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NASB | Ephesians 2:2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ephesians 2:2 in which you once walked. You were following the ways of this world [influenced by this present age], in accordance with the prince of the power of the air (Satan), the spirit who is now at work in the disobedient [the unbelieving, who fight against the purposes of God]. |
Subject: Believing in the Bible and E.T.'s |
Bible Note: Regarding human cloning, if it has not already been done, it will be soon. I believe that the race to clone a human is motivated by three factors; the irresistable pull to accomplish what has not been possible, the resulting fame to those who succeed, and the technological advances that are being be spawned in the meantime and thereafter. You can think of the race to clone a human as similar to the space race of the 60's, which spawned all kinds of "space-age" technology. Of course, the first really good stuff went into top secret weaponry, but eventually the advancements filtered down to consumers. Biotech will be like that, but with far greater impact and at a greatly accelerated pace. There are too many possible consequences to ponder, so again I'll stick with what I think are the two most series issues for believers. 1. It is not clear that a clone is legally a person. That is, a copy of something is not the original. Offspring are not exact copies. Offspring are conceived by the union of two haploid sex cells. But, since a clone is a copy and is not conceived in exactly the same way as the original, it is different from the original from the start, so some may argue that a clone is property. The issue will be if those differences make any difference to being human. Our understanding of personhood will be challenged, perhaps in much the same way it is challenged in the case of abortion. That is, does our definition of being human depend on source of genetic material, manner of conception, course of development, being born, etc. or is it just that the genetic complement falls within the human genome, as recently completed? There are profound legal consequences for how we define a human. If a clone is not a person, then it may be legal to breed them for spare parts for the originals who may need them as they decay. If a clone is a person, can a clone sue the original for knowingly imparting to them some inhereted disease? Is is OK to abort a clone? The list goes on. 2. Medical/biological research is increasingly using evolutionary techniques to explore the ways genetic variations/mutations can be exploited to our advantage. If clones are property, is it OK to use them as bio-factories for drug manufacture or as test organisms for new drugs or gene therapies? Is it OK to genetically modify them so they are just smart enough to do what we tell them, but not smart enough to object to being our servants? Because mankind is fallen, the potential for wickedness is increased because this technology is so powerful. However, in the hands of Godly people, this technology holds great promise as a way to ease suffering and make the world a better place. In any case, Christians need to understand that the foundation of this technology is evolutionary biology. Evolution is well established, so if we don't come to terms with this, we will not be equipped to influence how this technology is used. I submit it is possible to believe in Jesus and accept that evolution is a valid model for the development of life in the fallen world. Parable |