I. Introduction
“Developments in modern technology have been far outstripping our ability to understand adequately their long-range ethical ramifications.” Unfortunately this statement is no joke. Dr. Robert Foote of Cornell put it this way: “In some of this research I am reminded of a story where the pilot came on and said, ‘This is your captain speaking. We are flying at an altitude of 35,000 feet and the speed of 700 miles an hour. We have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that we are lost. The good news is that we are making excellent time!’”
Today man, and in particular scientists, think they can do just about anything. And in a world where cloning, artificial fertilization and the breaking of the geno-code have been accomplished who can blame them? One thing they have lost sight of, however, is that just because they can do things doesn’t mean they should.
Medical technology is an especially difficult subject to deal with since human life has become so devalued and morals have been discarded. This stems from the evolutionary world-view that is so predominant today. It says man is just the product of random, chance, chemical reactions with no real purpose, but survival of the fittest.
So in order to deal with medical ethics, we first need to know the truth about man. We need to know the biblical view of what man is and what his purpose is. Without this foundation we might as well agree with abortion and all of the wickedness in the medical practice that is going on today. I will not pretend to know all of the answers to the moral questions, nor will I pretend to have great medical knowledge, but I will to the best of my ability apply the biblical principles. Medical issues do not only face doctors, they face all of us and we need to be prepared.
John Jefferson Davis, Evangelical Ethics, 2nd Edition. (Phillipsburg: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1993), p.1.
Ibid, p.1
