Cedarville Magazine, Spring/Summer 2016

Human Life as Fearfully and Wonderfully Made SCRIPTURAL PERSPECTIVE There is, however, another way of thinking, one that makes sense of our built-in feelings of awe, wonder, and mystery. It answers the question posed by the psalmist as he gazed up into the heavens, “What is man that you are mindful of him?” (Ps. 8:4). David goes on to explain that “You have made him a little lower than the angels, And you have crowned him with glory and honor” (Ps. 8:5). Biblical scholars point out that the Hebrew word here translated ‘angels’ is actually Elohim , the word for Creator-God. So, although the early translators may have been afraid of the implications of this, David was really saying that human beings were created only a little lower than God Himself. This is implied in the great truth we find in Genesis 1, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him” (v. 27) and affirmed elsewhere in Scripture, such as 1 Corinthians 6:3a, “Do you not know that we are to judge angels?” and Hebrews 1:14, “Are [angels] not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?” The rest of Psalm 8:5–6 makes this even stronger: “And you have crowned [man] with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of your hands; You have put all things under his feet . . .” What a glorious truth! Our Creator has made us in His image, just a little lower than His own nature. Furthermore, He has given us wonderful dignity and purpose, as stewards over the rest of His awesome creation. We have done nothing tomerit this —our life, our human nature, is a gift from our loving Father. DIVINE VIEWPOINT So when does all this begin ? At what point in our earthly journey does God begin to care for us? Specifically, do unborn babies have the same value and worth as those of us who walk around and interact with others? Once again, there are two possible viewpoints on this question. The secular, materialistic approach is called empirical functionalism . This view says our value as human beings comes by virtue of something measurable or verifiable through empirical science. For functionalists, human value is all about brain activity, in particular, the cerebral cortex: the conscious, thinking, reasoning part of our nervous system. One proponent of this approach is the atheist Princeton philosopher Peter Singer. Dr. Singer believes that personhood, that is, membership in the moral community, comes when we are self-aware. In his view, the killing of newborn babies is perfectly ethical (if the babies are not wanted), since self-awareness in an infant does not occur until about one month of age. In contrast to this hideous idea is the approach of ontological personalism . This philosophy states that we are persons and have moral worth simply by being human, and this value extends from the earliest moment of our lives at conception in the womb and to every moment after that. Scripture is full of examples of this truth. I sometimes refer to Psalm 139:13–16 as the “national anthem of the pro-life movement” because it so beautifully portrays the intimate, loving Creator as He formed us in the womb: For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. The Hebrew words have a different connotation from Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The Hebrew word for “created” He has given us wonderful dignity and purpose, as stewards over the rest of His awesome creation. Cedarville Magazine | 25