Can Human Cloning Be Harmonized with a Christian Worldview?
by Hank Hanegraaff

"The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life."- Job 33:4

As has been well said, "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." The stark reality of this sentiment was borne out in 1973 when Christians quietly passed by a major battle in the war against abortion. Two and a half decades later, the far-reaching impact of that loss is being felt in a raging debate over human cloning. While Pandora's Box is already open, Christians must do all that is permissible to prevent a human clone from emerging.

First, the issues concerning cloning and abortion are inextricably woven together. In other words, the prevailing logic that permits a woman to terminate the life of a child in the womb may well equally apply to cloning. For example, if defects were detected in developing clones, abortion might well be the solution of choice.

Furthermore, producing a human clone would of necessity require experimentation on hundreds if not thousands of live human embryos. Thus, the entire process would be the moral equivalent of human experiments carried out by Nazi scientists under Adolf Hitler.

Finally, it should be noted that cloning has serious implications regarding what constitutes a family. While children are the result of spousal reproduction, clones are essentially the result of scientific replication. Which raises the question: Who owns the clone? It is terrifying to think that the first human clone might well be owned and operated by the very scientists who conduct such ghastly experiments. - Hank Hanegraaff

Adapted from Hank Hanegraaff, The Bible Answer Book (Nashville: J Countryman, 2004).

Saturday, August 15, 2009