BECOMING HUMAN:ON THEOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGYIN AN AGE OF ENGINEERING LIFE

Christian reflections

for further discussion

Prepared by the Commission onFaith and Witness of TheCanadian Council of Churches

ASKING THE QUESTIONSASKING THE QUESTIONS

May the tissues (for example, stem cells) of a human fetus be used May the tissues (for example, stem cells) of a human fetus be used to look for a cure for Alzheimer’s disease?to look for a cure for Alzheimer’s disease?

Should scientists clone human beings, simplyShould scientists clone human beings, simplybecause it is possible?because it is possible?

May humans manipulate the environment inMay humans manipulate the environment inwhichever way suits them, no matter the effectwhichever way suits them, no matter the effecton other species?on other species?

Should Christians care about the ozoneShould Christians care about the ozonelayer?layer?

Should Christian farmers grow genetically-modifiedShould Christian farmers grow genetically-modifiedfoods?foods?

This pamphlet is intended to be used as a resource and discussion-starter forChristians who wish to reflect together on some of the questions raised in our dayby biotechnology. It introduces theological themes and language by which variousChristian traditions give expression to the deep realities of which we are part.

Cover Design: Maria Zamora-CrosbyLayout: Jasmine Mayfair Li

When the Canadian Council ofChurches’ Commission on Faith andWitness was asked to consider such

important, troubling, and complex questions,we found we were led to the foundationsof our faith. None of the questions isabstract; all are urgent, because they are aboutmatters that are happening here and now toeach of us. These matters have effects muchbigger than we can see, but require that wemake choices. In making choices, our humanityis disclosed.

In this short pamphlet intendedfor ordinary believers – andanyone else who is interestedand concerned! – weobviously cannot say all thatis possible to say about thenew genetic sciences andtechnologies, or about howscientific and industrialactivity affects the earth and allthat is within it (Psalm 24:1-2).*We can, however, speak of what iscrucial and common to us as we wrestlefaithfully with such subjects. The questionsposed above constitute a mere beginning. Weare not raising all the questions that could beraised. And we are not offering one-size-fits-allanswers to the questions we have raised. Weoffer this publication as a guide for furtherexploration, further study and reflection. Weencourage you to become as informed aspossible about the fast-approaching scientificfuture; but we do not need great technical orscientific expertise to begin serious reflectionon, for example, genetic engineering in light ofour faith.

The Commission members belong to manydifferent Christian families. We have differenttraditions, different ways of thinking,

understanding, speaking, and praying. Yet aswe reflect together on such questions, we findthat we all approach them from the samesource. That source, that fundamentalsense of who we humans are before theface of God, is shared by us all. And it isfrom that common source that we explorethese exciting but difficult questions. As anexperienced poet told an eager young person:“learn to love the questions.” Even in thequestioning, we learn to love God, and one

another.

All of us have to wrestle with thesequestions in our own way, but

we first need to help each otherto understand “what humanityis all about” in order to makelife-giving, life-respectingdecisions. Indeed, we believethat facing up to our human

condition is part of what itmeans to be human, and what it

means to be Christian. Everygeneration must respond to the

questions of its own time. Yet it is one ofthe delightful mysteries of being human thatwe learn how to live in a new age by drawingon the one living God of all ages, all times, andall places. This One God is the self-revealingTrinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

SO

Before harvesting fetal tissue, we must ask: “Isthe fetus a human being? And therefore amember of the human moral community?”

Is the debate about the ozone layer simply anissue of ecological safety and economics, orrather a question of moral responsibility? Oreven more, a question of justice and caring?

And so on.

* All scriptural quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. // is a symbol referring to

parallel passages in other Gospels.

BEING HUMAN: THEOLOGICALANTHROPOLOGY

Here in this pamphlet, we wish toexpress clearly and simply the source,the foundations, to which Christians

look for wisdom and guidance in confrontingsuch burning questions of our day and age. Wehope these reflections will be of help to you intackling the questions that are beckoning us.

Who are we as humans in the world? How dowe relate to God, and how does God relate tous? These are questions of “theologicalanthropology.” Together, Christians seekdirection from the Word which God has givenus: in Christ, in Scripture, in the Church, in ourown being, in our life of prayer, in all that is.

Let us say something of what our faith teachesus about being human.

God created all that is. This is a truth sohuge we can barely glimpse it. This is what weare born into: there is a world around us andwithin us that we did not make. We did notmake ourselves; we are not the source of ourexistence; in other words, we are called intobeing. And if we are called, if the world around

us is a gift, then there is some origin to thisworld, some One, the “Giver of Life.” This iswhat St. Paul has in mind when he writes, inhis Letter to the Romans, about the worldaround us being full of signs of the Creator(1:19-21). Without God nothing came to be(John 1:3); in Christ, all things have life. Theexact molecular structure of things, their DNA,their physics, physiology, biology, chemistry –these are scientific realities which can helpilluminate what God has made and given lifeto. Yet they do not take away from the simpletruth that all real things belong to God, becauseit is God who gives them life and form andbeing, who maintains and sustains creation.This means that to be is to be in ongoingrelationship with God: that is the secrettruth at the heart of all reality.

Human beings are created in the imageand likeness of God. God’s own gift is thefundamental reality of all that is; but tohumans on this earth (our concern here is notwith other possible intelligent moral creaturesin the universe), God has given somethingunique. Drawing on Genesis 1:26, we say thathumans – male and female – are created in theimage and likeness of God. Over the centuries,

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Christians have found many ways to expresswhat is meant by this phrase. We could saysimplistically: “we look like God”; or, “to see ahuman being is toglimpse who God is.”Such phrases struggle toput into words theawesome, inexpressibletruth of who we reallyare. Here, we discoverthat we can’t understandwhat it means to behuman, unless weunderstand that beinghuman means beingin relationship withGod. More: it meansbeing like God. Wecannot fully know whowe are without knowingGod. And to discover God is to discover who weare (1 John 3:2). We cannot penetrate themystery of God’s own being, for God alone isGod, and we are other than God. Often we

humans hold back from one another, afraid orreluctant to give or reveal ourselves. Yet God ispoured out for us in a love that reaches out to

the other, a love sointimate that it takesflesh; God chooses toshow us and share withus the life of the divineTrinity.

It is Christ, above all, whofully shows us God’simage in human form.The divine Word hasbecome flesh in Christ’sincarnation. In Christ,God’s Wisdom takes onall that it means to behuman, perfectly andpermanently; Christ also

teaches us how to bear God’s image (Colossians2:9-10). The strange reality is that Christ’sbearing of the divine image discloses our truehumanity as both bestowed and acquired, giftand attainment.

4Becoming Human

I am, you anxious one.

Don’t you sense me, ready to break Into being at your touch?

My murmurings surround you likeshadowy wings.

Can’t you see me standing before you Cloaked in stillness?

Hasn’t my longing ripened in youFrom the beginning

As fruit ripens on a branch?

Rainer Maria Rilke

Sin is a present reality in the world,affecting everything that happens.Different Christian families speak in differentways about the origin of sin, how it works itsway into ourlives, and howto overcome it.But we all agreethat sin is presentamong us, trips usup, keeps usfrom becomingwho God meansus to be, andhinders us fromcaring faithfullyfor creation. (Even what we call “inhumanity”is part of the human condition.) In everydecision we make, we must remember howconstantly we fail to love, fail to be all that weare made for, fail to live up to our calling. That,too, is the human reality.

We believe that Christ has overcome sin andhas given us the way to be restored andrenewed.

Still, failure to take the pervasive reality of sininto account makes us even more vulnerable toerror, selfishness, destruction and conflict.When we are redeemed, we are called to takesin into account. Since we seem to be attractedto evil like flies to carrion, we must cultivatehabits of caution, humility, and self-criticism.We are redeemed in order to completecreation, to carry on God’s eternal creativework. Our humanity will not be fully discloseduntil the consummation of the world, and untilthen we are stewards, care-givers, scientists-and-artists, set in the garden to be fruitful andmultiply (Genesis 1:28). In this way, webecome like Christ.

Christ crucified and risen, transfiguredand glorified, discloses the image andlikeness of God. We die to rise with Christ(Romans 8:1, 10-11).

“Dying to risewith Christ” isthe special visionof all Christians,our unique beliefthat when Godteaches us howto bear thedivine image—how truly to behuman – the

lesson includes the inevitable tragedy of theCross (Matthew 16:21//). Everything we havesaid in this pamphlet before now is thecommon heritage of all humanity – all peopleon earth are created in the image of God, andall authentically creative actions have thepotential to further God’s creative designs and

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I say more: the just man justices; Keeps gráce: thát keeps all his goings graces;

Acts in God’s eye what in God’s eye he is— Chríst. For Christ plays in ten thousand places,

Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his To the Father through the features of men’s faces.

Gerard Manley Hopkins

purposes for the world. But through their faithin Christ, Christians have grasped that sharingin divine creativity enacts a burden ofresponsibility. Above, we called the bearing ofthe divine image“gift” and“attainment”; boththe gift and theattainment – darewe sayachievement? – areto bear the Crosswith Christ(Matthew 16:24-26//).

Recognition andacceptance of theCross as personallyour own, a necessary dimension in our creativelife as God-bearers, changes our entireperspective on being human. It requires thatwe accept that all of our joy in our creativepower must be measured through the samesense of tragic responsibility that led God, who“so loved the world,” to give even his only Sonto the Cross (John 3:16). How can wecomprehend that the Cross and theResurrection represent God’s most creativeact? And so that act must become for all of usthe true measure of our creativity. And the firststep in applying this measure is to come togrips with the reality of sin. Geneticengineering is done in a broken, morallydisordered world that is groaning in travail(Romans 8:22).

Our creativity itself is part of what isimage of God in us. In the Incarnation ofChrist we see God’s participation in humanity,as well as human participation in the life ofGod (see Philippians 2:5-11). This is ourheritage and our vocation: we are creature and

creative, discovered and discoverer, recipientsand stewards.

God is creator, and in making us like himself,God made uscreative. Webelieve that Goddelights in seeingus exercise ourcapacity forcreativity, whetherwe are scientists orblues musicians.Unlike God, wecan’t makesomething fromnothing, but wecan take what Godhas given, and out

of it create something beautiful and new.

We even go so far as to say that humans arecreated co-creators. When we are being fully

6Becoming Human

Birds, beasts, all thingsAdore him in their kinds.

Thus all is hurl'dIn sacred Hymnes, and Order, The great ChimeAnd Symphony of nature. Prayer is

The world in tune,A spirit-voyce,And vocall joyes

Whose Eccho is heav'ns blisse.

Henry Vaughan, “The Morning Watch”

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human, we create well, and we beautify theworld. But we must learn to distinguishbetween true creativity and destructivity, ormanipulation, or oppression. We are at ourbest when we act with humility, respect, aweand wisdom, andweave these capacitiesinto everything wecreate. Like it or not,we have power, God-given power. Failure touse this power wouldbe a failure to becomewho we are meant tobe; however, in using it we must remember theoriginal blessedness of all things. Things aresacred because they are God-filled, because it isGod’s Spirit in creation that gives them life.What we call “nature” has been hallowed – aswe acknowledge in our theologies ofincarnation and sacrament, for instance – andis therefore not simply matter at our disposal.

God entrusted to humans a specialresponsibility to know, love and carefor creation. In saying this, we have saidmore than we can ever understand. It doesteach us, though, that we humans do not existin isolation: we all belong to each other,because we all belong to the one God. And weare made of the same “stuff” as the earth, theplants and animals, the trees, the stars, theamoebae, the winds and clouds (Psalms 8;148). We belong to them, and they belong tous. What is created is God’s very own, of andfor God, but truly other than God. Our joy, ourlabour, is to take care of all that is. We don’talways understand what this means or what itmight look like, but we strive to do it well.What is the meaning of God’s command tohave “dominion over” creation (Genesis 1:28)?Science began with the naming of thecreatures, and this required Adam – which

means “humankind” – to discern what God haddone (Genesis 2:20, Romans 8:19). We makechoices and decisions, some wise, some foolish;we pray for grace.

Faith and Culture.We also createstructures, like laws androads. Each particularpeople expresses its lifein history by creatingculture. As God’screated co-creators, thisis part of our human

task. But as people subject to sin, we cannotavoid the truth that these structures are taintedby sin. How can what is false, broken, andtwisted in our ways be made whole? This iswhat we call “redemption”: the real presence of

And we are here as on a darkling plainSwept with confused alarms of struggle

and flight,Where ignorant armies clash by night.

Matthew Arnold, “Dover Beach”

Christ in all these things, opening them to thehealing power of God. Can science, a powerfulpart of our cultural heritage and future, be“redeemed”?

Faith and Science. Christians have manyways of understanding and expressing thegivenness of creation, and of conversing withscientific discoveries and explorations. But weagree that faith and science need not be atodds with each other; rather, if we receive bothgifts with creativity, courage and compassion,we can all benefit. We are not calling for a haltto scientific or technological activity. Scientistsare often condemned for “playing God,” buttheir work can actually help us “become

human,” so long as we remember ourstewardship. Our vocation is to nurture, ratherthan just to exercise our own capacity to dosomething merely because we can do it; asJesus taught, “whoever wishes to be greatamong you must be your servant” (Matthew20:26-27). So we rejoice in human capacities,which have given so much to human society.

Yet, while neither deifying nor demonizingscience, we need to recognize its non-neutralcharacter. Science as a social practiceembodies values, interests, and ideologies. Anallegedly “objective” science withoutconscience can easily become destructive, notcreative. God’s will for the world is shalom, inthe full-blooded sense of the word. And so weare calling people to remember and recover ourmoral and theological resources, and to moveforward, thinking God’s thoughts and doingGod’s work, as creatures, within nature.

But even more than this: as we pursue ourimmense potential for scientific andtechnological discovery, insight, andintervention, the Christian vision of the Lordon the Cross must ever be before our eyes asthe light by which we measure the truth andvalue of our creative work. Moral responsibilityis clearly essential, and imposes limits andcontrols in the name of what is just and rightand good. And the Cross takes us beyondresponsibility, indeed beyond all logic of

8Becoming Human

We are God's work of art, created in Christ Jesus for the good works which Godhas already designated to make up our way of life.

Ephesians 2:10 (New Jerusalem Bible)

justice, into the tragic world in which God actscreatively and redemptively. This imposes onus a further requirement besides self-control:we must create with humility (Mark 10: 43-45). When we attempt to answer such aprecise scientific question as, for example, the

value of experimental or therapeutic use offetal tissue, we must do so in the light of thecross. The same is true of all the otherquestions we have mentioned, and of everyquestion that is asked in the name of“Becoming Human.”

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10Becoming Human

Creating Our World. All that we are existsin time and space. Words such as “eternal”and “mystery” point to the greatness of allthat we are part of; but we receive them inthe intimacy of the flesh, in hands and toesand eyelids, in bicycles and micro-chips andalgorithms – in the physical reality which weare also part of. That’s why it is so importantfor Christians to care for creation. Thismeans helping to build hospitals, schools andsoup kitchens; becoming computertechnicians and street-cleaners and astro-physicists. It means getting mixed up in themessiness, beauty, unpredictability anddelight of the world in which we live. Oftenthis world is a place of struggle, even chaos;but it is also a place where God’s grace isgiven, given abundantly, to become fruitfulwith our participation.

'Twas much, that man was made like God before,But that God should be made like man, much more.

John Donne, Holy Sonnet

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was inthe form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be

exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born inhuman likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and

became obedient to the point of death- even death on a cross.Philippians 2:5-8

SO, WHAT ABOUT THOSE QUESTIONS?

We invite you to take these thoughts onthe meaning of being human, and inlight of them, consider how we might

respond to the questions which technology andscience – and especially genetics – are nowposing for us. We do so prayerfully, with trustand faith in the goodness of God and God’screation.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

In the light of all that has been said, let usreconsider our initial questions.

1) May the tissue (for example, stem cells) of ahuman fetus be used to look for a cure forAlzheimer’s disease?

.Is the human fetus (or even embryo) a“human being”?

.What difference does that make?

.We see donating organs as a virtue; is theuse of the fetus any different? Why?

.How do we deal with competing humanneeds? Can one need supersedeanother? For example, is an imposedsacrifice of one life for another justifi-able?

.If we are going to “use” people (oranimals, or plants) as “things”, how dowe do so humbly and wisely?

2) Should scientists clone human beings,simply because it is possible?

.Who bears decision-making responsibilityfor bringing life into existence? And forcaring for it thereafter?

.Does it make a difference whether we aretalking about cloning sheep or cloninghuman beings?

.Are there moral limitations on the free-dom of scientific enquiry? How wouldwe recognize those limits?

.If we as Christians hold to the viewsstated in this pamphlet, what should webe teaching scientists?

.What do we mean when we say scientistsare “playing God”? (Surely it must meanmore than wielding “the power of lifeand death,” since we’ve always naturallyhad that power.)

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3) May humans manipulate the environment inwhichever way suits them, no matter the effecton other species?

.Can we “be human” independent of thetotality of the natural world?

.If God entrusted to humans a special responsibility for creation, what doesthat require of us today?

.If we loved creation as much as God does,how would we act towards it?

.What would it take to make the worldParadise? (“Eden” is not “Utopia”.)

4) Should Christians care about the ozonelayer?

.Should we care about it for our sakes, orfor its own sake? Is this a question aboutwhat is good for us, or about what isgood?

.Where is creation going? In the ways thatwe use science, are we acknowledgingand furthering God’s intention forcreation? What are the consequences ofignoring God’s intention?

5) Should Christian farmers grow genetically-modified foods?

.How do Christians understand whatconstitutes “progress”?

.What ethical issues do we need toconsider in the subject of genetically-modified foods? For example: humansafety, environmental safety, control,commodification, economic power.

.Ought living organisms to be patentedand owned?

12Becoming Human

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FURTHER READING AND RESOURCES

Here are a few of the many publications availableon this topic. We have chosen those which reflecton the ethics of biotechnology from the perspectiveof our Christian churches.

BOOKS AND JOURNALS

Anderson, Ray S. On Being Human: Essays inTheological Anthropology. Eerdmans, 1983.

Breck, John. The Sacred Gift of Life. St. Vladimir’sSeminary Press.

__________. God With Us. St. Vladimir’sSeminary Press.

Caplan, Arthur. Moral Matters: Ethical Issues inMedicine and the Life Sciences. 1995.

Carroll, Amber and Chris Skidmore, eds. InventingHeaven: Quakers Confront the Challenges ofGenetic Engineering. Reading, UK: Sowle Pressand Bedfordshire General Meeting, 1999.

Chapman, Audrey R. Unprecedented Choices:Religious Ethics at the Frontiers of GeneticScience. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1999.

Giussani, Luigi. The Religious Sense. Trans. JohnZucchi. McGill-Queen’s, 1997.

Gregorios, Paulos. The Human Presence: anOrthodox View of Nature. WCC, 1978.

Grenz, Stanley J. The Social God and theRelational Self: a Trinitarian Theology of ImagoDei. Westminster John Knox Press, 2001.

Bouma, Hessel III, Douglas Diekema, EdwardLangerak, Theodore Rottman, and Allen Verhey.Christian Faith, Health, and Medical Practice.Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1989.

Hill, Edmund. Being Human: A BiblicalPerspective. Continuum, 1984.

Holland, Suzanne, Karen Lebacqz and LaurieZoloth, eds. The Human Embryonic Stem CellDebate: Science, Ethics, and Public Policy.Cambridge: MIT Press, 2001.

Ignatius IV. The Resurrection and Modern Man.St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press.

Kilner, John F. Bioethics and the Future ofMedicine: A Christian Appraisal. 1995.

Kilner, John F., Nigel M. de S. Cameron, and DavidL Schiedermayer. Bioethics and the Future of

Medicine: A Christian Appraisal. Grand Rapids,MI: Eerdmans, 1995.

Kilner, John F., C. Christopher Hook, and Diann B.Uustal, eds. Cutting-Edge Bioethics: A ChristianExploration of Technologies and Trends. GrandRapids: Eerdmans, 2002.

Laver, Eugene and Joel Mlecko, eds. A ChristianUnderstanding of the Human Person. PaulistPress, 1982.

Meilaender, Gilbert C. Bioethics: A Primer forChristians. 1996.

__________. Body, Soul, and Bioethics. NotreDame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1998.

__________. The Limits of Love: SomeTheological Explorations. 1987.

O’Donovan, Oliver. Begotten or Made? Oxford:Clarendon Press, 1984.

Pannenberg, Wolfhart. Anthropology inTheological Perspective. T & T Clark, 1999.

Peters, Ted. For the Love of Children: GeneticTechnology and the Future of the Family. 1996.

__________, ed. Genetics: Issues of SocialJustice. 1998.

Peterson, James C. Genetic Turning Points: TheEthics of Human Genetic Intervention. GrandRapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001.

Shultz, F. LeRon. Reforming TheologicalAnthropology. Eerdmans, 2004.

Society of Christian Ethics. The Annual. 1998 vol.18. Essays by Ron Hamel, Audrey R. Chapman,Charlene A. Galarneau and Sondra Fly Wheelerprovide introductions to the literature.

Walters, LeRoy and Julie Gage Palmer. The Ethicsof Human Gene Therapy. 1997.

Wolff, Hans Walter, Anthropology of the OldTestament. Genève: Labor & Fides, 1974.

FILMS

CBC, 5th Estate 28 Jan 92: Nazi Euthanasia Films.

National Film Board of Canada, On the EighthDay: Perfection Mother Nature. Part One:Making Babies. Part Two: Making Perfect Babies.Directed by Gwynne Basen. Order Nos.Respectively, C 9192 045 and C 9192 046

The Commission on Faith and Witness brings togetherrepresentatives of the 20 different denominations represented onthe Council. Together we work to reflect theologically on matters ofconcern in our own day, and on questions of historical interest tothe churches. Our work in recent years has included: a statement oneuthanasia and assisted suicide; service kits published annually tohelp churches celebrate the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity; aforum on ecumenical dialogues in Canada; a handbook on marriagein our churches. For these and other publications, please consultour website.

This resource has been produced and distributed free ofcharge by the Commission on Faith and Witness. If youwould like to help us financially, please send yourdonations to the Council (cheques should be made out tothe Canadian Council of Churches, attention Faith andWitness). All funds received will go towards our furtherwork in this area.

We would also appreciate hearing your feedback,including how you have used this resource.

The Canadian Council of Churches

www.ccc-cce.ca

e-mail: admin@ccc-cce.ca