Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life)

“Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains for ever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2258)

John 10:10 ESV

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Genesis 4:10–11 ESV

And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.

Genesis 9:5–6 ESV

And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.

1 John 1:1–2 ESV

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—

Thesis: Life is “a sacred reality entrusted to us, to be preserved with a sense of responsibility and brought to perfection in love and in the gift of ourselves to God and to our brothers and sisters.”

Purpose: “to be a precise and vigorous reaffirmation of the value of human life and its inviolability, and at the same time a pressing appeal addressed to each and every person, in the name of God: respect, protect, love and serve life, every human life! Only in this direction will you find justice, development, true freedom, peace and happiness!”

Four Major Parts

Present day threats to human life

The Christian message concerning life

God’s holy law

For a new culture of life

Chap. 1 - Threats to Human Life

Abortion

Use of contraceptives

Artificial reproductive techniques

Euthanasia

At the root of this struggle between culture of life and culture of death is not merely about the perverse idea of freedom, but “the eclipse of the sense of God and of man.” In this kind of culture, “the first to be harmed are women, children, the sick or suffering, and the elderly. The criterion of personal dignity--which demands respect, generosity and service--is replaced by the criterion of efficiency, functionality and usefulness: others are considered not for what they ‘are,’ but for what they ‘have, do and produce.’ This is the supremacy of the strong over the weak.”

Chap. 2 - The Gospel of Life

An encounter with Jesus

God’s self-manifestation in the world

Life as property and gift of God

This chapter ends with an invitation for all the faithful to contemplate the cross, not merely as our source of life but as motivation and empowerment. "In this way Jesus proclaims that life finds its centre, its meaning and its fulfilment when it is given up...Thus we shall learn not only to obey the commandment not to kill human life, but also to revere life, to love it and to foster it.”

Chap. 3 - Obedience to God’s Law

The Pope is strong in his conviction about “the absolute inviolability of innocent human life”: “I confirm that the direct and voluntary killing of an innocent human being is always gravely immoral. This doctrine, based upon that unwritten law which man, in the light of reason, finds in his own heart (cf. Rom 2:14-15), is reaffirmed by Sacred Scripture, transmitted by the Tradition of the Church and taught by the ordinary and universal Magisterium...As far as the right to life is concerned, every innocent human being is absolutely equal to all others.”

“Living to the Lord also means recognizing that suffering, while still an evil and a trial in itself, can always become a source of good. It becomes such if it is experienced for love and with love through sharing, by God's gracious gift and one's own personal and free choice, in the suffering of Christ Crucified.”

“It is therefore a service of love which we are all committed to ensure to our neighbour, that his or her life may be always defended and promoted, especially when it is weak or threatened. It is not only a personal but a social concern which we must all foster: a concern to make unconditional respect for human life the foundation of a renewed society.”

Chapter 4 - A Culture of Life

“Together we all sense our duty to preach the Gospel of life, to celebrate it in the Liturgy and in our whole existence, and to serve it with the various programmes and structures which support and promote life.”

“These are everyone's task and responsibility. On the eve of the Third Millennium, the challenge facing us is an arduous one: only the concerted efforts of all those who believe in the value of life can prevent a setback of unforeseeable consequences for civilization.”

Conclusion