The early Christian Church was developing its doctrines during a time when various attitudes towards abortion existed in the Greco-Roman world. While the Bible does not explicitly address abortion, several early Christian texts and Church Fathers expressed opinions on the matter. These views were often influenced by interpretations of biblical texts, philosophical considerations about the nature of life and personhood, and the societal context of the time.
- The Didache: The Didache, a Christian treatise from the late 1st or early 2nd century, explicitly condemns abortion, stating: “Do not murder a child by abortion or kill a newborn infant.” This is one of the earliest Christian texts to explicitly mention abortion.
- Athenagoras of Athens: Athenagoras, a philosopher who became a Christian apologist, wrote in his “Plea for the Christians” (c. 177 AD) that Christians consider women who use drugs to abort a fetus to be murderers, as well as the suppliers of such drugs.
- Tertullian: Tertullian, a Christian author from Carthage, wrote in “Apologeticus” (c. 197 AD) that Christians do not expose their children, a reference to the Roman practice of abandoning unwanted newborns. He extended this principle to the unborn, arguing against abortion.
- The Council of Elvira: The Council of Elvira (c. 305 AD) was one of the first Christian councils to discuss abortion. Canon 63 of the council’s canons states that if a woman becomes pregnant by committing adultery and then has an abortion, she may not receive communion until she has completed the period of penance.
- Basil the Great: Basil, Bishop of Caesarea, wrote in a letter (c. 375 AD) that a woman who deliberately destroys a fetus is guilty of murder, a stance that was influential in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
- Augustine of Hippo: Augustine, a prominent Church Father, believed that ensoulment (the point at which a fetus receives a soul) does not occur until after conception, but he still opposed abortion on the grounds that it violated the natural procreative process and could hide evidence of sexual sin.
It should be noted that these views were not universally accepted in early Christianity, and many of the debates were tied to larger theological discussions about issues such as ensoulment and sin. Additionally, medical understandings of conception and fetal development were very different from what we know today, which further complicates historical comparisons. Despite these complexities, it is clear that early Christianity had a significant influence on the development of Western attitudes towards abortion.