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12/5/02
Codes and Cut Flowers
Ravi Zacharias

The cover story of a recent issue of Newsweek was titled "The Race to
Decode the Human Genome." As might be expected, scientists of various
stripes weighed in on the issue, and one Harvard biologist observed that
once we know the entire code for the human body we will know "what it is to
be human." I would like to ask the biologist if he would be able to
appreciate a work of art by knowing all the molecules that comprise the
paint and canvas. Certainly human life is much more than genes, just as a
masterpiece is much more than the ingredients of the paint.

One dare not miss the underlying sentiment of the biologist. Where is the
intrinsic value, the reverence, the awe at human life and its infinite
worth? I certainly have no quarrel with discovering all that we can about
what God has created, yet I am well aware that in our time, the Creator of
life is not acknowledged. From the playground to the academy our youth are
taught that we just happen to be here, clothed apes, a blip on the radar
screen of time, a cosmic accident. The consequences of this worldview are
dire, as our schools and streets are riddled with senseless violence. After
all, though the academic may hide behind lofty platitudes, it does not take
the student on the street very long to figure out what Dostoevsky observed:
If there is no God, anything is permissible.

Yet to the theist, the awe and wonder of human life is engendered by its
Maker. Our existence is by the designed will of our heavenly Father who is
ever in control of the universe. Each of us is here at this specific time
within the compass of His sovereign will, loved by Him, accountable to Him,
owing our very lives to Him. This is the fundamental difference that
separates a secular view from a spiritual one.

May I close with a prophetic commentary, written by Elton Trueblood over a
half-century ago? Here's what he said:
The terrible danger of our time consists in the fact that ours is a
cut-flower civilization. Beautiful as cut flowers may be, and much as we
may use our ingenuity to keep them looking fresh for a while, they will
eventually die because they are severed from their sustaining roots. We are
trying to maintain the dignity of the individual apart from the deep
confidence that every person is made in God's image and is therefore of
worth that transcends matter.

Copyright (p)(c) 2001 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM)

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Toto

However, A Slice of Infinity may NOT be reproduced in any form on the World Wide Web or in broadcast media, print media or other media without express written permission

The trite sentiments in this copyrighted spam don't belong in this forum and just waste bandwidth.

Bill Snedden

Agreed. Off to RR&P.