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March 2005 was a time of national disquiet as debate raged over the fate of Terry Schiavo. It was a flash point for end of life questions. Terry has died, but the controversy has not. The number of these cases will increase as medical technology advances. Therefore, we must reflect on what it means to be human. We have to move beyond sound bites and slogans and consider bioethical issues seriously as Christians.
Gilbert Meilaender, professor of theological ethics at Valparaiso University, does just that in his book Bioethics: A Primer for Christians. Debate on these issues has often centered on public policy and necessarily involves lowest common denominator thinking. In other words, what is tolerable to the greatest number of Americans? Meilaender challenges us, however, to think as Christians about these issues. He lays out several Christian values to guide us. We are individuals living in community. We are finite, subject to limits. Creation, of which bodily life is a part, is good. Suffering and death are inevitable facets of fallen creatureliness. In Christ, however, suffering and death have been experienced by God who can bring good out of these evils.
Meilaender then applies these principles to several bioethical issues: artificial or assisted reproduction, birth control, abortion, genetic advance, prenatal screening, euthanasia, refusal of treatment, end of life decisions, organ donation, and human experimentation. Readers may not always agree with his conclusions but he performs the essential service of framing the issues in Christian terms. I found myself surprised on occasion when he would question practices that are widely accepted, even among Christians. But when I considered his arguments they invariably made sense.
I highly recommend this book as an essential introduction to some of the most pressing issues of our day. Furthermore, it is valuable for the way in which it teaches its readers to think Christianly. For those with ears to hear it speaks about what it means to live in a body in a sin-cursed world. It calls us to live within limits, to restrain ourselves from acting simply because we can.
email reviewer Jeremy Abel
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