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Pro-life Christians, take heart: the pro-life messagecan compete in the marketplace of ideas-provided Christians properly understand and articulate that message. Too many Christians do not understand the essential truths of the pro-life position, making it difficult for them to articulate a biblical worldview on issues like abortion, cloning, and embryo research.The Case for Life provides intellectual grounding for the pro-life convictions that most evangelicals hold. Author Scott Klusendorf first simplifies the debate: the sanctity of life is not a morally complex issue. It's not about choice, privacy, or scientific progress. To the contrary, the debate turns on one key question: What is the unborn? From there readers learn how to engage the great bio-tech debate of the twenty-first century, how to answer objections persuasively, and what the role of the pro-life pastor should be.
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Crossway (March 10, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1433503204
ISBN-13: 978-1433503207
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.5 x 8.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #108,626 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #14 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Women's Studies > Abortion & Birth Control #261 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Christian Living > Social Issues #2353 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Religious Studies > Theology
There was a time when my mother was actively involved in the pro-life movement here in the Toronto area. I have many memories of journeying downtown with her, taking the subway and bus with mom, so we could volunteer in some way in the fight against abortion. I have fond memories of it, mostly. At times, though, I am prone to despair as it seems that in the twenty or twenty-five years between then and now, there has been little change, little progress. The United States has not seen an overturn of Roe v. Wade and Canada still has no abortion law at all (which is really little different than enacting a law protecting a woman's right to abort her child). I am buoyed, though, when I hear stories of individuals who have been impacted by pro-life work, stories of women who have encountered pro-life advocates, who have realized the value of life and who have chosen to save the lives of their unborn children. At least for the time being, this seems to be how God would have us fight this battle--not in court rooms or parliaments or senates (or not primarily, in any case), but in encounters with individuals.Though I have always been staunchly pro-life, it occurred to me as I picked up Scott Klusendorf's The Case for Life that I had never read a book-length treatment of the case against abortion. For that reason I was eager to read this one. Klusendorf is a disciple of Gregg Cunningham of the Center for Bioethical Reform and of Gregory Koukl of Stand to Reason. In the book's opening pages he expresses his admiration for both men and his debt to them. Cunningham, he says, taught him courage while Koukl taught him to be a gracious ambassador for the Christian worldview. In both cases the similarities are clear.
One of the main goals that Scott had when writing this book was to create a synthesis of the writings of Beckwith, Robert George, Patrick Lee, and other scholarly pro-lifers which was accessible to the average Christian. Mission accomplished. Although I have am farmiliar with the writings of George and Beckwith, I walked a away from this book having learned a lot of common sense strategies and practical ways to discuss abortion. Scott does a great job of analyzing a typical discussion about abortion and showing where the pro-lifer goes astray and what strategies she can take to control the conversation. For example, the simple question "what do you mean by that?" can really begin to get the abortion-choicer to explain their view and sometimes to even see how inconsistent it is. Another strength of the overall abortion discussion strategy is to focus on WHAT the unborn is. Always have in the back of your mind- what is the unborn and try and steer the conversation to that question. A good way to bring this up is to ask if that logic works if we're talking about a two year old whenever the abortion-choicer defends abortion with something like poverty. Usually the conversation will then move into the "bodily rights" argument, which is something Scott also has covered.The chapter on the argument from bodily rights is one of the clearest and best rebuttals I have ever read. It rivals Beckwith. Scott considers the argument as put forth by the big names- Thompson, McDonagh, and Boonin. He then discusses many scenarios, both theoretical and actual, to show that a notion of bodily ownership which allows a person to directly and willfully kill an innocent human being as a means or an end is simply not a right that anyone should have.
I have been quite excited to read Scott Klusendorf's The Case For Life: Equipping Christians to Engage the Culture (paperback, Kindle, GoodReads, Video Trailer, Interview, Life Training Institute). From my elementary school days, I have been exposed to pro-life Christians who have faced ridicule, fines, physical harm, and even jail time for their commitment to the unborn's right to life. It was not until my exposure to Christian apologetics that I became aware that the fight was more than each side just emoting at one another. In this book, Klusendorf provides the scientific case for the humanity of the unborn and the objective moral wrongness of killing them. He addresses many common and powerful challenges to the pro-life position. The book is divided into four parts and is 243 pages in length. This review will provide a chapter-by-chapter summary then conclude with my comments.Part 1- Pro-Life Christians Clarify The DebateChapter 1- What Is The Issue?Klusendorf begins by clarifying that there is one issue that is up for debate- the one issue that will make or break the case for the pro-life position. He explains that every other issue in the discussion is a red herring if this one issue is not resolved first. The key question that anyone must ask before they decide to act on something is "What is it?" In the context of the pro-life/abortion debate the action is killing and "it" is the unborn. We must determine if the unborn are human or not before we decide if it is justifiable to kill it.
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