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BIBLE REF.
Genesis 1:26–28
Exodus 21:12
Isaiah 42:5
Romans 13:9–10
Luke 6:31
Ephesians 6:1–4
Cloning is the process in which a genetically identical copy of a gene, cell, or organism is produced. Cloning occurs in nature usually
through asexual reproduction. Identical twins, the result of a splitting fertilized egg, are clones (but still completely unique individuals). The focus here is the artificial cloning of an entire organism, especially as it relates to humans.
How does cloning work in general terms? Well, remove the nucleus (storehouse of DNA) from a cell of an animal desired to be cloned. Take an egg cell (from the same type of animal), remove its nucleus and transfer the donor nucleus into the egg cell. Do some initial chemical and incubation manipulation, and if it all works out, you’ve got a clone. This has been done to various animals, the most famous of which is “Dolly,” the clone of a six-year-old sheep that grabbed the world’s attention in 1996.
Although the explanation here is simple, the actual process is extremely technical and problematic. Take Dolly for example. It
took 277 eggs to produce 29 embryos to create one living sheep. That’s 276 failures out of 277 attempts! This is the normal
drastic failure rate for cloning across the board that you don’t usually hear about. Not only that, Dolly died at the age of 6, which is exceptionally premature for sheep. Why? She was essentially “born” at the age of six — the age of the sheep she was cloned from.
There are two primary purposes for cloning: to produce an identical organism, called reproductive cloning, or to make a cloned embryo to harvest stem cells, called therapeutic cloning.
So, are there ethical issues with human cloning? Well, if evolution were true, there shouldn’t be. If people are just highly evolved animals, no different in value to a sheep or cow, then who cares? Cloning a human, no matter how they turn out or how they are used, is no problem! But evolution is a lie and God’s Word is true, so there are serious problems.
What are some biblical problems with the reproductive cloning of humans? Most cloning attempts fail, and the “successful” ones are littered with genetic problems and die prematurely. The process would necessitate extensive experimentation on humans and inevitably lead to the deaths of numerous people (remember, embryos are human beings) to successfully make a clone. Neither the
experimenting on nor the murder of God’s unique image bearers can in any way be reconciled with the Bible. It’s also worth noting that cloning a human being deliberately sets out to make an individual with no natural parents. This is completely opposed to God’s created order and biblical principles (Genesis 1:26–28).
And therapeutic cloning? The whole goal is to create an embryo to be destroyed after its stem cells are collected. Human embryos are human beings. In this scenario, human beings are being brought into existence merely for parts and are then destroyed. That’s not only a crime against humanity, it’s a crime against the Author of humanity.
