Personhood:
Being Pro-life in the 21st Century
Personhood in the early church
95 AD - The Didache
A compilation of Apostolic moral
teachings that appeared at the end of
the first century, which asserted an
unwavering reverence for the sanctity
of life:
“There are two ways, one of life and one of
death, and there is a great difference between
these two ways. Therefore, do not murder a
child by abortion or kill a newborn infant.”
125 AD - The Epistle of Barnabas
“You shall love your neighbor more than
your own life. You shall not slay a child by
abortion. You shall not kill that which has
already been generated.”
150 AD - Christian apologist Athenagoras,
in a letter to Emperor Marcus Aurelius
‘…The fetus in the womb is a living being
and therefore the object of God’s care.’
230 AD - Tertullian
“Our faith declares life out of
death. Therefore, murder is
forbidden once and for all. We
may not destroy even the fetus in
the womb. To hinder a birth is
merely a speedier man killing.
Thus it does not matter whether
you take away a life that is born,
or destroy one that is coming to
the birth. In both instances,
destruction is murder.”
385 A.D. Basil of Caesarea
Basil opened the very first non-ambulatory hospital.
It was his involvement with the poor and his work in
the hospital that ultimately led Basil into a confrontation with
still another series of societal woes: abortion, infanticide,
exposure, and abandonment.
The bodies of the children were
then harvested and sold to
cosmetologists in Egypt, who used
the collagen for the manufacture of
various beauty creams.
When Basil approached several city officials
about the horrors that the Sagae (ancient
abortionists) were perpetrating on the women
and children of the community, he was shocked
to discover that the awful trade was perfectly
legal-and always had been.
Immediately, he sprang into action:
He preached a series of sermons on the
sanctity of human life;
he mobilized the members of his church to
help care for families and women who were
facing crisis pregnancies;
 he began to exercise the full weight of his
family influence as well as his own considerable
powers of persuasion to change the laws;
 he began an education program throughout the
entire city so that people could fully understand
the issues;
 he took imprecatory ecclesiastical action
against the Sagae, declaring them to be
anathema;
 and he even staged public protests against the
Egyptian traders that helped to support the
grisly trade with their mercantile ingenuity.
Basil knew God’s Word
Over 50
Pro-life
Passages in
Scripture
8 weeks
18
weeks
For You have formed my inward
parts; You have covered me in my
mother’s womb. I will praise You, for
I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
marvelous are Your works, and that
my soul knows very well. My frame
was not hidden from you, when I
was made in secret, and skillfully
wrought in the lowest parts of the
earth. Your eyes saw my
substance, being yet unformed. And
in Your Book they all were written,
the days fashioned for me, when as
yet there were none of them.
(Psalm 139:13-16, NKJV)
The list of Christian pro-life heroes is very nearly endless:
 430 AD – Augustine
 450 AD - Jerome
 Gregory the Great (d. 604),
 Cuthbert of Lindisfarne (d. 687)
 Giles Aegidius (d. 796),
 Clement Slovensky (d.916),
 Edburga of Winchester (d. 960),
 Dunstan of Canterbury (d. 988)
 Edward the Confessor (d. 1066)
 Sava of Trnova (d. 1235)
 Louis of France ( d. 1270)
 Elizabeth of Portugal (d. 1336)
By their faith and by their actions, these
Christians brought about a revolution in
human history. For the first time there was
a consensus that life was sacred, that it
ought to be protected, and that God would
bless any culture that did protect life.
“The
Sanctity of
Life”
OUR
MISSION:
Personhood Florida's purpose is to restore
respect and effective legal protection to all
innocent human life from its earliest
biological beginning to natural death.
“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image,
according to Our likeness . . . And God created man
in His own image, in the image of God He created
him; male and female He created them.”
Gen 1:26-27
Personhood: Protecting the image of God
Personhood was endowed by God
at the very moment of creation.
We are Persons
from our earliest biological beginning…
• Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I made you in your
mother’s womb, I chose you.”
• Isaiah 49:5 NLT “And now the LORD speaks—the
one who formed me in my mother’s womb to be
his servant”
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Prolife Passages in the Bible
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God Is the Creator of Life
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Genesis 1:27, 2:7 Job 12:10 Psalm 139:13-16
1 Samuel 2:6 Job 31:15 Isaiah 64:8
Nehemiah 9:6 Job 33:4 Acts 17:24-25
Job 10:8-12 Psalm 100:3 Colossians 1:16
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Children Are a Gift from God
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Genesis 18:10-14 Genesis 48:9 Proverbs 17:6
Genesis 25:21 1 Samuel 1:19-20 Isaiah 8:18
Genesis 29:31-35 Psalm 113:9 Hosea 9:11
Genesis 30:1-2, 22-23 Psalm 127:3-5
Genesis 33:5 Psalm 128:3
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Personhood Begins at Conception
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Job 10:8-12 Jeremiah 20:17a Luke 1:35-38
Psalm 51:5 Matthew 1:18-20
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Personhood Exists in the Womb
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Genesis 16:11a Psalm 71:5-6 Isaiah 49:1, 5a
Genesis 25:22-24 Psalm 139:13-16 Jeremiah 1:5
Job 3:11, 16 Ecclesiastes 5:15a Hosea 12:3a
Job 31:15 Isaiah 7:14 Luke 1:13-15
Psalm 22:9-10 Isaiah 44:2, 24 Luke 1:39-44
Psalm 58:3, 8b Isaiah 46:3 Galatians 1:15a
Over 50 Pro-life
Passages in
Scripture
Rape or Incest and Abortion
Genesis 19:36-38 Deuteronomy 24:16 Romans 8:28
Genesis 38:13-26 Ruth 4:18-22 Ephesians 5:20
Genesis 50:20 Matthew 1:3
God’s View of Abortion
Exodus 20:13 Deuteronomy 30:19 Matthew 19:18b
Exodus 23:7 Proverbs 6:16-19 Romans 13:9a, 10a
Sacrifice of Children Forbidden
Exodus 1:15-17 Deuteronomy 18:10a, 12 Psalm
106:31-38
Leviticus 18:21, 24, 30 2 Kings 16:3 Jeremiah
32:35
Leviticus 20:1-5 2 Kings 17:17 Ezekiel 16:20-21
Deuteronomy 12:31 2 Kings 21:6
Punishment for Causing an Abortion
Exodus 21:22-25 Proverbs 28:17a Amos 1:13
Deuteronomy 27:25a
A few of the Pro-life
Passages in
Scripture
• In Isaiah 44:2, God says He
formed Isaiah "in the womb."
• In Jeremiah 1:5, God tells Jeremiah,
"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you".
• In Psalm 51:5 David says that he was a sinner from the
time his mother conceived him.
• Job 10:8-12 described the way God created him before
he was born in detail.
• Dr. Luke says John the Baptist was ending his second
trimester in Elisabeth's womb when he leaped for joy
at Mary's greeting (Luke 1:41,44).
• Even the angel Gabriel told Mary that she would be
"with child and give birth to a son" (Luke 1:31).
Christ Jesus took on human flesh
and dwelt among us that He
might redeem fallen mankind.
History in the 18th Century:
“Self-evident” or natural rights
The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776,
states "We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
Our rights do not originate from our government,
so they cannot be taken by a governmental
decision.
Slavery Grievance – Jefferson
[King George III] has waged cruel war
against human nature itself, violating its
most sacred rights of life & liberty in the
persons of a distant people who never
offended him, captivating & carrying
them into slavery in another
hemisphere, or to incur miserable
death in their transportation thither….
Slavery Grievance – Jefferson
The founding fathers loathed slavery
and made plans to end it in the
Constitution in 1808, but the next
generation lost their zeal.
In 1857, in the Dred Scott decision, the
U.S. Supreme Court declared blacks to
be “a subordinate and inferior class of
beings.” This decision was never
“overturned” but was amended after
Lincoln issued the Emancipation
Proclamation. This called the people of
American to free the slaves.
Personhood was restored to another
people group.
Nazi Germany declared
that Jews were “subjects”
of the Reich but not
“citizens” under the newly
enacted Nuremberg
Laws on Citizenship and
Race. Article 4 (1) stated,
“A Jew cannot be a
citizen of the Reich. He
cannot exercise the right
to vote; he cannot hold
public office.”
After the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, a
number of additional Nazi decrees were
issued that eventually outlawed the Jews
completely, depriving them of their rights
as human beings.
Preborn ≠ Mother’s body
• 1) The preborn can be a different gender from the
mother.
• 2) The preborn develops a separate brain and
central nervous system.
• 3) The preborn can have a
different blood type.
• 4) The preborn has her own
unique DNA fingerprint.
Let’s imagine that we wake up
tomorrow and Roe is overturned
. . . is the Pro-life movement finished?
Elderly - “Futile Care” Baby Boomers?
Human Embryos - 500K
Severely Disabled - Anencephalic Infant
Human Animal Hybrids - UK Chimeras
Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis,
Eugenics
Assisted Suicide – Euthanasia
Post-Persons
Pre-Persons
Non-Person
Un-Person
Good-Birth
Good-Death
EUGENICS:
A social philosophy, which advocates
the improvement of human
hereditary traits through various
forms of intervention by the State.
The State would “purify” the world
of those traits or people that are
considered undesirable.
Eugenic Advocates
KKK
Adolph Hitler
Margaret Sanger
Roe v. Wade Decision
. . . the personhood of
the preborn child is the
single point on which the
entire debate turns.
“In the Roe v. Wade decision, Justice Harry
Blackmun wrote that, ‘(If the) suggestion of
personhood [of the preborn] is established,
the [abortion rights] case, of course,
collapses, for the fetus’ right to life is then
guaranteed specifically by the [14th]
Amendment.’”
Newest Gallop Poll:
Majority in America are Pro-Life
Florida Constitution:
“We, the people of the State of Florida,
being grateful to Almighty God
for our constitutional liberty,
in order to secure its benefits,
…. do ordain and establish this constitution….
All natural persons, female and male alike,
are equal before the law and have inalienable
rights, among which are the right
to enjoy and defend life…”
OUR
MISSION
“The
Sanctity
of Life”
The Right to Life of All Persons Recognized
and Protected Amendment
“The God-given right to life of every human
being at any stage of development shall be
recognized and protected. This provision shall
be deemed to supersede any other
inconsistent provisions.”
• Our goal is to have our qualifying signatures
before the Supreme Court in two months
• Please help us as we educate church members
and work to gather the number of petitions
required to get this amendment on the ballot
in Florida
• Visit our website for more resources:
PersonhoodFL.com
". . . always being prepared to make a defense
to anyone who asks you for a reason
for the hope that is in you. . .“ 1 Peter 3:15 ESV
Mars Hill, Athens
Acts 17
Jeremiah 22:16 NASB
“He pled the cause
of the afflicted and needy;
Then it was well.
Is not that what it means
to know Me?”
Declares the Lord.
What is Happening in this City?
 We are preaching the Sanctity of Life
 We are supporting Care Net and PCC’s
 We are working to change laws
 We have developed education programs
 We are prayerfully protesting our local
abortionists
 We are actively working to de-fund
our local Planned Parenthood
Why should You get involved?
Pr 31:8-9 NLT ”Speak up for those who
cannot speak for themselves; ensure
justice for those being crushed. Yes,
speak up for the poor and helpless, and
see that they get justice.
Isaiah 1:16 Proverbs 24:11-12 Jeremiah 1:12
Jeremiah 22:3 Amos5:15 Zechariah 7:9
Hosea 12:6 Zechariah 8:16 Amos 5:24
Proverbs 21:3 Micah 6:8 Jeremiah 22:16
Hebrews 12 says, “24 You have come to Jesus, the
one who mediates the new covenant between God
and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which
speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for
vengeance like the blood of Abel.
25 Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the
One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did
not escape when they refused to listen to Moses,
the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape
if we reject the One who speaks to us from
heaven…..
Hebrews 13: “Keep on loving each other as
brothers and sisters…. Remember also those being
mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own
bodies.”
“Each year when I share with our congregation about the
sanctity of human life I am faced with a dilemma.
Statistically 50% of those listening have been hurt by the
pain that abortion causes. They do not want to hear the
word abortion or a sermon about it because it can surface
painful memories. So every year I must resolve that the
risk of causing pain and being rejected is worth the
probability that people will be healed by God. I’ve come
to realize that saying nothing is not loving and doing
nothing is not loving. We all need to do something when
it comes to the life and rights of the unborn. So this year
when the opportunity arises to do something about the
Personhood Amendment, I humbly ask you to publicly
support it among those entrusted to you by God.”
Pastor Jeff Steffel, Grace Family, Torino Circle in
Port Saint Lucie, FL
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Registered voters: sign the petition!
Pray- PersonhoodFL.com
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