The Research Institute Forum on Stem Cell Research Participants
- Sep 30, 2004 - comment
Forum at Lipscomb University, Nashville, TN on September 22, 2004.
Participants
Dr. C. Ben Mitchell
Dr. C. Ben Mitchell is associate professor of bioethics and contemporary culture at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, where he has served since 1999. Before coming to Trinity he taught theoretical and applied ethics at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and was Asst. professor of Christian Ethics at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.
He received his Ph.D. with a concentration in medical ethics (with honors) from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. His dissertation was entitled: Patenting Life: An Examination of Some Ethical Implications of Biopatenting. His program included a year-long clinical residency at the University of Tennessee Medical Center at Knoxville and Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, and a summer-long residency at the East Tennessee Mental Health Institute.
He has done additional study in genetic ethics at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories, Cold Spring Harbor, New York. He currently serves at Senior Fellow with The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity in Bannockburn, Illinois, and is a consultant on biomedical and life issues with the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Published widely in bioethics, Dr. Mitchell is the author of numerous articles and reviews. He is presently editing a volume on the ethics of human cloning and is general editor of the New International Dictionary of Bioethics. He also serves as the editor of the journal Ethics & Medicine: A Christian Perspective on Bioethics.
In addition to his academic work, Dr. Mitchell also consults on matters of public policy and has given testimony before policymaking groups including the U.S. House of Representatives, the Institutes of Medicine, and the Illinois Senate.
Dr. Steve W. Lemke
Dr. Steve W. Lemke, is Provost and Professor of Philosophy and Ethics at NOBTS, where he has served since 1997. Dr. Lemke received the Ph.D. in from SWBTS in 1985. Prior to serving in his current position Dr. Lemke served as:
Associate Professor in Philosophy of Religion, and Convener of the Philosophy of Religion Department, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (1990-1997)
Guest professor at Oradea Bible Institute in Oradea, Romania (1995); Bucharest Theological Seminary in Bucharest, Romania (1991, 1995); and St. Petersburg Theological Seminary in St. Petersburg, Russia (1993).
Chairman, Department of Religion and Philosophy, and Associate Professor of Philosophy, Williams Baptist College (1984-1988)
He has published numerous books and articles and is a frequent contributor at academic meetings. He is co-editor with Bruce Corley and Grant Lovejoy of, Biblical Hermeneutics: A Comprehensive Introduction to Interpreting Scripture. And he authored the article “The Inspiration and Authority of Scripture,” in that work.
His paper presented at the 1995 annual Seminar of the ERLC at SEBTS, entitled “World Views in Our Culture” was a masterful treatment of five world views that have arisen as the principal rivals to the Judeo-Christian world view—materialistic naturalism, consequentialist pragmatism, underculture nihilism, enlightenment modernism, and eclectic postmodernism. In each of these world views, he contrasted how they view God, persons, and ethics, and how they would approach various ethical issues.
Dr. Richard D. Land
Dr. Richard D. Land is President and Chief Executive Officer of The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the Southern Baptist Convention’s agency for “applied Christianity” (social and moral concerns). He has served in this position since October 1988. Dr. Land graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree (magna cum laude) from Princeton University and the Doctor of Philosophy degree from Oxford University in Oxford, England. He also received the Master of Theology degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary where he served as student body president and received the Broadman Seminarian Award as the outstanding graduating student.
Prior to his current position, Dr. Land served as Academic Dean and Professor of Christian Ethics at the Criswell College in Dallas, TX. While on leave of absence from The Criswell College, Dr. Land served from January, 1987 to May, 1988 as Administrative Assistant to the Honorable William P. Clements, Jr., Governor of Texas. Dr. Land served as senior advisor to the Governor on church-state issues and areas relating to “traditional family values” as well as anti-drug, anti-pornography, and anti-abortion legislation. In addition to these issues, he had senior staff responsibility in the areas of public higher education, mental health and retardation, the physically handicapped, and AIDS.
He also recently completed a second term as Commissioner on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, to which he was appointed by the President.
He is a leading evangelical spokesman, sought daily by news media of all types for his opinions on the issues of our time. He is the author of numerous books and articles. His latest contribution to the issues is entitled, “Real Homeland Security: The America God Will Bless.” He can be heard daily on his national radio programs, For Faith and Family, and Richard Land Live.
Dr. Daniel R. Heimbach
Dr. Daniel R. Heimbach is Professor of Christian Ethics at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He was born in China to missionary parents. He earned his Ph.D. at Drew University. His dissertation was entitled, The Moral Accountability of Law. He served as Political Advisor and Legislative Assistant to Senator Richard Lugar from 1985-1989. He served in the elder President Bush’s administration as Associate Director for Domestic Policy and Deputy Executive Secretary of the Domestic Policy Council. He later served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower.
Dr. Heimbach is the author numerous articles and books, including Pagan Sexuality at the Center of the Contemporary Moral Crisis, and the forthcoming book, True Sexual Morality: Recovering Biblical Standards for a Culture in Crisis, in which he discusses God’s standards of sexuality and reveals how the current “sexual revolution” has had disastrous consequences on society and the church. He shows that biblical teachings, far from being repressive, lead to more joyful, fulfilling relationships.
In addition, Dr. Heimbach is a board member with the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.
Dr. Jerry Sutton
Dr. Jerry Sutton has served as the Senior Minister at Two Rivers Baptist Church in Nashville, TN since 1986. The church, with an active membership in the thousands, is known across the nation as one of the premier megachurches in evangelical life. Dr. Sutton received his Ph.D. degree in Church History from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Among his many publishing accomplishments is his comprehensive book on the conservative resurgence in the SBC, The Baptist Reformation: The Conservative Resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention. This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to know who did what and why in the early years of the struggle of Southern Baptist conservatives to bring the Southern Baptist Convention back to its theologically and socially conservative roots.
His recent book, A Simple Guide to the Way Back Home, speaks to those who are out of fellowship with God. It presents the straight line between where they are and where God wants them to be. The book shares the grace to begin again.
Further Learning
Learn more about: Life, Stem-Cell Research, Science