Scripture & Creation
Genesis 1:7-13
The Separation of Land and Water;
Creation of Plant Life
God gives order and a natural progression to creation. First He divides light from darkness. Then he creates the heavens. In these next verses He divides the earth from the heavens, and sub-divides the earth into land and water. The earth then brings forth plants and trees. Creation flourishes with life. An organic sequence emerges in which “layers” of creation exist. This equates to a mineral and then a plant or botanical
sequence.
Great stability and peace is implied. There is no sense of sin or disorder. At this stage of creation God calls forth all of the features of creation and He identifies each one as good. He exercises an intimate connection and loving dominion over the emerging creation. Each part of creation has its seed within itself which provides species autonomy and continuity.
Notice how creation flourishes without people. This orderliness exists because each part of creation obeys the principles inherent in its nature. There is a deep lesson here: As humans function within creation, they have a responsibility to respect the harmony and integrity of what God has created and to restrain human potential so that it adheres to the principles within creation. When this principle is observed, human action does not disrupt the internal ability of creation to reproduce itself and flourish.
A disturbing development from the application of technology is that some chemicals carry mutagenic properties. This means that they can disrupt the processes by which creation reproduces itself. Mutagenic chemicals are able to penetrate the genetic structure of living creatures and disrupt their ability to replicate “after their own kind.” This interrupts a basic principle of creation because these chemicals cause genetic mutations. Genetic mutations involve alterations of the structures by which life reproduces itself. This is a grave new disruptive force to the natural order because mutagenic chemicals tamper with the building blocks of a stable and integrated creation. The consequences are mutant creations which are not integrated into the network of local life systems. This results in the possibility of deformed young, of new diseases, plus disorder, suffering and chaos in plant, animal and human life alike. These will translate into future sorrows for human society.
The long term implications of these sins against the stability of life and its ability to reproduce itself with generational integrity remain for the present time difficult to know in their fullness. Regardless it takes no great theological penetration to discern that disruption of the transmission of genetic memory of living things “after their own kind” may not be done without violation of the basis for a stable continuation of life.
While mutagenic chemicals unintentionally alter the genetic code and its transmission into future generations, the new science of genetic engineering goes further and intentionally manipulates and redefines the structures of life. This is fundamentally different from previous technologies because it operates on the deep interior of living things. Moral inhibitions scarcely restrain its redesigning of the life forms which God has already called “good.”
Genetic engineering represents an attempt at a “new Genesis,” a redefining through human ingenuity of creatures and plants and even human nature. With genetic engineering “designer” creatures can emerge, made to fit specific human needs. This can include entirely new and perhaps bizarre creatures (such as the “geep” which combines genes from goats and sheep). New creatures in many cases will not integrate well with other parts of a natural ecosystem.
Already, unusual and unpredictable forms of behavior or anatomical disfunction are emerging. Genetically engineered pigs, for instance, have a high tendency to crippling arthritis; many of them are born blind. Dairy cows injected with bovine growth hormone (rBGH) to foster greater milk production require protein in their diet to fuel accelerated lactation. Because ruminant metabolism does not easily digest proteins, a side effect is that bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) may in certain conditions be contracted (a neurological disease often called “mad cow” disease). Some pathologists believe BSE is the bovine equivalent of Creutzfeld-Jakob’s disease, but too little of its etiology is understood to determine the extent to which this constitutes a public health danger. Suffice it to say that genetic engineering means that society will face new challenges that are not well understood as these new bioengineered species may not fit well with other forms of life. Rogue Frankenstein-like creatures become real possibilities.
For these reasons, fundamental to the Judeo-Christian world view of a sacred character to life. Christians should be reticent to accept efforts to manipulate the genetic building blocks within creatures. Genetic engineering unleashes unprecedented power over the shape of life. Because power has a corrupting tendency and because genetic engineers seldom possess the ethical training or the spiritual formation necessary to enter this arena with a heartfelt respect for their living creations, strong curbs need to be placed on biotechnological exploration. Some powers are too potent for the present level of human moral and ethical formation.
Biotechnology, it must be emphasized, does not merely represent a new field for human discovery and exploration; the implications are more fundamental. Biotechnology represents a redesign of the matrix for life for which we scarcely have historical precedent. Life is sacred because it comes from God. When humans reduce life to chemical combinations held together by bioplasma, something vital goes out of human sensitivity. Then no morality exists beyond what is commercially profitable. When birds and bees and flowers are reduced to sets of genetic transmitters, what is the value of any living creature if we regard the bird or animal as merely a chemostat?
When these issues of modern technology are examined in light of the Scriptures, it is not enough to examine a few texts. The Bible certainly addresses these cutting edge questions, but it does so through principles. This allows issues like this one to be examined in the light of Christ’s witness.
What is presented in this short commentary is only a beginning. More reflection is necessary to develop a comprehensive Christian ethic of biotechnology. Still sufficient information is available to make some basic determinations about the morality of products made through the genetic engineering processes.
Even though it is claimed that there may be medical and financial benefits that will emerge from the reorganization and manipulation of genetic structure, the huge potential for abuse and for unforeseen adverse consequences make this a “Pandora's box” fraught with immense dangers. The power to manipulate life without recourse to God becomes intoxicating and in the end demonic.
