If “Hell” is Eternal and All Babies go to Heaven, Why are Christians Opposed to Abortion?

Question: It seems most are clear on the idea that when a baby dies, they are under the age of accountability and therefore return to the Father. But once they are born, after a certain age, the chances of this person being with the Father seems to get slimmer. Even the Bible says that the path to destruction is wide while the right path is small and few find it, and even the elect can be deceived in these evil times.

So… how does the church justify all the time and energy being spent to fight abortion when those babies are going to be ok. Eternally speaking, they will be far better off than the babies that are forced to be born on a planet when so many babies and adults are not wanted and being lied to about the existence of God.

Answer: This is a brilliant question and it uncovers an issue far bigger than abortion – in other words, it’s huge.

As you pointed out, Jesus said, “Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction.” (Matt. 7:13) Most people assume, and most churches since about 600AD, have taught that that “destruction” is an unending conscious torment at the hands of God from which there is no escape, called “Hell,” and that most people will go there.

They’ve also taught that children who die in infancy go straight to heaven. (Actually, I think some Calvinists might argue that most of these babies go to Hell to be tormented without end.) Well… IF you believe that most people go to that “Hell” and that babies automatically go to heaven, it makes absolute sense that a loving parent would pray like crazy that their baby would die in infancy. It also stands to reason that the most noble thing a parent could do, would be to sacrifice their own salvation if necessary (I do believe abortion is murder) in order to ensure that their child would reach the state of eternal bliss – that is, murder the child (condemning yourself) while saving the baby. With this “traditional” logic, it would certainly seem that abortion would be the highest moral good.

Well the more I study Scripture the more I’m convinced that this view of “destruction” and “Hell” is entirely unbiblical and unfounded. The word translated “destruction,” in Matt. 7:13, is apoleia in Greek. It’s a noun that is related to the verb apollumi. Apollumi is translated as “destroy” or “lose.” When Jesus said, “The son of man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10), the word translated “lost” is apollumi – in participle form. In other words, Jesus came to seek and to save the “destroyed.” It may be that they suffer in “Hades” for a time, but just because they have been lost, doesn’t mean that they can’t be found. Jesus has descended into “Hades” (Hell) and Jesus is the “narrow door.”

Furthermore, where “sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Romans 5:20). I think that means that if it is God’s will for you to be born and to suffer in this world of sin and even be subject to sin as a sinner, God will use it to show you the riches of his mercy and grace. In other words, it’s definitely not better to abort babies, even if they grow up to sin (like who wouldn’t) and even descend into Hades for a time. God really knows what He’s doing when He says “Don’t murder.” And he knows when it’s time to end a person’s life on this planet because He is the one authoring their story. He is such a great and powerful author He will use all things to write our story… even if we’ve been aborted. So the point is that we don’t author anyone’s story. We must be obedient to God the author. And He is a good author.

I don’t believe he creates anyone so that He can simply torture them for all time. Even if He did, we couldn’t change His Story… but He doesn’t. However, He does “consign all men to disobedience that he may have Mercy on all.” (Romans 11:32) By allowing any baby to be born, we are, in a sense, consigning them to “disobedience;” consigning them to being human. Yet this is also consigning them to Mercy. That feels like a curse for a time but turns into the greatest blessing.