Citation

Engelhardt HT. Christ. Bioeth. 2004; 10(1): 79-103.

Affiliation

Department of Philosophy MS-14, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005, USA. htengelh@rice.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, Journal of Christian Bioethics, Publisher Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1080/13803600490489979

PMID

15675042

Abstract

An authentic Christian bioethical account of abortion must take into consideration the conflicting epistemologies that separate Christian moral theology from secular moral philosophy. Moral epistemologies directed to the issue of abortion that fail to appreciate the orientation of morality to God will also fail adequately to appreciate the moral issues at stake. Christian accounts of the bioethics of abortion that reduce moral-theological considerations to moral-philosophical considerations will not only fail to appreciate fully the offense of abortion, but morally mislead. This article locates the bioethics of abortion within the theology of the Church of the first millennium, emphasizing that abortion was prohibited, whether or not one considered the embryo or fetus to be ensouled.

Language: en