I recognize that, in general, people don't all agree on the point at which life begins. A majority of Christians hold to the belief that life begins at the point of conception, when the sperm and egg are joined. The Bible gives some credence to this belief, as it talks about God knowing us from the time when we were conceived, when we were in our mother's womb. As a Christian, I hold to this particular belief.
The point that is important regarding today's post is that your view on what kind of technology is or is not acceptable regarding the beginning of life will be greatly impacted by what you view as the beginning of life. For someone who believes that life begins when the child is born, then there tend to be fewer issues regarding the creation of life. For someone who believes that life begins at conception, a whole different set of issues presents itself.
The core of the many differences that come between people's disagreement on fertility issues, in vitro issues, and abortion issues revolves primarily around when people see life beginning. If life doesn't begin until later, then there are relatively few qualms about what happens to embryos in cold storage, or aborted because they may have problems in life. If you hold to the view that life begins at conception, then you start to see these same issues, not as quality of life, but in light of God's command that we not take a life, even if that life may not be perfect once it arrives in this world, or even if it isn't convenient for us.
At least for this week, we'll be looking at how our faith relates to some of these issues. Above all, I simply want to have us think about how our particular belief in the creation of life shapes how we view where technology is a good, helpful thing, and where it crosses over to have us "play God" in a sense. As always, I welcome your thoughts and discussion on these topics.
The point that is important regarding today's post is that your view on what kind of technology is or is not acceptable regarding the beginning of life will be greatly impacted by what you view as the beginning of life. For someone who believes that life begins when the child is born, then there tend to be fewer issues regarding the creation of life. For someone who believes that life begins at conception, a whole different set of issues presents itself.
The core of the many differences that come between people's disagreement on fertility issues, in vitro issues, and abortion issues revolves primarily around when people see life beginning. If life doesn't begin until later, then there are relatively few qualms about what happens to embryos in cold storage, or aborted because they may have problems in life. If you hold to the view that life begins at conception, then you start to see these same issues, not as quality of life, but in light of God's command that we not take a life, even if that life may not be perfect once it arrives in this world, or even if it isn't convenient for us.
At least for this week, we'll be looking at how our faith relates to some of these issues. Above all, I simply want to have us think about how our particular belief in the creation of life shapes how we view where technology is a good, helpful thing, and where it crosses over to have us "play God" in a sense. As always, I welcome your thoughts and discussion on these topics.
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