Opinions

The Science of Human Life

BY FATHER ROBERT SCHULTZ

Many of us are familiar with the phrase, “Follow the science.” We hear this in the news media and on social media all the time. It has mainly been associated with Covid-19 protocols and vaccines (but I am not wading into those waters in this article!) Instead, I would like to focus on “Follow the science” when it comes to another controversial subject: Abortion.

This month of October is Respect Life Month, and while respect for life does cover many issues, abortion is probably the most talked-about subject. And while there are many arguments employed on both sides of the debate, my point with this article is to focus on the scientific arguments for the prolife stance (which is the stance that I take as a Catholic). So yes, even though I am a priest, please notice that I am not focusing here on the religious arguments for pro-life. Instead, I am writing this to say that we should follow the science when it comes to the beginnings of human life.

The subject of abortion was a significant news item last month because of the recent abortion ban that was signed into law in Texas. The law bans abortions once an unborn baby’s heartbeat is detected by ultrasound. This typically happens around the sixth week of pregnancy, but it can also be as early as three weeks. You see, modern ultrasound (again, science!) have detected fetal heartbeats as early as three weeks after fertilization. And the baby’s heartbeat can be distinguished from the mother’s heartbeat because it is often much faster than hers – typically 105 to 122 beats per minute.

Again, let’s look at this from a scientific perspective. If someone dies in a hospital, and the doctor needs to declare that the patient has died, does he/she not try to determine if the patient’s heart is still beating? When a human heart stops beating, is that not an indicator of death? So, if a heart that stops beating indicates the end of human life, does not a heart that begins beating indicate the beginning of human life? And once again, I’m not even bringing my religious viewpoint into this (as Catholic teaching says that life begins at conception). So even if we look only through a scientific lens, how can we say that a new human heart that begins beating is not an indication of a new human life?

Now, one of the common arguments for abortion is that the unborn baby is not a separate human life, but rather it is part of the mother, so therefore it has no rights. But again, that position ignores science, and science tells us that the unborn baby has its own DNA, different from its mother’s. Yes, we share some DNA with our family members, but every human being has their own unique DNA makeup. There’s a great article called “10 Reasons The Unborn Is Not Part Of A Woman’s Body” by Ryan Mayer, who is a Catholic teacher of moral theology and bioethics. He writes: “It is simply biologically false to say that the unborn is not an individual. In living things, the instructions for their physiological makeup are embedded within each of their cells. That is, the mother and unborn child are both genetically unique individuals. They each have their own DNA and genetic makeup that have never and will never be repeated. Even identical twins are not completely identical. Each has a unique code, due to epigenetic factors and the way DNA is transcribed and translated.”

Later in his article, Mayer writes: “It may seem obvious to say that the unborn is a part of the mother, since the child is actually inside the mother and is physically connected to her body. This does not make the unborn ‘part’ of her, though. Let’s first consider the fact that the unborn is inside the mother. Does X being inside Y make X a part of Y? If that’s the case, then you are a ‘part’ of your car when you sit inside of it. And what about physical connectedness? Is X a part of Y because they are physically connected? Human beings are connected to different things all the time for myriad reasons (clothes, jewelry, cell phones, other human beings) and even for reasons of dependence. This doesn’t mean those things become ‘part’ of us. So, physical connectedness does not make the unborn part of the mother.”

The last point I’ll make goes back to the science of ultrasound technology. One of the strategies that abortion providers like Planned Parenthood use is to tell women that the living organism inside of them is “just a clump of cells.” From that perspective, abortion does not seem so bad because it only affects a clump of cells. But thanks to inventions like ultrasound, women have been able to see what the baby inside the womb actually looks like – and being able to see that is a game changer.

Do you know why pro-life crisis pregnancy centers strive to make ultrasound available to their clients? Because they know from experience that, when a woman has an opportunity to see the new life that is developing inside of her, the vast majority of the time she will choose not to have an abortion. This is precisely why abortion mills like Planned Parenthood fight in court to prevent ultrasounds from being made available to women considering abortion (so much for allowing women to use science to make informed decisions!)

In this Respect Life Month, then, I encourage you to follow the science of the beauty of human life, especially in its developmental stages. As Psalm 139:14 says (because I have to include at least one religious reference!), we are all “wonderfully made.”

Future Planning

BY PASTOR BEN SINCOCK, GRACE CHURCH IN SCHILLER PARK

As the New Year quickly approaches, many of us will be making plans for the future. No one sets out to make bad plans, but Proverbs reveals that there are ways to plan that are foolish, and ways to plan that are wise. So here are three ways to plan for the future with godly wisdom. 1.) Make plans carefully. Proverbs says, “Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure” (4:26). “The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps” (14:15). You want a recipe for disaster? Make plans quickly with little thought. You want to make plans wisely? Ponder all the possibilities, people, and elements involved. Give your plans careful thought. 2.) Listen to wise council. Now, at the risk of being pedantic, can I point out that there are two steps to wise counsel? The first step: we need to GET counsel. “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety” (11:14). “Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed” (15:22).

The second step: we need to LISTEN to the counsel. “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice” (12:15). “Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future” (19:20). If several people tell you your plans are a bad idea, but you go on with them anyway, that counsel served no purpose because you didn’t actually listen to it. Get council, but more importantly, listen to it. Take it on board. 3.) Commit your plans to the LORD. This comes straight from Proverbs 16:3 – “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.” One of the ways we do this is through prayer. We make sure that the sovereign Lord is a part of our plans. And as we pray, the goal is not to convince Him of what we think is best, but to submit our plans to His good and perfect will.

Proverbs says we also commit our plans to the LORD by making plans that are righteous. “Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil” (4:26–27). “What the wicked dreads will come upon him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted” (10:24). This means we have to know God’s Word and what He says is righteous and unrighteous; then make our plans accordingly.

We all make plans. Some plans are selfish and foolish while others are wise and godly. The question is what kind of plans are you going to make? Happy planning!

Paradox of Infant Baptism

BY JAMES DE ROSE

Many churches are designed to be pragmatic. Look around and you will see church ministries ordered and designed to a worship based on what makes people feel good and happy; then they offer that up to God!

The Catholic Church initiated seven sacraments- gifts from God allowing the faithful to receive God’s grace, presence and salvation. Contrary to this thesis, only two of these, baptism (John 3:5) and communion (Eucharist) are found in the Bible (Mark 14:12).

We need to understand baptism because it is not only in Scripture, it IS a command. Our Lord’s great commission is very clear, ”Go therefore and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”(Matthew 28:19)

Many a debate has centered around the subject of infant baptism, yes, many of us former Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Anglicans, or Methodists were baptized as a newborn. Fact is, infant baptism has been the norm since the fourth century in the Christian church. Then why you ask is this an issue? This is a huge issue. Infant baptism is NOT in Scripture.

Pastors beg to differ- “We baptize infants because they are Covenant children and should receive the sign of the Covenant.”-Kevin DeYoung, Pastor, Christ Covenant Church.

John MacArthur, Pastor and Televangelist cites otherwise, “Jesus never baptized any children.