On June 24, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending nearly 50 years of precedent by determining that the right to an abortion is not found in the Constitution. The responsibility now falls to state governments to determine whether to protect, restrict, or outright eliminate access to abortion. Thirteen states have “trigger bans” that went into effect once Roe was overturned. More states are expected to follow.

As Christians on both sides wade into the debate and make their voices heard, a common talking point is the question of when life begins. Some argue that life begins at the moment of conception. Of course, that calls into question the work of fertility clinics—which often create dozens of fertilized eggs in the effort to produce a single successful pregnancy.

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Others argue that life begins once a fertilized egg is implanted in the uterus. Still others point to the detection of a fetal heartbeat, the ability to sense pain, or the formation of certain vital organs. For many centuries, Christians believed that life began at quickening—the moment a pregnant woman first feels the baby kick, which was believed to be a sign of the child’s soul entering its body. Of course, that belief was based on some problematic Platonism—and even more problematic medical science!

Still others point to the drawing of first breath, the moment of birth, and a myriad of other options for when life begins. Personally, I found Roe’s focus on fetal viability to be a decent compromise. Once a developing fetus has a fighting chance of surviving outside the womb, elective termination of the pregnancy (outside of serious health complications) is more or less objectively immoral.

As much as I have observed these debates as a minister and scholar of the Bible, I have always been struck by how rarely Christians support their view of when life begins on Scripture. While the Bible may not speak definitively to the matter, certainly (as Christians) our views on difficult ethical topics should find some basis in God’s word. To that end, here are a few biblical passages that should be considered in the debate over when life begins.

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Psalm 139 and Genesis 2: Alive in the womb or at first breath?

Perhaps the most often cited Scripture passage in debates over when life begins is Psalm 139:13,

For it was you who formed my inward parts;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

A similar sentiment is found in Jeremiah 1:5,

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

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and before you were born I consecrated you;

I appointed you a prophet to the nations.

Many on the pro-life side will argue based on these two verses that life begins at conception. Unfortunately, that’s not what these two verses are saying. Neither passage comments explicitly on when life begins—the Psalm verse deals more with God’s intimate knowledge and care for the psalmist, while the other verse focuses more on God’s foreknowledge in selecting Jeremiah to be a prophet. The fact that God formed the psalmist and the prophet says nothing about when they officially became alive.

For a more direct statement on when life begins, we should look to the formation of Adam in Genesis 2—a text that has been at the heart of both Jewish and Christian understandings of humanity and the nature of human life for millennia. The author refers explicitly to the beginning of Adam’s life in verse 7,

Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

When does Adam become a living being? When God breathes the breath of life into his nostrils. On this basis, many strands of Judaism have taught for centuries that life begins at first breath. To connect this verse with the verses from Psalms and Jeremiah, one could imagine the serpent scattering the dust of the ground as God worked to form the first human being. Would that have been murder? Of course not—the man was not yet alive! God was still forming him.

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