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It's Saturday, August 24, 2024.

Today’s edition covers some notable DNC moments regarding abortion, the astonishing number of Iranian Muslims coming to Christ, whether Peter really stands at the pearly gates, and much more.

“A righteous man knows the rights of the poor; a wicked man does not understand such knowledge.” (Proverbs 29:7)

Of Christian Concern

ABORTION: AT THE DNC, AND TRUMP VS.

KAMALA

Screenshot of Kamal Harris during her DNC address. (CNBC Television / YouTube)

Abortion was a hot topic at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) this week as many of the speakers took the stage to promote and justify prenatal murder. Here are some notable moments, plus some additional background and context.

Personal Stories

On Monday, a lineup of personal stories purported to show that abortion bans are harmful.

• Josh and Amanda Zurawski of Texas related how they were told that Amanda would miscarry their daughter but were sent home and not allowed “standard abortion care” until Amanda was “sick enough.” — CNN reports that Josh had to rush Amanda to the hospital after she experienced a dramatic temperature change. She had a 103-degree fever before “doctors felt legally safe to terminate the pregnancy.” She had a bacterial infection and developed symptoms of sepsis. In the ICU, doctors stabilized her blood pressure and she recovered.

• Kaitlyn Joshua of Louisiana told how she miscarried her second child but was turned away from two emergency rooms “because of Louisiana’s abortion ban.” — Mother Jones reports that it took Joshua two weeks to pass her pregnancy at home.

• Hadley Duvall of Kentucky retold how she got pregnant at age 12 after her stepfather raped her. “That was the first time I was ever told, ‘You have options.’ I can't imagine not having a choice.” — Based on reporting by Washington Post, it seems Duvall first heard of her “options” from her rapist: “Whitledge walked her through what he claimed were her choices, she said. She could ‘sneak in’ a boy from the neighborhood and pretend the baby was his, she recalled him saying — or they could take a drive to a clinic in Louisville.” She miscarried almost two weeks later.

The DNC’s choice to highlight these particular stories is notable. It suggests Democratic strategists have made the political calculation that highlighting the significantly more common scenarios would be unpalatable to many—i.e., scenarios in which mothers who feel unprepared financially, emotionally, relationally, etc. pursue abortions for convenience to avoid the consequences of their sexual behavior.

Andy Beshear

After the panel of personal stories, Kentucky governor Andy Beshear took the stage to continue hammering the abortion issue. He referred to abortion as a “constitutional right” that former president Donald Trump tore away from women, and a “basic right” that was “eliminated.” He claimed that the policies of Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance “give rapists more rights than their victims,” and said that “a woman grieving a nonviable pregnancy shouldn’t be required to carry it to term just to listen to her child die, or to hear no sound at all.”

A careful observer may notice the subtext of that last statement: a mother should be able to murder her child before she can hear it, to avoid being sadder about the child’s death. Regarding the “rapist” comment, one might observe that abortion is an extremely helpful tool for rapists, as hinted at in Duvall’s story. Has there ever been a pro-life rapist? He would be a hypocrite. Not so if he’s pro-choice.

Walz and Harris

Later in the week, both Tim Walz and Kamala Harris also weighed in on abortion from the stage.

• Minnesota governor and now vice presidential candidate Tim Walz bragged about his state’s abortion stance, saying they “protected reproductive freedom because in Minnesota we respect our neighbors and the personal choices they make. And even if we wouldn't make those same choices for ourselves, we've got a golden rule: mind your own d—n business.” So, for Walz, murder is merely a personal choice despite there being homicide laws already on the books in Minnesota.

• Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris suggested that “America cannot truly be prosperous” without legal abortion. She said she’s heard stories from across the country of poor miscarriage care, interrupted IVF treatments, and sexual assault victims “potentially being forced to carry a pregnancy to term.” All this was Trump’s fault, she suggested. Moving forward, “he and his allies would limit access to birth control, ban medication abortion, and enact a nationwide abortion ban with or without Congress,” among other measures. She promised: “And when Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom, as president of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law.”

Trump vs. Harris On Abortion

As it happens, Trump and his allies have voiced support for IVF, abortion exceptions, and medication abortion, and removed the nationwide abortion ban from the Republican Party platform. In a social media post yesterday morning, he wrote, “My Administration will be great for women and their reproductive rights.”

Anecdotal evidence gives the impression that many Christians may wish he were as anti-abortion as Harris suggests. While the Democrats are openly pushing for a national abortion right, the Republicans have no fortitude to continue calling for a national abortion ban.

In fact, the earliest abortion ban that Trump has ever signaled support for is a 15-week ban, at which time at least 96% of recorded abortions have already taken place. That means, numerically, Trump vs. Harris on abortion policy is almost a wash. Some may chalk up Trump’s underwhelming vocal opposition to abortion as politically savvy, but others’ fears are not allayed. He executed on the pro-life demands for Supreme Court judges that overturned Roe v. Wade, but his recent rhetoric raises the question of whether that was the extent of his commitment to defending the preborn, who are being murdered now more than ever in the past decade.

Bloodthirsty Democrats

However, if Trump is apathetic about abortion, this week confirmed beyond all doubt that Kamala and the Democrats are anything but apathetic—they’re gung-ho about it. Perhaps the best illustration of this is the fact that Planned Parenthood offered free abortions “a few blocks” from the venue during the first two days of the convention, and its appointment spots were filled before the week began.

Pastor and podcaster Darrell B. Harrison put it this way last week:

The Democrats are objectively bloodthirsty… As much as conservatives get lambasted for being one-issue voters, look at the Democrat side. Abortion is like breathing to them. Murdering unborn babies is like breathing to them. I promise you, this is why they want to restructure the Supreme Court. This is the single issue. ...Ultimately, this is the one issue that's getting them behind Harris. It's because they know Harris will advance the cause of murdering unborn babies.

Also Noteworthy

Photo: Rayn L

→ 1 million Iranian Muslims come to Christ and 50,000 of the nation’s 75,000 mosques have closed due to low attendance, according to recent reports.

→ The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem issued a statement last week condemning the Israeli Police for “ban[ning] Christian worshippers from participating in the sacred services of the Feast of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor,” an observance that remembers Christ’s transfiguration. This treatment by authorities is “not isolated,” the Patriarchute says, as “comparable obstructions have also marred other sacred events.”

→ The Shroud of Turin may actually be 2,000 years old, further legitimizing its candidacy as the burial cloth of Christ, according to a study using X-ray techniques.

→ Prosperity televangelist Benny Hinn’s wife Suzanne filed for divorce again, after their remarriage in 2013 following their first divorce filed in 2010. Suzanne’s reason for the first divorce was “irreconcilable differences”; the reason for the current filing is unclear. The controversial preacher came under renewed scrutiny in recent months for his teachings and ministry practices.

→ A giant Hindu idol in Houston, Texas, now the 3rd tallest statue in the United States, was consecrated on Monday in a ceremony called a prana pratishtha.

→ Actor Tim Allen posted that he’s “really” reading the Bible for the first time, and reports his reaction so far.

Content Catch-Up

Recent, notable content of Christian interest.*

Screenshot of Charlie Kirk’s post. (@charliekirk11 / X)

→ America Founded As A Christian Nation: In short video clip viewed over 9 million times, conservative pundit Charlie Kirk makes a forceful case that America was founded on a Christian nation. (Post)

→ Lesbian and Her Partner Come to Christ At the Same Time: Formerly gay Christian author and speaker Becket Cook interviews former lesbian Patti Height about she came to Christ. (Video)

*Not necessarily an endorsement

The Bible, Briefly

Peter At the Pearly Gates?

The Last Judgment, by Hans Memling, circa 1467-1471; the left panel portrays Peter welcoming people at the gate to heaven (Public Domain)

It’s a familiar mental picture: apostle Peter standing at the pearly gates of heaven, welcoming newly arrived believers and perhaps keeping would-be unwanted guests out. But is there anything biblical about that concept?

The idea of Peter standing at the gates apparently comes from Matthew 16:18-19:

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

When the idea of Peter having the keys of the kingdom of heaven is combined with Revelation 21:21’s image of the New Jerusalem having gates made of pearls, as one writer puts it, “it's not a huge leap to see Peter as being the gatekeeper of heaven, who allows entrance to some but not others.”

Several commentators make the connection, though not with any credulity, between Matthew 16 and the popular imagery, including Everett Ferguson, Miriam Van Scott and Howard Clarke.

Beyond the decidedly un-exegetical “interpretation” of Matthew 16, the Bible is silent on the topic, which amounts to a thin defense for taking the tradition seriously—but not thin enough for the tradition itself not to enjoy its long tenure in Christendom’s imagination.

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Why "18:15"? The name Project 18:15 is based on Proverbs 18:15: “An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.” The aim is for this weekly email—a Christian news briefing, a Bible study, and a Church history lesson rolled into one—to be one way you keep abreast of current events and acquire knowledge you might not acquire elsewhere.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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