Bioethicists acknowledge that life begins at conception. The evidence from DNA and genetics is too strong to deny it. So how do secularists argue their way around it? Well they divide the human being into two separate parts; the spirit and the body.
The Fact-Value Split
We know that physical matter has meaning. We know that God having created our body means that our bodies have meaning. Scripture shows us that our biological sex is meaningful. Our gender is not something we intuit by psychologically, it is something we derive from our biology. God made them male and female, and that is a biological distinction, not a psychological one. If your worldview is that matter is all that there is and that we only exist by chance and randomness it's very hard to come up with a coherent reason why it matters or has meaning.
Cultures throughout history have known that there is a natural order and there is a spiritual/moral order. And they always thought the two were connected. So when you made a moral statement it was the same as making a scientific statement. But then what happened was, in the modern age, in the rise of modern science people in the West began to say that the only reliable truth we have is what we know by science; empirically testable facts. So what happened to moral and spiritual truths? The two were split. Science was the only objective truth and morals and spiritual truths were considered subjective, private, personal opinions. This is the mainline underlying worldview driving abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality and transgenderism. So the main obstacle for Christians is that the concept of truth has shifted.
The split for human beings is between facts and values; biology and personhood. Downplaying the body and overplaying the mind and soul. Demonizing the body and overspiritualizing the soul. If abortion advocates say the fetus is human but not a person until it acquires certain mental capacities such as having cognitive functioning, self-awareness, etc then it is not a person. And with euthanasia the opposite is applied, if you lose a sense of cognitive functioning then you are not a person.
High View of the Body, Low View of the Soul
Low View of the Body, High View of the Soul
There's more to us than merely our biology but we know there is more to us than only our external physicality. Our bodies tell us the truth about ourselves but also recognizing there is more to us than our biology. We find our value and identity through God because He created us. Man looks at outward appearance but the Lord looks on the heart (Ecc. 3:11). The unique thing about sexual sin is that it harms the body. In 1 Cor. 6:18 Paul says, "No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body." Sex is meant to engage the whole of your personality. In God's design it is not meant to be just a physical act, it is meant to unite the whole of who you are with someone else. It is designed to be permanent, irreversible and exclusive; making two one flesh. It is meant to be an act of the totality of who we are. We are in a sense embodied souls. It has a far more deeper impact that any other sin. Not as much as idolatry, but idolatry has some involvement in it that we worship ourselves other than God.
Emotional Distress
At the heart of the debate is the idea that your mind is at war with your body. In the end your mind wins over your body. The body loses. The body is against your authentic self. Transgenderism teaches body hatred. There is consolation in knowing that God made you and has a purpose. He meant for you to be here, He had you in mind; He thought you up. That takes the pressure off us in trying to find our purpose and identity.
Creation, Fall, Redemption
From the very beginning of
Genesis we see that God’s creation is real and good. Seven
times God calls that which he
made “good.” When he made
mankind—male and female—
he describes them as “very
good.” “God made them in His
image and likeness.” Knowing that you were created by a God who knows you and loves you and has a purpose for you is the answer.
For those who are not happy with your bodies: You have been fearfully and wonderfully made. We must have a balanced view of appreciation for our bodies. We ought to praise God for our embodied life. My body is a gift even if that is a painful gift. That doesn't mean we have to like what we see in the mirror. I am not a mistake. We should not despise what God Himself cares for and loves. The hope we find in our bodies is not found in what we can do with our bodies. It is found with what Jesus bought with His body for us. We now belong to Christ and honour Him with it on how we deal with it. If our bodies are ones with what God wants to dwell within with His Spirit then we ought not to despise it. We not ought to idolize it because it is not ultimate itself but a created thing.
The redemption of our bodies is mentioned in Romans 8:18-21. The body and mind and spirit come together. We do not need to fear our bodies will breakdown and decline. Our best physical existence lies upon the future bodily resurrection with Jesus.
