John Berkman

The Chief End of All Flesh

“In light of the scriptural witness that humans and other animals share in the ultimate end, which is Gods peaceable kingdom, we thus believe that each and every creature is created to manifest Gods glory. Animals will not manifest Gods glory insofar as their lives are measured in terms of human interests, but only insofar as their lives serve Gods good pleasure. Similarly, humans manifest Gods glory when we learn to see animals as God sees animals, recognizing that animals exist not to serve us, but rather for Gods good pleasure.”

The Consumption of Animals and the Catholic Tradition

Historically, most if not all Catholics have abstained from eating animal flesh as an expression of their faith. Although most have abstained only for certain periods of time, others have abstained permanently. While Catholics have abstained for a variety of reasons, this essay focuses on distinctively theological reasons Catholics, especially in the early centuries of Catholicism, have chosen to abstain from consuming animal flesh. On the one hand, this essay will show how such abstinence has been an aspect of the spiritual practice of fasting and a response to the capital vice of gluttony. On the other hand, it will show how such abstinence has been predicated on Catholic doctrines concerning creation and nature, the Fall, and eschatology. The history of Catholic thought on why a person should or should not consume animal flesh is complex, and yet no scholarly history of this subject is readily available. Furthermore, there is no overarching history of more general Christian attitudes toward animals.1 This may partially account for the fact that most general commentators on the ethics of eating animals treat the Catholic tradition on

Adopting embryos in America: a case study and an ethical analysis

In 2001, on behalf of two Christian couples, a Christian adoption agency in the United States arranged an open embryo adoption. In addition to ethically analyzing this specific case, this paper situates the case politically and medically and distinguishes a number of general moral considerations relevant for reflection on this case. The paper concludes that while the choice to adopt embryos is morally appropriate and even praiseworthy in some circumstances, troubling features in this specific case rendered this particular adoption morally problematic. In the summer 2001 issue of the National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, JoAnn L. Davidson published ‘A Successful Embryo Adoption’. In this article Davidson, who directs a program for adopting embryos at a Christian adoption agency in the United States, describes a case of embryo adoption handled by her agency. 1 The case presented is of an open adoption, in which the genetic parents have a role in choosing the adoptive parents and may have continued contact with any adopted children that are born. The ‘Smiths’, who have nine extra embryos, contact the adoption agency and compile a profile of criteria to be used in selecting the family they would like to adopt their embryos. Meanwhile, the ‘Johnsons’ have contacted the agency wanting to adopt embryos. The agency matched these two couples in November 2000, and a contract was signed on 23 December 2000. The contract allowed the Johnsons to thaw and implant the embryos, and