theological ethic."" --Mark Thiessen Nation Eastern Mennonite Seminary ""Consistently Pro-Life presents a well-argued, well-documented case for the view that the early church before Constantine opposed all killing of human beings. It also clearly connects the thinking of the early church with our contemporary debates about abortion, capital punishment, and war. Just War advocates will object at some points, but Arner provides data and a thesis that cannot be ignored."" --Ronald J. Sider President, Evangelicals for Social Action ""Rob Arner offers an important new approach to the issue of Christian participation in violence through a striking combination of contemporary and historical study . . . I personally have become convinced that followers of Christ give up their sacred birthright when they walk away from the radical nonviolence of Christ and his earliest followers. Arner's very important book will help many reach the same conclusion."" --David P. Gushee Mercer University About the Contributor(s): Rob Arner is a PhD candidate in Theology and Christian Ethics at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, and an adjunct professor at Chestnut Hill College.




Completely Pro-Life


Book Description

The Sanctity of Human Life is Under Attack. Unborn Children Are Destroyed. The Poor Go Hungry. Families Are Broken Up. We Are All Endangered By Nuclear War. To be completely pro-life means to defend human life wherever it is threatened. Ron Sider provides a consistent vision of what it means to be pro-life. He cuts through party lines by holding fast to Scripture wherever it leads. The result is a refreshing and truly biblical stance on many current and vitally important issues. With the help of the staff of Evangelicals for Social Action, Sider gives us concrete steps to help change our world.




Persuasive Pro Life, 2nd Ed: How to Talk about Our Culture's Toughest Issue


Book Description

Not sure how to defend pre-born life? Whatever the reason for this fear, it causes many of us to pass up opportunities to speak out on behalf of the unborn. You can overcome this fear, says Trent Horn in this new and revised edition of his bestselling classic. In Persuasive Pro-Life- 2nd Edition, you can become a bold and effective apologist for life. Drawing on the latest developments in the post-Roe landscape, Horn helps you cut through the rhetoric of the pro-choice side in order to accurately frame the legal, historical, and scientific issues surrounding abortion. Then he demonstrates--with vivid personal examples from his years of campus activism, how to be charitable, he offers real-life examples on what to say, and what not to say. We must be not just warriors for the pro-life cause, he says, but ambassadors for it. Read Persuasive Pro-Life- 2nd Edition today, and never again be afraid to speak up for the precious and fundamental right to life.




Catechism of the Catholic Church


Book Description

Over 3 million copies sold! Essential reading for Catholics of all walks of life. Here it is - the first new Catechism of the Catholic Church in more than 400 years, a complete summary of what Catholics around the world commonly believe. The Catechism draws on the Bible, the Mass, the Sacraments, Church tradition and teaching, and the lives of saints. It comes with a complete index, footnotes and cross-references for a fuller understanding of every subject. The word catechism means "instruction" - this book will serve as the standard for all future catechisms. Using the tradition of explaining what the Church believes (the Creed), what she celebrates (the Sacraments), what she lives (the Commandments), and what she prays (the Lord's Prayer), the Catechism of the Catholic Church offers challenges for believers and answers for all those interested in learning about the mystery of the Catholic faith. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a positive, coherent and contemporary map for our spiritual journey toward transformation.




Abortion and the Christian Tradition


Book Description

Abortion remains the most contested political issue in American life. Poll results have remained surprisingly constant over the years, with roughly equal numbers supporting and opposing it. A common perception is that abortion is contrary to Christian teaching and values. While some have challenged that perception, few have attempted a comprehensive critique and constructive counterargument on Christian ethical and theological grounds.Margaret Kamitsuka begins with a careful examination of the churchs biblical and historical record, refuting the assumption that Christianity has always condemned abortion or that it considered personhood as beginning at the moment of conception. She then offers carefully crafted ethical arguments about the pregnant womans authority to make reproductive decisions and builds a theological rationale for seeing abortion as something other than a sin.




Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Arguments


Book Description

As politicians, citizens, and families continue the raging national debate on whether it's proper to end human life in the womb, resources like Randy Alcorn's Prolife Answers to Prochoice Arguments have proven invaluable. With over 75,000 copies in print, this revised and updated guide offers timely information and inspiration from a "sanctity of life" perspective. Real answers to real questions about abortion appear in logical and concise form. The final chapter -- "Fifty Ways to Help Unborn Babies and Their Mothers"-- is worth the price of this book alone!




Killing for Life


Book Description

How can those who seek to protect the "right to life" defend assassination in the name of saving lives? Carol Mason investigates this seeming paradox by examining pro-life literature—both archival material and writings from the front lines of the conflict. Her analysis reveals the apocalyptic thread that is the ideological link between established anti-abortion organizations and the more shadowy pro-life terrorists who subject clinic workers to anthrax scares, bombs, and bullets.The portrayal of abortion as "America's Armageddon" began in the 1960s. In the 1970s, Mason says, Christian politics and the post-Vietnam paramilitary culture popularized the idea that legal abortion is a harbinger of apocalypse. By the 1990s, Mason asserts, even the movement's mainstream had taken up the call, narrating abortion as an apocalyptic battle between so-called Christian and anti-Christian forces. "Pro-life violence of the 1990s signaled a move away from protest and toward retribution," she writes. "Pro-life retribution is seen as a way to restore the order of God. In this light, the phenomenon of killing for 'life' is revealed not as an oxymoron, but as a logical consistency and a political manifestation of religious retribution."Mason's scrutiny of primary sources (direct mail, internal memoranda, personal letters, underground manuals, and pro-life films, magazines, and novels) draws attention to elements of pro-life millennialism. Killing for Life is a powerful indictment of pro-life ideology as a coherent, mass-produced narrative that does not merely condone violence, but anticipates it as part of "God's plan."




Abortion Politics, Mass Media, and Social Movements in America


Book Description

Weaving together analyses of archival material, news coverage, and interviews conducted with journalists from mainstream and partisan outlets as well as with activists across the political spectrum, Deana A. Rohlinger reimagines how activists use a variety of mediums, sometimes simultaneously, to agitate for - and against - legal abortion. Rohlinger's in-depth portraits of four groups - the National Right to Life Committee, Planned Parenthood, the National Organization for Women, and Concerned Women for America - illuminates when groups use media and why they might choose to avoid media attention altogether. Rohlinger expertly reveals why some activist groups are more desperate than others to attract media attention and sheds light on what this means for policy making and legal abortion in the twenty-first century.




Beyond the Abortion Wars


Book Description

The abortion debate in the United States is confused. Ratings-driven media coverage highlights extreme views and creates the illusion that we are stuck in a hopeless stalemate. In this book Charles Camosy argues that our polarized public discourse hides the fact that most Americans actually agree on the major issues at stake in abortion morality and law. Unpacking the complexity of the abortion issue, Camosy shows that placing oneself on either side of the typical polarizations -- pro-life vs. pro-choice, liberal vs. conservative, Democrat vs. Republican -- only serves to further confuse the debate and limits our ability to have fruitful dialogue. Camosy then proposes a new public policy that he believes is consistent with the beliefs of the broad majority of Americans and supported by the best ideas and arguments about abortion from both secular and religious sources.




Defenders of the Unborn


Book Description

Provocative and insightful, Defenders of the Unborn is a must-read for anyone who craves a deeper understanding of a highly-charged issue"--Provided by publisher.




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