The Christological argument on abortion
I came across a Christological argument on abortion that is simple, solid and faithful to Scripture. It's a good one, one of those that leaves no way around it. If the unborn child isn’t human, then Jesus, in Mary’s womb, wasn’t fully human either. He could have been only true God, but not true man.
That’s a line you can’t come back from without undoing the very heart of our faith. Because this isn’t just about the abortion debate. It’s about the very core of the Christian confession: the Incarnation—God becoming man. When did that happen? The angel didn’t tell Mary, “You will give birth and then He’ll become the Son of God.” The angel said, “You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.” (Luke 1:31)
The Uniqueness That Reveals the Universal
The Incarnation is absolutely unique. No other conception in history involved the Second Person of the Trinity taking on human flesh by the action of the Third Person of the Trinity. The Virgin Birth is miraculous, extraordinary. And precisely because it is unique, it reveals something universal.
When God chose to enter human life, He didn't wait for birth, or viability, or brain development, or any other milestone. He entered at conception. The angel didn't tell Mary, "You will give birth and then He'll become the Son of God." The angel said, "You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus" (Luke 1:31). The moment Mary conceived, the divine and the human were united—the Son of God became the Son of Man. If any moment of human development were somehow less than fully human, then Christ could not have joined Himself to it. The Incarnation doesn't just tell us about Jesus—it dignifies and illuminates the entire human journey from its earliest beginning. God took human form in the hidden, holy space of Mary’s womb. That is where the Word became flesh. That’s where the Son of God became also the son of man.
It's Not Just Biology—It's About Who We Are
I know the objection. "The real debate isn't about biology but about personhood. After all, no one disputes that an embryo has human DNA. A skin cell has human DNA too. The question is whether an embryo possesses the same moral status as a born person."
Fair enough. Here, Christian anthropology offers something fundamentally different.
In Christianity, personhood isn't something we achieve through development, consciousness, or function. It's something we are—because we're made in the image of God. The imago Dei. Personhood is intrinsic, God-given, present from the very beginning of our existence. The moment a unique human organism exists—with its own distinct DNA, its own trajectory, its own story beginning—a person exists. Not because of what they can do, but because of Whose image they bear.
The secular personhood debate tries to separate being from value. To say you can be biologically human but not yet a "person" worthy of protection. Christianity unites them. You bear God's image not because you're conscious, viable, or wanted. You bear it because God knit you together and knows you (Psalm 139:13-16).
This is not just about biology or philosophy, but doctrine of Christ Himself. If the unborn are not human, then Jesus wasn’t human for all the weeks he lived inside Mary's womb, and the teaching of the God-Man Saviour is lost. Jesus was very God and very man right from conception. No stage is meaningless. No human life, at any point, is disposable. Jesus entered the full human experience, even the part that none of us remember—the time when we were still being formed.
That’s exactly how Confessional theology works: Christ defines what it means to be human, not vice versa.
Scripture and the Early Church Knew This
And it's not just one verse. The witness goes through all of Scripture.
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart" (Jeremiah 1:5).
"Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?" (Job 31:15).
St. Irenaeus wrote that Christ "passed through every age, becoming an infant for infants, sanctifying infants." Jesus entered the full human experience—even the part none of us remember.
That Moment in Elizabeth's Womb
When Mary visited Elizabeth (Luke 1:39-45), both women were carrying children not yet born. Both were pregnant, one with Jesus, one with John the Baptist. And at the sound of Mary's greeting, John leaped in Elizabeth's womb. Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!"
This is not a medical record, it's revelation. Two unborn children are treated as persons who matter, who respond, who are already part of God's unfolding story. Elizabeth was six months pregnant, but Mary had only just conceived. Yet the text treats both pregnancies as carrying someone, not something. John's leap isn't about proving a neurological threshold—it's a profound moment revealing that God's story includes us even before we're born. Even before we're visible. Even before we remember.
It's one of the most beautiful moments in Scripture. From the very beginning, Christ was fully human, fully divine. Not potential life, but Life Himself.
That’s why this argument cuts to the heart. It’s not political or cultural. It’s Christological. The question of life in the womb is ultimately a question about who Jesus is.
If Every Life Matters, Then Every Life Matters
If the Incarnation sanctifies life in the womb, it sanctifies life everywhere. A Christological view of life compels a consistent ethic: concern for the unborn, for mothers in crisis, for the poor, for refugees, for prisoners, for the elderly, and for the dying.
Jesus Himself was a refugee (Matthew 2:13–15). He identified with the hungry, the stranger, and the imprisoned (Matthew 25:31–46). A truly biblical pro-life ethic extends from conception to natural death, caring for all whom Christ has made and redeemed.
Christians have been doing this. They have been showing consistent care for human life in different stages. And there's always room and possibilities to do more.
Grace, Truth, and the Complexity of Real Life
Something essential needs to be said here: none of this excludes grace. Those who have faced abortion are not beyond God’s mercy. His forgiveness reaches every wound and regret. Christ, who once grew in Mary’s womb, offers peace to all who come to Him. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18).
Grace does not erase moral truth; it redeems us within it. We can hold both: the unborn child is fully human and worthy of protection, and the woman in crisis deserves compassion, care, and understanding. Truth and mercy are not enemies in Christ—they meet perfectly in Him.
But here's the tension we have to hold: complexity doesn't erase truth. Grace doesn't make moral categories disappear—it redeems us within them. We can hold two things at once: the unborn child is fully human and deserves protection, and women in crisis pregnancies deserve compassion, support, and understanding without judgment.
The Simple Truth:
The unborn are human, just as Jesus in Mary’s womb was. From the moment of conception, He was fully human and fully divine—not potentially human, but truly the Word made flesh. This is the Incarnation: God with us. God as us. From the first cell division to the last breath, every moment of human existence is dignified by the fact that God Himself lived it. The question of life in the womb is ultimately a question about who Jesus is—and if we get Jesus right, everything else falls into place.
That is the firm line of Christian confession. And from that line flows both our conviction and our compassion.
For no one is beyond His mercy and love.
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