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Though it doesn't even use the term stem cell, Pope John Paul II's encyclical, The Gospel of Life, while it is challenging reading, should be required for anyone who wants to think and pray through the issues raised by stem cell research. Why? Because the truth about life in its earliest stages can never be understood until we listen to what the Author of Life has to say about it.
In his encyclical, Pope John Paul invites believers to shine the light of the gospel upon questions of life and death so that we might see the answers more clearly. At first glance, it may strike us as strange that the Bible never gives explicit and direct commandments to protect human life before birth. But upon a closer examination, and with the aid of The Gospel of Life, certain truths appear right there in front of us. If we listen carefully, we can hear that the Scriptures speak eloquently about the beauty of conception, about the formation of life in the womb, about the blessing of birth, and about the intimate connection between the first moments of life and the loving action of God our Creator (44).
Biblical Foundations for Life. From the very beginning, God called his people to…
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