Ted Peters

About the author: Ted Peters is a professor of systematic theology at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, California. He is also the author of God—the World's Future: Systematic Theology for the World's Future, For the Love of Children: Genetic Technology and the Future of the Family, and Playing God? Genetic Determinism and Human Freedom, from which the following excerpt is taken.

Germ line gene therapy, which may be possible in the future, refers to the modification of germ (egg or sperm) cells that affect heredity in order to eliminate miscoded genes that cause genetic disorders and diseases. It may also be used for nontherapeutic purposes such as to enhance the mental and physical attributes of future generations. Christian detractors claim that germ line gene therapy is unethical because it usurps...