Wednesday, January 18, 2006
A Call For Christian Sophistication
Al Mohler looks at the impending creation of human/animal chimeras. In his post he quotes Nancy Jones
My point is this, genetic manipulation confronts humanity in general and Christianity with some of the most important, most difficult, and of the largest consequence of any we have yet faced. We cannot afford to get simplistic about it. Like most things science does, there are potential beneficial uses for chimeras under certain very controlled and precisely defined conditions, uses that I think even Christians might be able get behind depending on the source of the genetic material and the extent of development permitted for the resultant organism. Although I will admit to finding human/animal chimeras highly problematic. As with most science, its what we do with it that is the issue, not the science itself. In the end we are discussing temptation.
But regardless of the specifics, we run the risk of being excluded from the conversation if we make demagogic and simplistic statements. This is gonna happen, for better or worse, for good or evil. Mankind and especially Christianity will be much better served by educating itself and entering the debate reasonably, as opposed to being simply dimissive.
Related Tags: Chritianity, genetic manipulation, chimeras, Al Mohler, medical ethics, science ethics
The Bible tells us that God designed procreation so that plants, animals, and humans always reproduce after their own kind or seed. (Gen 1:11-12, 21) In the biblical view, then, species integrity is defined by God, rather than by arbitrary or evolutionary forces.O come on - inter-species breeding is quite common in nature apart from human intervention. The species differences are usually not quite as diverse as say man/rabbit, but we've seen lion-tiger.
My point is this, genetic manipulation confronts humanity in general and Christianity with some of the most important, most difficult, and of the largest consequence of any we have yet faced. We cannot afford to get simplistic about it. Like most things science does, there are potential beneficial uses for chimeras under certain very controlled and precisely defined conditions, uses that I think even Christians might be able get behind depending on the source of the genetic material and the extent of development permitted for the resultant organism. Although I will admit to finding human/animal chimeras highly problematic. As with most science, its what we do with it that is the issue, not the science itself. In the end we are discussing temptation.
But regardless of the specifics, we run the risk of being excluded from the conversation if we make demagogic and simplistic statements. This is gonna happen, for better or worse, for good or evil. Mankind and especially Christianity will be much better served by educating itself and entering the debate reasonably, as opposed to being simply dimissive.
Related Tags: Chritianity, genetic manipulation, chimeras, Al Mohler, medical ethics, science ethics
