The development of scientific understanding of how nature
works is neither good nor bad, but the development of specific technologies is
not ethically or morally neutral.
What is the Christian world view and how might it be
applicable to questions about technology?
Human beings are eternal, morally-responsible free agents
with both a physical and spiritual nature, made in the image of
God.
The naturalist believes we are the purposeless result of
blind natural forces. We are temporal
and are not spiritual. In this world
view, biotechnological choices come down to cost/benefit analysis alone. Human dignity (worth) is a questionable
concept.
In the Christian world view, the individual has a dignity
because we are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27 read Genesis 9:6) which
should be respected. We cannot view the
individual as simply a part of the whole, which limits the viability of
cost/benefit analysis.
“Human dignity in the biblical perspective does not
depend solely on who we are but, more important, on who God is—as well as on
what God has done, is now doing and will do in the future” (from
Biotechnology and the Human Good)
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