top of page

Stem Cell Research

Issue
 
   Stem cell research consists of extracting stem cells from unborn embryos for the purposes of medical research. Religious groups have condemned the practice as being immoral, while the medical community considers the procedure necessary to develop treatments for a number of medical conditions.
Solution
 
   The Bible may provide some guidance on the subject by paying closer attention to the following passage:

                              …the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the
                             ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,
                             and the man became a living being.    Genesis 2:7

   This passage indicates that a life form is not truly alive unless God "breathes life" into the organism’s molecular structure. Without God’s breath (or divine interaction of some kind), a physical organism only exists as a spiritually-empty molecular arrangement, and not as an actual living being with a soul.

   For example, if God wanted to breathe life into a physical object such as a rock or a chair then in all due respects, that object would be alive in a spiritual sense and actually consist of a soul. It may not do very much because the object lacked appendages, and it may not learn very much due to missing a brain, but it would be considered as a living being in a spiritual sense. Subsequently, if the rock or chair were broken apart, the soul of the molecular object would be released into the spiritual realm similar to when a human being dies in the physical world.

   What this example signifies is that the breath of God (or the establishment of our soul) is the discerning factor in enriching a particular molecular arrangement into becoming a living life form, regardless if the atomic structure was human or otherwise in nature.
Collection Of Atoms
 
   How does this relate to the stem cell debate?

   When a human embryo is terminated, the spirit or soul contained within is released prior to when medical procedures are conducted upon the object. At that point, the embryo is not alive, nor has it anything to do with being alive, after the release of the soul. So, unless God re-breathes life into the empty atomic structure, the aborted embryo is merely a collection of atoms and should not be considered as living by any means thereafter.
 
   Even if researchers go to extreme levels and conduct a human clone experiment that took a healthy sperm and egg, artificially fertilized them, and extracted stem cells while the embryo was still alive, such an act would not be unethical for the advancement of medical research despite being performed on a fully functional human being.

   The reason for this is that God would be aware of the intent and purpose of the procedure and would not breathe life into the embryonic structure if physicians were planning to manipulate such for the sake of advancing a medical cure. Since the "collection of atoms" would be soulless, it would be morally acceptable to conduct medical experiments on the artificially manufactured human fetus while it was still alive in this manner.

   Although this example is extreme to prove a point (and I personally wouldn't try it), stem cell research is a valuable means of providing advances in medical research and should be permitted whenever deemed necessary for the sake of improving the quality of life for humanity.
bottom of page