The Roman Catholic Church says its doctrine that only men can be priests is infallible, which in Catholic teaching means that it is irreversible and without error. See a Nov. 19, 1995, New York Times story about the statement, issued with then-Pope John Paul II’s approval by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which was headed […]

Read an undated explanation of why the Southern Baptist Convention’s Faith and Message was revised in 2000 to say, “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.” The explanation was written by the executive committee of the SBC, the largest Protestant denomination in […]

Andrew Fergusson is president and CEO of the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity, a nonprofit group founded by Christian bioethicists. The group has issued a statement on stem cell research.

Scott C. Williamson is assistant professor of theological ethics at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. He wrote the article “The Ethics of Human Cloning and Its Implications for the Family: A Few Preliminary Matters” for the journal Family Ministry: Empowering Through Faith.

Mary Jo Iozzio is professor of theology and philosophy at Barry University in Miami Shores, Fla. She edited Considering Religious Traditions in Bioethics: Christian and Jewish Voices (University of Scranton Press, 2000).

Timothy Mark Renick is associate professor of philosophy at Georgia State University in Atlanta. He wrote the article “A Cabbit in Sheep’s Clothing: Exploring the Sources of Our Moral Disquiet About Cloning” for the journal Annual of the Society of Christian Ethics.

John C. Fletcher is a professor emeritus for the Center for Biomedical Ethics at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He wrote the entries “The Stem Cell Debate in Historical Context” and “The NBAC’s (National Bioethics Advisory Commission) Arguments on Embryo Research: Strengths and Weaknesses” for The Human Embryonic Stem Cell Debate (MIT Press, 2001).

Brent Waters is a professor of Christian social ethics for Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Ill. He co-edited God and the Embryo: Religious Voices on Stem Cells and Cloning. He studies Christian ethics and can discuss their relationship to Christian political thought.

Read a June 22, 2005, Christian Science Monitor story on the debate stem cell research is sparking in Muslim countries.