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To: BlueDragon
"Any [teaching] of any worth, one can find more directly (and much more simply) within the written Word."

I disagree. I say that without Natural Law, interpreted in an authoritative way, you cannot act "justly" (or know if you are acting justly or unjustly) in a lot of the so-called ethical "dilemmas" of our age.

(You can ignore all of the following if you don't want to spend any time on it. I am just supplying examples in order to fortify my point that Scripture alone does not yield direct and simple answers on moral law.)

Does Scripture unambiguously authorize or prohibit torture? Slavery? Polygamy? "Ethnic cleansing"? Are these things a "just" person can justly can do?

Is terminal sedation Biblically OK? With patient consent? With proxy consent? Or under what conditions?

Say that, through IVF and surrogacy, a baby has three mothers and two fathers: a genetic mother, a gestational mother, a contracting mother (the one who intends to take the baby home), a genetic father, and a contracting father. Is there any part of this IVF/surrogacy arrangement which is prohibited in Scripture? Any part which is NOT prohibited? If so, which parts?

Is usury OK, or not? (Interesting in view of Scripture's application of the word "abomination")

According to the Bible, is it permitted or forbidden to use drugs and surgery to change one's natural sexual function?

How about to change one's (I hate this term) "gender"?

Is intentional indiscriminate killing of civilian noncombatants Biblically OK?

Are bionic components Biblically permitted in the cerebral cortex?

Does Scripture permit a drug to compel a criminal suspect to tell the truth?

Is it Biblically OK to synthetically create, from non-human components, totipotent artificial human-type DNA if you do not use it in a cell? How about if you do insert it in a cell, and culture the cells through a couple of replications --- for fundamental molecular biology experimental reasons? How about for therapeutic reasons? How about for procreation?

Is it OK according to the Bible to implant small amounts of human genetic material in different taxa?

Does God's Word say it is OK for an unmarried woman to "adopt" a genetically unrelated frozen embryo and have it implanted in her womb -- as a way to save the embryo's life? How about for a married woman to do this?

Say a faithful wife was unwillingly civilly divorced by her husband. There was no Biblical reason for the divorce. May she remarry?

If she does remarry, does the Bible say the ex-husband may remarry?

A man in his 20's has a wife who is permanently brain injured, unable to recognize him, and living bed-bound in a nursing home. Her care is assured. He wants to seek a new wife so he can have a life-companion and a family. Can he do this? Or, according to Scripture, must he accept celibacy and sexual continence for the rest of his life?

Is mitochondrial transfer Biblically OK in human somatic cells? How about if you use it to modify a human zygote?

According to Scripture, is it OK to create permanent germline GMOs that are trans-species or trans-phylum? How about completely new synthetic life forms?

When AI entities can answer self-awareness questions and manifest self-awareness responses indistinguishable from those of humans, are they then "persons"? According to the Bible, are they to be treated with justice and mercy? Would it be OK to be cruel to them --- to inflict fear and pain upon them? Do they have a right to life?


184 posted on 07/25/2015 6:39:48 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o ("Justice and judment are the foundation of His throne." - Psalm 89:15)
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To: Mrs. Don-o
If parts of the Law are Natural, then they need no explanations, but something more along lines of reminder of what is naturally obvious (or else it wouldn't be Natural Law).

Remember, I was talking about real water, intending to imply meaning inclusive of how Christ spoke of "water".

Feel free to let me know if you actually have something pertinent to the main thrusts of what else I was saying.

186 posted on 07/25/2015 6:54:42 PM PDT by BlueDragon ("Another d-mn'd thick, square book! Always, scribble, scribble, scribble! Eh! Mr. Gibbon?")
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To: Mrs. Don-o
Is terminal sedation Biblically OK?

Samson committed suicide. I've not seen him condemned for it.

Would he be considered a kamikaze terrorist bomber today?

195 posted on 07/26/2015 4:09:55 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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