Meilaender begins with the definitions and clarification of the differences between procreation as it was labeled in the earlier years.
Meilaender begins with the definitions and clarification of the differences between procreation as it was labeled in the earlier years. He uses Leon Kass’ work to help describe it as “The pre-modern Christian English speaking world, impressed with the world as given by a Creator, used the term “pro-creation. “We, impressed with the machine and the gross national product (our own work of creation), employ a metaphor of the factory, “re-production.” (Kass, 2014). As he states that pro-creation is the natural way to form life and reproduction is a non-natural way to create life, this can be defined differently today.
Begotten he defines as a child that is created naturally vs being made, but also discusses that regardless this child was created for a man and woman that loved each other (Meilaender, 2013). My belief is that if God did not want children to be created, whether naturally or through assistance, then he would have not placed the knowledge into the brains of the discovery of such. This advancement in technology has been able to create children for those that are unable to conceive and that can give a great and loving life to that child. There are those parents that should not be allowed to procreate, but then the world would not be as diversified as it is today. I think the language that Meilaender uses to describe in chapter is relevant, but agreeing I am not 100%. I think today, verbiage that is used to describe something as special as conceiving a child should not be distinguished between natural vs. unnatural.
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Reflecting on Meilaender’s reading his distinction between procreation and reproduction is described as, procreation referring to the world as designed or given by the Creator, whereas Meilaender defines reproduction as the work of humans to, “master and reshape our world” (2013). This could be a little confusing to some people, as the phrase begotten is used,“only begotten Son” occurs in John 3:16, which reads in the King James Version as, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The phrase “only begotten” translates the Greek word monogenes. This word is variously translated into English as “only,” “one and only,” and “only begotten.” Meilaneder basically states the same thing that “The Father gives all that he is and has to the son. He begets him” he gives all he has to his one and only son. I am unsure how I feel about these topics to be truthful, I’ve never really thought of it… any thoughts classmates?
