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that is different. As much as we may think we need to improve on the
human design, Homo sapiens, with all its limitations, is the deliberate
handiwork of God, sanctified by the Creator of the universe through
the incarnation of God in Christ.
Pursuing Christian Perfection
What are we to make, then, of the commands in scripture to pursue
perfection? (Lev. 11:44 45; Deut. 18:12; Matt. 5:48). Each of these
152 CHAPTER SEVEN
verses is an encouragement to moral perfection, the perfection of love.
The two greatest commandments are (1) to love the Lord God with all
our heart, mind, and strength; and (2) to love our neighbor as ourselves
(Matt. 22: 37 40). There is nothing mentioned here about bodily and
cognitive attributes. The issue is one of the affections and the will, as-
pects that no amount of scientific and/or engineering acumen or tech-
nological ingenuity can address. God is the one who has the authority
to make the profound changes required in these areas.
Christ s Healing: Why Did He Not   Enhance  ?
The most significant challenge to the reengineering agenda, however,
is Christological. Jesus is the Christian s ultimate example, in both His
nature and His behavior. Jesus healed as a significant part of His minis-
try while on earth. Indeed, healing has been a significant aspect of the
life of the church from its inception. The development of hospitals and
many traditions of compassion trace their origins to Christianity and to
Christ s parable of the Good Samaritan. Christians are called to be
agents of healing and restoration, and they should embrace those tech-
nologies that assist in that goal.
But a key question must be asked: Why did Christ not   enhance 
or reengineer? Doubtless he could have. Why did he not augment his
disciples, making them the fittest, most attractive, and most intelligent
of men? Why did he not make them impervious to pain and death? Why
were their lives not extended to 200 years or beyond? The scriptural
silence is deafening. Someone may retort that making a normative claim
from scriptural silence is an interpretive error. Yet it is not just the si-
lence of scripture but the silence of more than two thousand years of
church history that must be faced squarely a history that has seen the
continuation of the ministry of healing but has never aspired to human
augmentation in the way it is being considered today.
There may be three reasons that Christ did not augment or   en-
hance.  First, the apostles and disciples did not, as we do not, need to
be altered to demonstrate and fulfill the Gospel. Numerous passages in
scripture attest to the demonstrative power of Christ s love in the face
of human weakness (Rom. 8:26; 1 Cor. 15:42 44; 2 Cor. 12:9, 13:4).
Conclusion: Toward a Foundation for Biotechnology 153
The message of the Gospel is that love not performance, competition,
or enhancement is what is important to God and should be most im-
portant to us.
Second, Christ knew that our fundamental problem is sin and that
given our sinful proclivities we would pervert enhancements to make
them serve us, not Him. Superior abilities often lead to superior arro-
gance. The story of Samson (Judg. 13:24 16:30) is a clear example of
such an abuse of divinely granted enhancement. Arrogance leads to self-
reliance. God wants us to be His instruments working out His plan
for history in His wisdom. As has been true throughout history, ability
without wisdom is often the road to suffering. What the disciples
needed, and what we need today, is a relationship of total dependency
on God and transformation by the Holy Spirit from within.
If the reader thinks this is too simplistic, we invite an honest survey
of one s own attributes as they presently exist. Are one s gifts used to
their fullest potential to serve God? Or are they used for self-gratifica-
tion? If one s attributes are not being used to their fullest for God s
service now, what assurance does one have that reengineered abilities
would be used for God s service rather than self-aggrandizement? Is
better memory, a fuller bust line, increased muscular strength, sharper
visual acuity, or a different this or an increased that really going to make
anyone live the Gospel more fully?
Third, augmentations or enhancements would have a significantly
negative effect on the building of holy community and on nurturing
communion where all have a part and a contribution, no matter how
small. The more we strive for self-sufficiency and bodily perfection,
the more we repudiate the community God designed for us and expects
of us.
After all, a teleology is at the heart of both the Jewish and Christian
faiths. Eschatological hope enables one to persevere in the midst of the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]