Discussions and debates over the medical use of stem cells and cloning have always had a religious component. But there are many different religious voices. This anthology on how religious perspectives can inform the difficult issues of stem cell research and human cloning is essential to the discussion. Contributors reflect the spectrum of Christian responses, from liberal Protestant to evangelical to Roman Catholic. The noted moral philosopher, Laurie Zoloth, offers a Jewish approach to cloning, and Sondra Wheeler contributes her perspective on both Jewish and Christian understandings of embryonic stem cell research.

In addition to the discussions found here, God and the Embryo includes a series of official statements on stem cell research and cloning from religious bodies, including the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church in America, the United Methodist Church, the Southern Baptist Convention, the United Church of Christ, the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America and the Rabbinical Council of America. "Human Cloning and Human Dignity: An Ethical Inquiry," from the statement of the President's Council on Bioethics, concludes the book.

The debates and the discussions will continue, but for anyone interested in the nuances of religious perspectives that make their important contributions to these ethically challenging and important dialectics, God and the Embryo is an invaluable resource.

Brent Waters is director of the Center for Ethics and Values, and assistant professor of Christian Social Ethics at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. He is the author of Reproductive Technology: Towards a Theology of Procreative Stewardship and co-author (with Ronald Cole-Turner) of Pastoral Genetics: Theology and Care at the Beginning of Life.

Ronald Cole-Turner is the H. Parker Sharp Professor of Theology and Ethics at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. Recent publications include the edited volumes, Human Cloning: Religious Perspectives and Beyond Cloning: Religion and the Remaking of Humanity.

Few readers are drawn to pick up a book of collected essays. Such volumes often seem spotty and only loosely integrated. But God and the Embryo is an exception. It especially merits inclusion in any library concerned with the interface of stem cell research, medical ethics, and religious traditions.

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Contributors
Introduction: 
	Ronald Cole-Turner
Part 1: Frameworks
Chapter 1: Religion Meets Research
	Ronald Cole-Turner
Chapter 2: What Is the Appropriate Contribution of Religious Communities
in the Public Debate on Embryonic Stem Cell Research?	
Brent Waters
Chapter 3: The Ethics of Human Stem Cell Research
	Gene Outka
Part II: Embryos
Chapter 4: Does the Human Embryo Have a Moral Status?
	Brent Waters
Chapter 5: Is the Human Embryo a Human Being?
	James C. Peterson
Chapter 6: Principles and Politics: Beyond the Impasse Over the Embryo
	Ronald Cole-Turner
Chapter 7: To Be Willing to Kill What for All One Knows Is a Person
Is to be Willing to Kill a Person
	Robert Song
Part III: Research
Chapter 8: A Plea for Beneficence
	Ted Peters and Gaymon Bennett
Chapter 9: Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Ethics In the Face
of Uncertainty
	Kevin T. FitzGerald, S.J.
Chapter 10: Freedoms, Duties, and Limits: The Ethics of Research In
Human Stem Cells
	Laurie Zoloth
Chapter 11: Talking Like Believers: Christians and Jews in the Embryonic
Stem Cell Debate
           Sondra Wheeler
Appendices
A: Declaration on the Production and the Scientific and Therapeutic Use
of Human Embryonic Stem Cells
Pontifical Academy for Life
B: Embryonic Stem Cell Research in the Perspective of Orthodox Christianity
The Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America
C: Urgent Action Alert: Urge Senators to Support Complete Ban on Human Cloning
	United Methodist Church
D: Resolution: On Human Embryonic and Stem Cell Research 
	Southern Baptist Convention
E: Support for Federally Funded Research on Embryonic Stem Cells
	United Church of Christ
F: Resolution Enunciating Ethical Guidelines for Fetal Tissue and Stem Cell Research
	Presbyterian Church (USA)
G: A Theologians' Brief on the Place of the Human Embryo within the Christian 
Tradition, and the Theological Principles for Evaluating Its Moral Status
H: Cloning Research, Jewish Tradition and Public Policy
Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America and
The Rabbinical Council of America
I: Human Cloning and Human Dignity: An Ethical Inquiry
The President's Council on Bioethics
J: Report of the Select Committee on Stem Cell Research
	House of Lords
Index
 

Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication: Human cloning Religious aspects, Stem cells Research Religious aspects