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It's Saturday, August 26, 2023.

Today’s edition covers the the Republican presidential candidates’ views on abortion, Scripture’s teaching on “iniquitous decrees,” and the immense influence of Augustine on the West.

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Of Christian Concern

U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES WEIGH IN ON ABORTION DURING FIRST REPUBLICAN PRIMARY DEBATE

Eight of the Republican primary candidates for U.S. President attended the Wednesday debate. (Screenshot: Fox News)

During the first Republican primary debate hosted by Fox News on Wednesday, the attending candidates voiced their positions on abortion. Here is a summary of their comments.

Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley stated she is “unapologetically pro-life” because her husband was adopted and she had trouble having children. She said the issue shouldn’t be demonized, and should never have been decided by judges “because it’s personal.” Any kind of federal ban, she argued, should be formulated around a consensus: opposing late-term abortions, encouraging adoptions, not forcing medical providers to provide abortions against their will, making contraception available, and not penalizing women.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis said he believes “in a culture of life,” and was proud to sign the 6-week abortion ban in Florida. He knocked the Democrats for seeking to allow abortion all the way up to birth. When asked whether he would enact a federal 6-week abortion ban, he claimed he would “stand on the side of life” but expects it would look different from state to state.

Former Vice President Mike Pence attributed his own beliefs on abortion to his Christian faith, and said he has been a “champion of life” through his political career. Referring to Haley’s comments, he said “consensus is the opposite of leadership,” and indicated he would champion a federal 15-week ban.

Nikki responded that Pence’s idea was not a realistic goal in a Senate that doesn’t have the 60 votes required for it.

North Dakota governor Doug Burgum, “a pro-life governor of a very pro-life state,” said there should not be a federal abortion ban, because the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution says whatever duties are not delegated to the federal government by the states are left to the states, or to the people.

Former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson chimed in to say that a federal abortion ban is in fact an option because the Supreme Court gave the issue back to the elected representatives, which can be either the states or the Congress. He claimed to have signed 30 pro-life pieces of legislation while governor of Arkansas, and said “every state can determine a different outcome here.” He urged debating the issue with compassion, seeking to advance adoption services and maternal care.

South Carolina senator Tim Scott said no state should be allowed to have abortions on demand up to birth, and said the U.S. president needs to fight for a 15-week limit at minimum. He said he has “a hundred percent pro-life record,” and emphasized the need to “fight for life,” pointing out that “life” is a right referred to in the Declaration of Independence.

Neither former New Jersey governor Chris Christie nor businessman Vivek Ramaswamy weighed in.

Also Noteworthy

→ Lizzie Marbach, the activist who was fired from Ohio Right to Life last week, shared more details about her dismissal. In a post, she claimed a “contributing factor” to her firing was her support for a bill that would abolish abortion in Ohio.

→ Brian Houston, founder of Hillsong Church, was found not guilty last week for concealing his father’s child sex abuse. This comes nearly four months after Houston pled guilty in a drunk driving case.

→ The Singularity Group, a non-Christian tech nonprofit, launched “AI Jesus.” It’s an experimental 24/7 livestream on Twitch called “ask_jesus,” in which an AI-generated representation of Jesus, trained on the teachings of the Bible, responds to questions and comments.

→ Target, the retail giant, had its first quarterly sales decrease in six years following a boycott in response to its Pride merchandise in June. The company’s chief growth officer Christina Hennington said the “strong reaction to this year’s Pride assortment” was a factor in the drop, and, “The reaction is a signal for us to pause, adapt and learn.”

→ Parents Defending Education, a conservative advocacy group, reports that over 1,000 U.S. school districts have policies that “openly state that district personnel can or should keep a student’s transgender status hidden from parents.”

→ Hindu nationalists stormed a church in Delhi, India on Sunday, allegedly blaring words over a loudspeaker and assaulting the church members with sticks. A mob of over 100 then gathered at the local police station later that day apparently to prevent or protest the Christians filing a complaint about the incident. This event comes only weeks after a reportedly brutal attack on Christians in the state of Chhattisgarh.

→ Freedom From Religion, an atheist activist group, called on a South Carolina school district earlier this month to stop opening board meetings with prayers. First Liberty Institute, a Christian conservative legal nonprofit, has responded, encouraging the school board to continue their practice of prayer.

→ South Carolina’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of a bill that bans abortion after the unborn child has a heartbeat. Reporter Ben Zeisloft pointed out, however, that Republican lawmakers in the same state earlier this year refused to pass a bill that would have completely criminalized abortion.

→ Nancy Pearcey, a respected Christian author, posted statistics on social media this week that show “Religious service attendance is the only factor that shows consistent significance in predicting both men and women’s odds of infidelity.”

Content Catch-Up

Recent, notable content by Christian creators.*

→ Interview With Lizzie Marbach: Apologia Studios interviews Lizzie Marbach, the  fired Ohio Right to Life employee, about her experience in the pro-life movement and the events leading up to her dismissal. (Video)

→ What’s Wrong With Multiculturalism?: UK-based organization Christian Concern offers a description and critique of “multiculturalism” from a Christian perspective. (Article)

→ Joe Rogan and Christianity: On the YouTube channel “Whaddo You Meme??,” Jon McCray discusses world-famous podcaster Joe Rogan’s apparently evolving relationship with Christianity. (Video)

*Not necessarily an endorsement

The Bible, Briefly

God On “Iniquitous Decrees”

“Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, 

and the writers who keep writing oppression…”

(Isaiah 10:1)

According to the Abridged BDB, a respected biblical Hebrew dictionary, the word translated here as “Woe” is actually the onomatopoeic interjection, “Hoy!” It is roughly equivalent to our English “Ah!,” “Alas!,” or “Ha!,” meant to arouse attention, perhaps “with a touch of sympathy or pity.”

In this passage, God uses this term to call attention to the sinfulness of those who make governmental decrees that establish oppression rather than justice. The passage continues:

“…to turn aside the needy from justice 

and to rob the poor of my people of their right, 

that widows may be their spoil, 

and that they may make the fatherless their prey!”

(10:2)

God says here that these governing authorities reject the “needy” and take away the rights of the “poor” in order to exploit “widows” and “the fatherless.” Then he asks:

“What will you do on the day of punishment, 

in the ruin that will come from afar? 

To whom will you flee for help, 

and where will you leave your wealth?”

(10:3)

Now speaking directly to the oppressors, these rhetorical questions imply that on their day of judgment, they will be punished, ruined, and have nowhere to flee.

As a modern-day example of those who decree iniquitous decrees that hurt widows and the fatherless, some have pointed to “pro-life incrementalists” who “are content to compromise in an attempt to save some babies.” These compromises, which would include such laws as 6-week or 15-week abortion bans, are those that “allow for abortion as long as the baby is young enough.”

“These compromises,” so goes the argument, “are the definition of iniquitous decrees,” since they validate and officialize oppression by writing into the law that some human lives have more value than others.

Church History Tidbit

The Immense Influence of Augustine

The earliest known portrait of Augustine in a 6th-century fresco, Lateran, Rome. (Source: Wikipedia)

Augustine of Hippo (354-430) is a giant in ancient Church history. His teaching, according to the Christian History Institute, was formative for the Western Church “on salvation, the church, baptism, sin, the Trinity, the Christian state, sex – in short, almost everything.” In fact, his influence was and is so pervasive that Dr. Michael Haykin, a professor of church history and biblical spirituality, says, “We are all Augustinian.” Everyone in the West, even those who have never heard of him, have been influenced by his ideas.

Haykin highlights the impact of three of Augustine’s many written works. First is The Confessions, written as an “extended prayer of thanksgiving” to God for his grace. The first of its kind, this “conversion narrative” tells Augustine’s life story along  with profound theological commentary. It “establishes strongly a theology and spirituality of grace” and presents of vision of God as “a being of ultimate beauty.”

Second is On the Trinity, which teaches “the full deity of the Son and the Spirit from Scripture,” and carefully outlines the relationships between the members of the Godhead. Two of the most important theological concepts he develops are “eternal generation” and “eternal procession.”

Third is The City of God, an in-depth “theology of history” in which Augustine presents the idea that “cultures and political structures are defined by what they love.” He uses the metaphor of two cities—the city of God and the city of man—which are distinguished by love of God or love of self.

These Augustinian ideas are among those that undergird and form the foundation of Western culture. For a more thorough introduction to Augustine, watch this lecture by Haykin.

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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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