Nearly 100 years ago, the British writer Aldous Huxley composed his classic dystopian novel, “Brave New World.” Huxley depicted a world in which all people were on drugs/medication, babies were created in science labs, young people were indoctrinated, the sexual act was treated casually and life had no sacred quality whatsoever.
In many ways, his nightmare vision is unfolding before our eyes today. Just the other week, the U.S. Supreme Court “ruled unanimously to retain the existing lack of safety standards for the abortion pill,” making chemical abortion widely available.
Our culture is indoctrinating children away from biblical sexuality and toward perverse ideas on gender. In 2007, there was only one gender clinic in America. Today, there are hundreds amid the gender chaos. Meanwhile, practices called “reproductive technologies” are often used and without a regard for the value of life.
Abortion, euthanasia, gender confusion, drug addiction, reckless practices surrounding in vitro fertilization (IVF)—all of these seem to be thriving while the Christian ethical viewpoint about life fades.
Christians seem to be living in our own Brave New World, as author Joni Eareckson Tada once observed. So, what are Christians to do?
Above all, we must stay grounded in God’s Holy Word, the Bible. We know from God’s Word that life is precious, and people are made in God’s image (Gen. 1:27), from the first moments of conception/fertilization to the natural end of life. The biblical view is that all human life is sacred, that we believe in a “seamless thread of life” from womb to tomb. The biblical view is that God made us male and female—and the marital act, exclusive for marriage, is what leads to children. As Christians, we believe in procreation, not mere “reproduction.”
Southern Baptists, informed by Scripture, have often weighed into these issues, such as abortion. Recently, though, Southern Baptists are by necessity having to weigh in on the ever-increasing bioethical issues.
At the recent Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting, messengers approved a resolution that talked about “reproductive technologies,” including IVF. The resolution highlighted “the ethical realities of reproductive technologies and the dignity of the human embryo,” calling on Southern Baptists “to reaffirm the unconditional value and right to life of every human being, including those in an embryonic stage, and to only utilize reproductive technologies consistent with that affirmation especially in the number of embryos generated in the IVF process.”
Christian author and ethicist Gilbert Meilaender, in his important book “Bioethics: A primer for Christians,” spoke to these issues in helpful ways. He calls us to draw a clear distinction in worldviews and calls for Christians to resist the idea that there is a “neutral ground” in bioethics.
Bioethical issues are not abstract. They have profound moral implications. They also show up in nearly every family and community in America. Fortunately, there are resources for Christians that can help guide us, including Albert Mohler’s popular podcast, “The Briefing,” good books and more. But ultimately, we need to get back to the Bible.
With God’s help, we can better navigate the dark waters of this Brave New World, knowing that in the end, Jesus will turn all darkness and death back to light and life.
“For the darkness is passing away, and the real light is already shining.” 1 John 2:8
