Comments on: Why Protestants should attend to Vatican’s pro-life guidelines

By: Dawn in Denver

Dawn in Denver — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 22:11:47 +0000

Sarah, you’re definitely not the only one who thinks IVF is wrong. Only the Catholic church seems to come right out and say so.

It’s hard to discourage IVF without seeming to condemn the families who have done it. More and more women seemed shocked that anyone would have a problem with it.

By: Protestants should pay attention to Catholic policy on life | The Daily Scroll

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 20:37:21 +0000

[...] should pay attention to Catholic policy on life December 16, 2008 … says Gene Veith: “We non-Catholics tend to not care about pronouncements from the Vatican, but this is one we [...]

By: Sarah in Pennsylvania (previously Maryland)

Sarah in Pennsylvania (previously Maryland) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:48:21 +0000

I found it surprising that so many people found this document shocking. It seems to be to be in following with the RCC’s teaching on birth control, sex, marriage, etc. I’m just glad that I’m not the only Christian on the planet who isn’t so sure that IVF is ethical. I have gotten so many puzzled looks from people who’ve asked us “why not IVF.” I either tell them that I have ethical problems with it, or “we’d just rather adopt.” Then they think I’m some sort of saint. If I’m a saint, then so is any one who becomes a parent.

By: Eric Richey

Eric Richey — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:18:14 +0000

Fully agree that Christ is present in our vocations – especially marriage (very thankful for this – and my wife is even more thankful for having to endure me).

I was probably overreacting to the use of the word “Christian” as an adjective attached to My thinking was that there is no such thing as “Christian Marriage” – there is just “marriage”. Of course – it is Christians who have the tools to discern Christ’s hidden presence in marriage. I believe this is a point you make in your book, “God at Work”. Sorry for not being more clear.

By: Veith

Veith — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:50:03 +0000

Well, Eric, that Christ is in marriage is a clear teaching of one of the key texts for the Lutheran doctrine of vocation (which emphasizes not what we do, but God’s presence in our callings): Ephesians 5:22-33. This was also the emphasis in the Cranach Institute’s conference on marriage a few years ago–some of which is going to find its way into print before long!

By: Peter Leavitt

Peter Leavitt — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:43:29 +0000

We Protestant Christians should welcome Dignitas Personae as a bulwark in our fateful struggle with the secularists on issues of the dignity of the person and human life.

Another excellent Congregation of Faith document,
LETTER TO THE BISHOPS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
ON THE PASTORAL CARE OF HOMOSEXUAL PERSONS, is written by then Cardinal Ratzinger, on the subject of the disorder of homosexuality.

Serious orthodox and evangelical Christians, along with Mormons and Orthodox Jews should all learn from and support one another against the onslaught of secularists who command the academic, media, and artistic heights of our culture.

By: Eric Richey

Eric Richey — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:38:21 +0000

After a second reading I guess I am troubled by the use of the term “Christian Marriage” which seems to distort a Reformation view of vocation.

Whew – looks like I just escaped the seductive power of Rome!

By: Eric Richey

Eric Richey — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:35:58 +0000

Veith – yes they are using vocation in a similar way to Lutherans which is interesting considering the role that Rome’s denial of vocation played in giving us the Reformation.

I find it interesting that in the Vatican Document they write of Christ ‘taking marriage and purifying it, elevating it, and leading it to perfection through the sacrament of matrimony.’

Should we protestants reject such a statement? Certainly we would argue with the use of “perfection” and “sacrament” here, but I wonder if I am wrong to be pleased to see Christ’s work attached to the vocation of marriage. Could this Roman Catholic view of marriage be more helpful than what is offered in countless churches and Christian Book stores today: the “How-To Have a Great Marriage” approach that is usually built on some utterly Christ-less principles supposedly found in Scripture?

I am wondering if I am a heretic if that view of marriage resonates with me.

By: Veith

Veith — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:14:09 +0000

Thanks, Eric. I have noticed that contemporary Roman Catholics have started to use “vocation” in the sense that Lutherans do. It didn’t used to be that way. And in Gilbert Meilaender, we have a huge voice in contemporary ethical debates that everyone has to pay attention to. It’s a good example of how our particular theology is having an influence beyond our walls.

By: Bryan Lindemood

Bryan Lindemood — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:02:11 +0000

Ain’t it interesting that a few generations ago, it was seen as a great blessing to have many children (I think the Bible says something about that too). But now many today view large families as cursed by God with the cost and burden of multiple children. Even going so far as to express that each additional child robs the other children of the love and support that their parents could have focused on them.