Christian Worldview Concepts

The Ethics of Embryonic Biology

In the Image of God

The identity of the human embryo is not something we can fashion in whatever manner we choose. It is a question of recognition. An embryo is but one stage of human existence among the many; it is not a prelude to human existence. Embryos develop into a fetus, which becomes an infant, then a toddler, a preschooler, a preteen, a teen, an adult, and finally, a senior adult. Throughout these stages, human identity remains steadfastly the same, that is, decidedly human. At no time in this life continuum does one's biology change into anything other than human and it is the human identity that brings forward the key question; what makes human life morally special?

The answer to this question is profoundly extra-biological, that is, outside of the realm of science. It is a question of who belongs to the human community; a question that demands an answer of more public potency than that it has "special status." Human life is valuable because it traces it origin and value to the Creator. Humans have value because they are created in God's image. God did not create human beings as a template upon which we may build and improve to suit ourselves. He certainly did not create some human beings to serve as biological benefits for other human beings.