In response to the alleged birth of Eve, the first human clone, it has been said that “no one can stop the advancement of science and that we should focus on the fair treatment of and equality of life for those who will inevitably be born through the human cloning procedure.” I concede that no one should stop the birth of those children already created through the cloning process. We can, however, bring use of this procedure to an end. We can also create limits of what scientists are permitted to do. Even as the king once thought himself above the law, so some scientists today think themselves beyond the laws reach and societies mores. But the contrary is true. Scientists must be forced to abide by the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God. This principle, based on Christian theism, is Lex Homo Scientiae.

“Christian theism teaches that man is held accountable to his Creator [and that] absolute standards exist by which all moral judgments of life are to be measured. With the Bible there is a standard of right and wrong. These fundamental principles made up the Reformation world view. They were passed on in substance and without significant alteration to the American colonies through the influence of a book written by Samuel Rutherford, Lex, Rex or, the Law and the Prince (1644).

Lex, Rex challenged the fundamental principle of seventeenth-century political government in Europe: the divine right of kings. This doctrine held that the king’s word was law.

Counterbalanced against this position was Rutherford’s assertion that the basic premise of government and therefore of law must be the Bible, the Word of God rather than the word of man. All men even the king, Rutherford argued, were under the law and not above it.

Rutherford’s ideas lived on to influence later generations. His basic presupposition of government based on the absolutes of the Bible was finally realized in colonial America . . . [when] principles enunciated in Lex, Rex were drawn upon by the colonists in declaring their independence from Great Britain [and the tyranny of King George] in 1776.”(1)

Today, the American people face a different kind of tyranny the tyranny of “Homo Scientiae Lex” which means “The Scientist is Above the Law.” In other words, it appears that many scientists think that no one (especially not laymen) can set limits upon what they do in the name of science. But granting scientists absolute or unlimited power can lead to the violation of God’s law and has, most recently, with the advent of human cloning.

Human cloning is a violation of the laws of nature and nature’s God’s. Consider the following five points.

“First, human cloning is nothing short of human experimentation. For example, the success rate of cloning animals ranges from 0.1 percent to 3 percent, which means that for every 1000 tries, there are between 970 and 999 failed attempts. Of those born, problems often occur later in development. For example, cloned animals tend to be much bigger at birth than their natural counterparts. Scientists call this "Large Offspring Syndrome" (LOS). Clones with LOS have abnormally large organs. This can lead to breathing, blood flow and other problems. Even some clones without LOS have developed kidney and brain malformations as well as impaired immune systems. Finally, the discovery of abnormalities in the length of the DNA strands of cloned animals indicates that the cells of some cloned animals, such as Dolly, are aging faster than the cells of a sheep naturally conceived.”(2) Given the magnitude of failed efforts and breadth of abnormalities seen in cloned animals, it is clear that any form of human cloning qualifies as medical malpractice.

The second violation of the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God is the inherent devaluation of human life seen in the mechanical processing and manipulation of embryos created by any artificial means. “The objection is that it makes reproduction excessively technological severing procreation from sexual expression [from within a marital covenant.]”(3) Third, creation of a new life specifically destined for destruction, as in therapeutic cloning, violates the most sacred Biblical principle that “thou shall not kill.” Fourth, creation of a child to satisfy the sterile and unnatural union of a homosexual couple violates the Biblical ethic of heterosexuality. Fifth, unlike other IVF procedures which mimic natural conception through technology, cloning endeavors to create life through a procedure that is completely unnatural – creating a new life from the genetic material of a single individual rather than two people. In this attempt, man is not merely trying to mimic God; rather he is attempting to replace God as the giver of life through a unique process of his own making.

So what is our response as Christians toward the scientists who claim scientific experimentation is unstoppable and that cloning technology is necessary either as an extension of IVF procedures or for the treatment of disease? We must insist on a reckoning between scientific progress and Biblical principles. Scientists have a duty beyond themselves and discovery. That duty is to abide by the laws of Nature and Nature’s God. This counterbalancing principle is Lex Homo Scientiae which means all verbal and written laws are above the scientist and he, like us all, must abide by those laws.

Notes:

1. The Second American Revolution, p.28-29, John W. Whitehead, Crossway Books, (1982).

2. Excerpts from “What Are the Risks of Cloning?” Genetic Science Learning Center at the Eccles Institute of Human Genetics, University of Utah www.genetics.utah.edu/ (http://gslc.genetics.utah.edu/units/cloning/cloningrisks/) visited 1/7/03)

3. God in the Laboratory, p. 182, Al Truesdale p. Beacon Hill Press,(2000).