Christian morals

2. Can a believer be an organ donor, in the light of the Scriptures?

In my judgement, we believers cannot be in favour of the donation of our organs. The reasons are these:

1) Our body is the temple of God, as it is written: “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), Therefore it does not belong to us because it was purchased by God: our body does not belong to us, but to God. How then can we take a part of God’s property, such as one of our kidneys, and give it to our neighbour? As for me, I don’t feel like doing such a thing; rather I shudder at the thought of doing such a thing. No matter if the donation of organs (for instance, of a kidney) takes place while a believer is still alive and kicking, or while he is dying and he is no longer conscious of what happens around him on the earth, and according to science he is dead (but his heart still beats, and consequently he must be considered a person who is still alive), a believer cannot give a part of God’s property to his neighbour. Reflect upon what I am saying to you, and you will see that such a donation, even though outwardly seems a form of altruism and love toward one’s neighbour, is contrary to the Word of God.

2) Every member of the body has a precise, useful and indispensable function, so that the whole body may work correctly; thus, for instance, I cannot give up one of my kidneys in order to give it to someone who needs it because in this case I would cause physical disorders in my body. In other words, I would damage my body (no matter how big the damage would be, it would be a damage anyhow). Actually, if we consider the matter closely, we will see that giving up one of the kidneys is tantamount to saying that the head or one hand can say to one of the kidneys, ‘I have no need of you!’ This is contrary to the teaching of the Bible, which states plainly: “But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another” (1 Corinthians 12:20-25). The fact that it is said that a person can live even with one kidney doesn’t give us the right to damage the order established by God in the human body: He made the human body as we see it, that is, with two kidneys, therefore both of them are necessary. Listen to me carefully. Do you know that we could live even with one hand and with one foot? Why then don’t we give one of our hands or one of our feet to someone who needs it? No, I am against organ donation. Therefore I think that we must be on our guard in these days on which scientific progress has reached big levels, lest we think and act like unbelievers, who belong to this world and walk in darkness. Let us remember these things: today many things which are forbidden by God are permitted in our society, and those who are outside don’t heed the Word of God.

3) The explantation of organs and their transplantation into another body are unnatural. This is confirmed by the fact that the body into which the organ is transplanted rejects the organ which comes from another body. Nature teaches us many things, this is beyond doubt; and one of the things nature teaches us is that the members of one person’s body belong to him alone.

4) The explantation of organs and their transplantation encourage man to have more and more faith in his own means, in his own wisdom, in his own strength, etc., so he is induced to become proud rather than to have faith in God and to humble himself before God. “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength” (Jeremiah 17:5 - NKJV), says the Scripture. So we ought not to encourage those who are in distresses to trust in man rather than in God, because by so doing we would disobey the Word of God, which continually exhorts and commands us to trust in God even when we are sick. People, as you can see with your eyes, have more faith in man than in God, as if God were not able to give a new heart, a new hand, a new kidney, etc., to those who need them. Is our God the God who does wondrous things? As for me, I believe He does wondrous things and so I proclaim it. Is our Lord Jesus Christ the same Lord Jesus Christ who healed many sick and did all kinds of miracles about two thousand years ago? I believe He is the same Jesus who did all those marvellous things, and so I proclaim that He still heals and does miracles. Therefore, if anybody needs a new heart or a new kidney, I exhort him to have faith in God and in the Lord Jesus Christ, and not in doctors and surgeons, because God and His Son are able to give him a new heart or a new kidney which works perfectly. I realize that for many churches I am an ‘out-of-date’ person or a person who is out of his mind, but I don’t care at all!!

5) The person from whom the organs are explanted, when he is declared clinically dead, is still alive because his heart is still beating (instead, according to science, if the brain does not give stimulus any longer, the person is dead, even though his heart is still beating). Doctors justify the need of explanting the organs from a person whose heart is still beating, by saying that once the heart has ceased to beat, the organs are no longer good. However, the incontrovertible fact is that even though a person is unconscious (that is, he is not able to speak, to hear, to see, to remember, etc.,) in that difficult situation, he is still alive because his heart is still beating, so if the person who is dying gave the permission to explant some of his non-geminus organs (such as his heart) this means that he gave the doctors the permission to make him die. If the permission is given by some of his relatives, they also give the permission to make him die. However let me ask you these questions: ‘Are you sure that person will die? Couldn’t he recover by God’s intervention? Why shouldn’t we believe till the end that God can heal him? Is it not true that even those who belong to the world say that while there is life there is hope; therefore, in my judgement, it is not right to deprive that person of this hope. Wisdom says: “The righteous hath hope in his death” (Proverbs 14:32); therefore a believer knows very well that even when he is near or very near to death, his spirit is in God’s hands: God gave it to him and God will withdraw it at His appointed time; so He will live (even though he may appear a dead person) till the time set by God. Well did the Psalmist say: “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord” (Psalm 118:17).

I will say something else: God might have decided to let him die in order to raise him from the dead; so, in this case, his heart will stop beating, but afterward, when his spirit returns, it will start to beat again. Therefore God may raise a believer (as well as an unbeliever) from the dead after his heart has ceased to beat. Had Lazarus not been dead four days when he was raised from the dead by Jesus Christ? Didn’t his body have a bad smell?

At this point, someone may say, ‘Is it not written that we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers?’ Yes, that’s what the Scripture commands us, but in my judgement to lay down our life doesn’t mean that we ought to give up one of our members to give it to someone who needs it (I am speaking of a brother who needs it). I am called to pray for a brother who needs a new kidney because James tells us that we must pray for one another that we may be healed (James 5:16); I am not called to give him one of my kidneys. Just as I am called to pray for an unbeliever who needs a new heart, a new kidney etc. I say, ‘If it were not so, what is the use of our faith? How could we exercise our faith? How could we expect God to do wondrous things today? We couldn’t, could we? Therefore, in the light of these things I have said, when we are asked (according to a law which passed in Italy not long ago) to declare whether we want to donate our organs or not, we will have to answer, ‘No.’

Let me tell you one last thing about the donation of organs: the explantation and the transplantation of organs have given rise to the organs trade, which is an infamous trade, something which is an abomination in the sight of God. Those who sell parts of their body (they give them up willingly) make God angry, because they regard the members of their body as commercial products (which are very lucrative).

However, there are other people from whom are explanted some organs against their own will by unscrupulous persons who are merciless and lovers of money. Every year many children disappear, and they are deprived of some organs against their will in order to give them to other persons; obviously these children are destined to die or to be disabled for the rest of their life. This world is truly evil, well did John say: “The whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one” (1 John 5:19 – NKJV).

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