Steven Earnest: The Sanctity Of Life

Abortion’s legalization through Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade, has allowed for one in three pregnancies to end in abortion. This means that 1.5 million abortions are performed in the United States each year (Flanders 3). It ranks among the most complex and controversial issues, arousing heated legal, political, and ethical debates. The modern debate over abortion is a conflict of competing moral ideas and of fundamental human rights: to life, to privacy, to control over one's own body. Trying to come to a compromise has proven that it one cannot please all of the people on each side of the debate.

“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our like-ness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”(Gen . 1.26)

In contrast, in the story of Genesis God gave man dominion over all the creatures of the Earth. (Genesis 1:28) The man to this day, hunts animals of all kinds and disrespects nature, with clear-cutting of forestry and pollution.

David Swenson, who was born in Sweden and was a professor of University of Minnesota. He is well-known to the public for his publication of the article called “The Dignity of Human Life”, which was originally published in 1949 and currently still could be found in many philosophy books (Klemke, 2008). The article of “The dignity of Human life” contains several different valuable ideas of the subject to human life and also includes some great conclusions at the final.

However, it means something more. It highlights the idea that people are their own worst enemy, as death is the enemy to humans and life itself. Virtually every bad thing in the world begins with humans, from the introduction of death into the world to the eradication of species (“Humans Caused…”); (“Genesis III”). This statement brings to light Deaths disdain towards humans and their

First of all, man has been killing since the beginning of time. Even in the Bible, Cain killed Abel and that was in the very beginning of time thousands and thousands of years ago. It seems it is human nature to kill and

Various religions also have varied responses to capital punishment. Even a particular denomination or religious group may not have a unified stand regarding capital punishment. Religious sentiments do play a significant part in the views of people regarding capital punishment. The Bible is replete with various passages that may seem to support or condemn capital punishment. The Old Testament, particularly, is based upon a morality of “teeth against teeth” and “life for life.” The books of laws of the Old Testament actually prescribe stoning to death the persons who commit serious crimes against God and against the community. A number of biblical scholars have considered the part of the Ten Commandments that say “You shall not kill” as a prohibition against individual cases of murder (The Ryrie Study Bible, Exodus 20:13). In the first place, the Christian faith believes that humans are created in the image of God. As such, a serious crime against another person is also a crime against God. In the Old Testament, premeditated murder was sufficient reason for the death penalty (Numbers 35:31, 33). Moreover, in Genesis 9:6, it can be read that “whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed”. St. Thomas Aquinas also published his thoughts regarding capital

In Genesis the word of God leads humanity in the direction of self preservation, urging them to procreate, to ”Be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 9:1), and to minimize hostility and violence among people. As Freud asserted, “Besides the instinct to preserve living substance and join it into ever larger units, there must exist another, contrary instinct seeking to dissolve those units and bring them back to their primeval, inorganic state” (Freud 77). Genesis exemplifies the struggle between the two opposing human instincts, with God acting as a moderator between them. Forms of justice are put into place in an attempt to control these drives, one example being the proclamation that “Whoever sheds the blood of a human, by a human shall that person’s blood be shed” (Genesis 9:6). The ethics and laws that develop throughout Genesis seek to “prevent the crudest excesses of brutal violence” but are unable to control “the more cautious and refined manifestations of human aggressiveness” (Freud 70). Since they cannot be completely eradicated, the scriptures instead play into the more negative aspects of human nature, especially narcissism, and manipulate them into a force for conservation rather than annihilation.

On this basis, it may be inferred that God tells us we do not have the right to kill our self. In addition, God says in Bible “ Don’t you know that your are the

What does it mean to be human? Humans are the embodiment of God. Man was placed on this Earth to enjoy the wonders that God created for him. According to Genesis 1:26-30, God granted mankind dominion over all living creatures on the earth. The animals and plants were created as food to nourish our bodies. Genesis 9:1-5 also speaks of how humans rule over the plants and animals. Humans were intended to multiply and populate the Earth (Holy Bible: American Standard Version,

In Genesis 1:26-27 the Bible talks about how we are made in the image of God, or have what is known as the Imago Dei. Some people would say that this means that human beings have a conscious, and live at a level that is more complex than just living on mere instinct. I believe that there is more to it than that. Romans 12:6 says that “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.” In other words, as you read the rest of the chapter you can see how each of the different gifts given to people can be used to edify and strengthen other people. We were created to be a blessing to other people, and those other people were created to live in harmony with you.

At this time, the author maintains, we have two kinds of lives. There is the natural life and the spiritual life and they are opposed to each other. The natural life knows that if the spiritual life got a hold of it, all its self-centeredness and its self-will would be killed. Therefore, it fights for its life. The author compares this to a child who tries to bring to life his toy tin soldier, but the toy soldier did not want to be alive. So, just like us, it would rebel. Because the toy soldier likes the tin, he would think that you are killing him if you tried to change him. Similarly, man has some things about him that he likes, and probably wants to keep. He, too, may become obstinate even if God tried to change him. The author explains, however, that God sent this one man through whom all other men could become a Son of God, and the natural man would have to change for this process to take place. Man could resist, but the opportunity is still there for

In the beginning of Genesis, God expects humans to be subordinate to him, and refuses to tolerate defiance.  He sees no excuse for disobedience, and punishes Adam and Eve.  God expects everyone to be perfect and castigates for every mistake.

In Genesis 1:28 God says, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” By giving humans dominion, God wanted them to tend to the earth and take care of it—instead of dominating it—in the same way that he tends to humans and takes care of them. This shows that God gave humans authority over other beings for the purpose of nurturing them just as God has authority over humans which he uses for the purpose of nurturing. In this way humans’ authority shows that they are made in the image of

As we look back in history we can see many beginnings, but the beginning referred to in this verse is a beginning that defies understanding to the extreme. We see one of the most amazing creations in this world in a newly born child, yet that creation pails in comparison to that of the creation on the world. Look around you and imagine nothing. That’s the way in was before the Lord gave us the first of many gifts that have been bestowed upon the human race.