In my blog post Personhood-What Is It, I said that to have personhood, is to have the intrinsic value of a human being with all the rights and responsibilities that go along with being human.
The Christian worldview, the worldview of the Bible, holds that God, with the creation of mankind, gives mankind special intrinsic value. A name for this intrinsic value, in modern language, is personhood. Mankind is created in a special way that is different from animals. Genesis 1:26-27 says,
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
The question: Is it possible for a person to be dead while their body is still alive?
The answer one gives to this question depends on what one believes is the make-up of a living person. The true answer to this question comes only from a true understanding of what it is to be a living person. From a biblical perspective, with death of a person, the body goes to the dust and the soul goes to wait to be reunited with the body to face judgment at the last day. … Read the rest
What if you are a Christian, who desires to live according to the Word of God, the Bible, and you find out that the path that you have walked or the way you walked the path, such as the path of IVF or Vital Organ Donation, turns out to not be supported by the Word of God? What if someone, you know and love, has been unable to get pregnant and has been told that IVF is her most likely way to have a child? … Read the rest
Before reading this, if you and your spouse have gone down the path of IVF, you may find this difficult to read. This blog posting suggests that the path of IVF involves a husband giving up, at least part of his leadership and a wife submitting to someone other than her husband. Also suggested is that this step is outside of God’s design for marriage. These conclusions can be debated. In marriage, husbands often allow others to, in a sense, take the lead in various decisions that impact upon their wives. … Read the rest
Worldview and Ethical Issues from a Biblical Perspective
