Christians recognize that God has given us a certain
creative freedom with creation. We take
natural resources and build things out of them.
The entire world reflects what good and bad can come from that. But every once in a while, science-fiction
reminds us that such pursuits have consequences.
The Frankenstein
archetype warns against “playing God,” against attempting to bring what seems to
be encoded in nature as outside of our control into our control. In struggling to equip ourselves with the
ability to reach that point, we neglect to equip ourselves with the ability to
handle the consequences.
One more modern rendition of this that comes to mind for me
is Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Scientists’ attempt to master just one aspect
of the human genome leads to disastrous consequences for the entire
planet. So maybe the apocalypse is a bit
of an extreme result to expect. But parallels
need not be literal.
I wrestle with this question. I feel like modern medicine reflects the idea
that God has given us the ability to harness our resources to promote human
flourishing. But when does it become “playing
God”? In an earlier post, I talked about
Michael Sandel’s concerns regarding genetic engineering. I wonder if his concerns provide an example
of a framework for distinguishing between the two. But even that involves nailing down the
essentials of human nature. I dealt with
that in my first post, but I can’t claim that list as definitive or exhaustive.
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