October 18, 2026

 If we turn in our Bibles to II Corinthians we find a book consisting of thirteen chapters purported to be composed by Paul to the Christians living and worshiping in the Achaian city of Corinth. The letter contains various discussions all of which relate to Paul’s relationship with these Christians and the strain placed on that relationship because of a few factors. 

• Certain opponents of Paul who have claimed superiority over Paul and gained considerable influence in the congregation.  
• A painful visit in which the congregation sided with some church member engaging in immorality over and against the teaching of the Apostle (2:1-5; 7:5-8). 
• A painful/ severe letter written in response to that situation (carried by Titus from Ephesus) (2:3-4; 7:8-16) in which Paul was quite forceful in his communication. In response to this letter the majority of the church repents as reported by Titus upon meeting Paul in Macedonia (7:5-16). 
• There remains a minority of the group who in allegiance to Paul’s opponents continue to stand against the apostle in promotion of immorality and syncretism. 
• Paul’s desire is for the congregation to turn away from false teaching and immorality and be reconciled to God and to a lesser degree himself. 
• The situation is made more pressing by Paul’s approaching return to Corinth along with some others who will collect the funds gathered for the saints in Judea. Paul wants to ensure the success of this visit and the faithfulness of the Church and so pens 2 Corinthians (Guthrie 437). 

     This is the general outline we can arrive at by a careful reading of the letter along with the book of Acts.

     While this sequence makes sense biblically and logically, there are many who have questioned the unity of 2 Corinthians. These authors have proposed various alternative timelines which suggest various constructions of the book. Most common is to suggest that the letter should end in chapter 9 and that 10-13 consist of a totally different letter perhaps the painful letter mentioned in 2:3-4 and 7:8. These letters are then later edited together to form the one letter of 2 Corinthians that appears in the Bible. 

     There are a few problems with this the two most notable are: First, the letter follows a known form of polemic letter writing from the first century, which by design features a strong, passionate scolding at the end, just like we see in 2 Corinthians. The second problem is that there is not historical evidence to support this suggestion. There are no ancient copies or fragments of 2 Corinthians that reflect the two-letter theory. There are also no mentions of multiple letters from Paul beyond the ones specifically mentioned in the text of the books themselves. 

     Other divisions of the book have been suggested as well.

~ Kevin Cleary

October 11, 2026

     After considering the issue of abortion both biblically and scientifically it can easily be concluded that abortion is taking a human life and that it must be viewed as such. However there are two more important aspects of this subject that need to be considered. The first is the emotional impact that abortion has on the family. Any woman who has had a miscarriage knows the pain that comes from that experience. Soldiers recognize the emotional impact that arises from killing another human being. Police officers have to have counselling after lethal encounters with criminals. With regards to abortion people seem to think that the mother can somehow avoid the unavoidable emotions that go along with such a traumatic event. I know of women who have aborted children and non of them are left without emotional scaring that in some cases affects the rest of their lives. Imagine years passing knowing that in each one there should be a birthday that never comes. Imagine seeing other parents playing with their children and knowing that you were responsible for the death of one of these. Christians must be aware of this so that we can offer the loving arms of Jesus to mothers who are faced with a life of regret. We must also make people aware of the results of what they consider when they consider abortion. The negative impact that an abortion can have should serve as warning just as strong as the biblical and scientific reasons for not aborting a child.
     The second important factor that must not be overlooked is the ramifications of the logic used to justify abortion. Any time society takes it upon itself to decide who is human and who is not it is a scary thing. After deciding that only those with self awareness, who are self sufficient, and fully developed are human there is no end to the atrocities that can be committed against those who don’t meet societal standards. It is this kind of thinking that led to the holocaust or the slaughter of innocents in Rwanda. Human beings are created in the image of God and life is a gift from Him. We forget these truths to the peril of all but the strong.
     To conclude it can be said that there is no doubt that the taking of innocent life is wrong and that abortion is taking innocent life and therefore wrong. It is important to add that in the past many have done things that are anything but Christ like when interacting with those who believe in abortion. The fact is that women who have had abortions and the doctors that perform them have committed sin. We must understand though that as terrible as abortion is it is not worse than others sins and those who are involved in it need forgiveness just as all of us do. The Christians primary responsibility with regards to abortion are the same as they are to other sins and that is to help those entangled in them to come to Jesus for forgiveness and newness of life. Let’s know and defend the truth about abortion while reaching out in love to those who are in need. 

~ Kevin Cleary

October 4, 2026

Another key passage often used by pro-choicers is Genesis 2:7, they claim that this passage indicates that until there is breath there is no life. There are two problems with this first they are using a situation that has never and will never be repeated after Adam. They fail to recognize that a fetus does need oxygen and takes it in through the mother from the moment of conception. This argument would mean that anyone who is unable to breath by their own power is not human. This would include those on life support, clearly this argument in nonsensical.
In addition to the passages already considered the Bible in many places talks about the unborn fetus not as something less than human, but as a human being created by God. In Luke 1:41-44 the unborn are referred to as children. In Matthew 1:20-21 Jesus is said to be human while still in the womb. Jeremiah 1:5 and Isaiah 49:1 indicate that God knows the unborn and even calls them. In Judges 13:2-7 Samson’s Nazarite vow is in effect from the point of conception. There can be no doubt that the Bible knows nothing of the unborn as being anything but human beings created by God.
If one simply considers what the Bible says about the unborn that would be sufficient to show that abortion is murder in the eyes of God and therefore sinful. However as with all truth the Bible and science are in agreement. From a scientific standpoint abortion is also ending a human life. The most obvious way this can be demonstrated is by considering that the genetic makeup of the fetus is no different from what it will be at birth or at 75 years of age. From the point of conception the fetus has 46 Chromosomes that will determine all of its physical characteristics. The only difference between a 10 minute old fetus and a 10 year old child is time and nutrition. Given the necessary nutrients the fetus will develop everything else. This means that nutrition has become the determining factor of humanness which again, can be logically extended to say that anyone lacking the means to develop is less than human.
The early development of the fetus is another strong indication of humanness. It has already been noticed that at the point of conception the infant has all of the genetic material that it will ever have. By the first month the fetus has a heart beat as well as head arms legs. By forty two days brain waves can be detected. During the second month the baby will have it’s own blood type finger prints and is sensitive to touch. In the third month the baby will swallow, swim, suck its thumb, and be able to feel pain (remember abortion is commonly performed any time prior to the fifth month). By month four the infant will have reached half its birth weight and be eight to ten inches long. Finally by month five the baby has hair, nails, can cry, and live outside the womb. When all of these physical characteristics are considered it is hard to even imagine destroying this little life.
There is also the understanding accepted by all biologists that when two animals of a species conceive the result is another of the same species. No one says when a dog is pregnant that it is carrying anything but more dogs. With regards to human beings though there is confusion as to whether or not the human mother is carrying a human. 

~ Kevin Cleary

September 27, 2026

The population of Canada is about 35million people. It would be considered at tragedy if some disease or industrial accident were to wipe out the whole population. If a foreign invader did it would be considered genocide and that nation would be guilty of war crimes. However in North America every year over 30million babies are killed mercilessly and no one bats an eye. They are killed by their own mothers who because of embarrassment or inconvenience see fit to end the life of their unborn child by abortion.

The reality is that there are many views about the rightness or wrongness of abortion. From these many views three main categories can be identified;
1) Abortion is always acceptable
2) Abortion is sometimes acceptable
3) Abortion is never acceptable

The view one holds is determined by how that one sees the unborn fetus. If the fetus is human than laws against murder that apply to humans are applicable to abortion however if the fetus in not human then they do not. This is true both for Christians and non-Christians since Christians would consider God’s admonitions against killing to apply only to human beings. This means that the real question under consideration is when does a fetus become a human being.

The three views of abortion stated above correlate with how one understands the humanness of a fetus. Those who say that abortions is acceptable all the time would say that until the point of birth the fetus in something less than human. Those who say that abortion is acceptable some of the time would say that the fetus is potentially human and becomes human sometime during gestation. And those who would say that abortion never acceptable would say that the fetus is human at conception. By identifying the right view we can determine whether abortion is right or wrong and when.

To determine which of the above views is the correct one we can look to scripture and ask when God calls a fetus human. We can also consider what medical science has discovered that would be pertinent to our discussion. By considering these things we can know if when a child is aborted murder is being committed and therefore, if the abortion is right or wrong.

There are a few passages of scripture that must be considered if we are to have a grasp of what the bible teaches about the state of the fetus:

The First of these and possibly most important is Exodus 21:22-23 the reason this text is especially significant is that it is often used by pro-choice groups to say that the Bible differentiates between born and unborn and that the unborn are not given equal rights. In fact this passage teaches the opposite. The passage reads as follows: 22 “If men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she gives birth prematurely, yet there is no injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband may demand of him, and he shall pay as the judges decide. 23 “But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life,”. It has been said that this passage teaches that if the baby is miscarried then only a fine is imparted showing that it is not considered a human life (this argument is based on a misunderstanding of mischief in the KJV and totally falls apart when the passage is read in a modern translation) . What this passage really teaches is that the life of the unborn infant is equal to that of the man who killed it. 

 

~ Kevin Cleary

September 20, 2026

     A supervisor publicly corrects Jimmy during a company meeting, leaving him visibly shaken. Most of his coworkers think, “Come on, Jimmy. Shrug it off. Everyone gets criticized at work.”

A modern proverb says, “It may be a pebble on the beach to you, but it’s the whole ocean to someone else.” Simple yet profound, it stresses two important truths. 

     First, we rarely have a full perspective on what people are carrying. We see only the surface of their lives, unaware of their past trauma, disappointments, failures and present stresses.

Second, since we don’t know a person’s backstory, we should not be quick to dismiss their feelings as “not a big deal” simply because it would not have affected us the same way. True empathy recognizes those feelings as real and worthy of our attention, even if the situation seems small from our perspective.

     That was certainly true in Jimmy’s case. What his coworkers didn’t know was that he grew up in a home with hypercritical parents who rarely expressed approval. Neither did they know two weeks earlier he was told his position might be eliminated. What looked like an ordinary correction from a supervisor reopened old wounds and fanned a present fear. To his coworkers, it was a pebble. To Jimmy, it was an ocean.

     The Bible condemns quick judgments that produce dismissive and harsh responses. Solomon writes, “He who answers a matter before he hears it, It is folly and shame to him” (Prov. 18:13). Making quick judgments and dismissive responses like “shrug it off” before knowing the situation is unloving. Such careless and dismissive words “pierce like swords” (Prov. 12:18).

The Bible calls us to empathy that seeks understanding so we can respond with compassion. In 1 Peter 3:8, Christians are called to be compassionate, loving and tender-hearted. The Greek word translated “compassion” literally means “to suffer with” or “to share in another’s experience.” It beautifully describes the biblical call to understand another person’s pain. That is empathy at its core.

     When it comes to loving people as Christ did, we, unlike Christ, rarely know the whole story. Therefore, we must humbly recognize the limits of our own perspective and seek understanding before we respond. Only by recognizing that what may be a pebble to us may be an ocean to someone else can we respond with Christlike compassion.

Craig Ressler 

(~Kevin Cleary)