Peter(?) on abortion.

[lovernotafighter]

So.
I was reading the Apocalypse of Peter.
Now, I know it's not canonical so it may or may not have been written by Peter.
But this verse did catch my eye.

25. And near that place I saw another strait place into which the gore and the filth of those who were being punished ran down and became there as it were a lake: and there sat women having the gore up to their necks, and over against them sat many children who were born to them out of due time, crying; and there came forth from them sparks of fire and smote the women in the eyes: and these were the accursed who conceived and caused abortion.

Is "abortion" a good translation?
Did it mean something different than we know it today?
I probably won't be debating, just reading, but you guys go ahead.

 

[brightmorningstar]

No, sadly not cannon, so not reliable.

 

[Ave Maria]

I think that abortion probably is a good translation there. The word did exist back then. Take these for example:

"The second commandment of the teaching: You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not seduce boys. You shall not commit fornication. You shall not steal. You shall not practice magic. You shall not use potions. You shall not procure [an] abortion, nor destroy a newborn child" (Didache 2:1–2 [A.D. 70]).

"The way of light, then, is as follows. If anyone desires to travel to the appointed place, he must be zealous in his works. The knowledge, therefore, which is given to us for the purpose of walking in this way, is the following. . . . Thou shalt not slay the child by procuring abortion; nor, again, shalt thou destroy it after it is born" (Letter of Barnabas 19 [A.D. 74]).

"What man of sound mind, therefore, will affirm, while such is our character, that we are murderers?
. . . [W]hen we say that those women who use drugs to bring on abortion commit murder, and will have to give an account to God for the abortion, on what principle should we commit murder? For it does not belong to the same person to regard the very fetus in the womb as a created being, and therefore an object of God’s care, and when it has passed into life, to kill it; and not to expose an infant, because those who expose them are chargeable with child-murder, and on the other hand, when it has been reared to destroy it" (A Plea for the Christians 35 [A.D. 177]).

As for whether or not the Apocalypse of Peter actually contains Saint Peter's words, I have no idea. I suppose it is possible that it could. However, I have a general distrust of apocryphal works. And note that I did say apocryphal and not deuterocanonical. The two are totally different. The deuterocanonicals are books of the Bible that are just as valid as the rest. Unfortunately, most Protestants unjustly reject them.

 

[lux et lex]

I think that abortion probably is a good translation there. The word did exist back then. Take these for example:

"The second commandment of the teaching: You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not seduce boys. You shall not commit fornication. You shall not steal. You shall not practice magic. You shall not use potions. You shall not procure [an] abortion, nor destroy a newborn child" (Didache 2:1–2 [A.D. 70]).

"The way of light, then, is as follows. If anyone desires to travel to the appointed place, he must be zealous in his works. The knowledge, therefore, which is given to us for the purpose of walking in this way, is the following. . . . Thou shalt not slay the child by procuring abortion; nor, again, shalt thou destroy it after it is born" (Letter of Barnabas 19 [A.D. 74]).

"What man of sound mind, therefore, will affirm, while such is our character, that we are murderers?
. . . [W]hen we say that those women who use drugs to bring on abortion commit murder, and will have to give an account to God for the abortion, on what principle should we commit murder? For it does not belong to the same person to regard the very fetus in the womb as a created being, and therefore an object of God’s care, and when it has passed into life, to kill it; and not to expose an infant, because those who expose them are chargeable with child-murder, and on the other hand, when it has been reared to destroy it" (A Plea for the Christians 35 [A.D. 177]).

As for whether or not the Apocalypse of Peter actually contains Saint Peter's words, I have no idea. I suppose it is possible that it could. However, I have a general distrust of apocryphal works. And note that I did say apocryphal and not deuterocanonical. The two are totally different. The deuterocanonicals are books of the Bible that are just as valid as the rest. Unfortunately, most Protestants unjustly reject them.

All questionable and non-scripture.