“But we, deeming that to see a man put to death is much the same as killing him, have abjured such spectacles [the contests of gladiators]. How, then, when we do not even look on, lest we should contract guilt and pollution, can we put people to death? And when 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 foetus in the womb as a created being, and therefore an object of God’s care, …”
(Athenagoras, A Plea For The Christians, Chapter 35)
Brackets are mine.
(Athenagoras, A Plea For The Christians, Chapter 35)
Brackets are mine.