Episode 88: Christian bioethicists on how to think about abortion, IVF, and...mosquitoes? (Vic McCracken and Cynthia Powell)

The recent emergence of in vitro fertilization (IVF) as a legal and political issue is raising new ethical and moral questions among Christians. If life begins at conception, when is conception? What is a soul and when does a human being have one? Advances in science and technology mean that Christians know more about the human body than ever before, but those same advances sometimes lead to questions for which the Bible may seem to have no clear, definitive answers.

So what are Christians to do when life puts them in situations where they need to make choices about, say, whether to overcome reproductive challenges with something like IVF? How might their congregations, elders, and ministers come alongside them as they seek answers that are hard to find?

Christian bioethicists Dr. Vic McCracken and Dr. Cynthia Powell explain how they help their students at Abilene Christian University approach the ethical and moral dilemmas that often arise in health care. Beyond IVF, they also discuss abortion, end-of-life, and...mosquitoes.

Link to Cheryl Mann Bacon's Christian Chronicle feature on how professors and students at Abilene Christian University are working through the moral complexities of IVF

Link to Cheryl Mann Bacon's Christian Chronicle report on how Church of Christ folks are responding to new questions about IVF

Link to Dr. Vic McCracken's CV

Link to Dr. Cynthia Powell's CV     

Link to the "Wesleyan Quadrilateral' referred to in the interview

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