Bioethics

Everyone has a moral standard. Everyone has a moral position on abortion, capital punishment, orphanhood, plastic surgery, etc. But while everyone could tell you what their moral position is they cannot necessarily tell you why that is their moral position. Morals tell us what we will and will not do, but ethics tell us why we will and will not do those things. Ethics are the science (or reasons) behind our morals and morals are our ethics in practice. Most people do not think far enough into the ethics behind their morals. Unfortunately, Christians do the same thing. Many don’t bother to examine the why questions and others don’t know how.

As science continues to bring new discoveries from the laboratory to the clinic, new medical therapies offer promise for many, yet along with those advancements come a whole host of ethical dilemmas that Christians must face – both medical professional and patient alike. To help believers chart through the myriad of ethical decisions they will need to make in the current bioethics world, D. Joy Riley, MD, and C. Ben Mitchell, PhD, have teamed up to bring us Christian Bioethics: A Guide for Pastors, Health Care Professionals, and Families (B&H, 2015). This is the fourth book in the B&H Studies in Christian Ethics series. What is great about this book is that we have both a theologian and medical doctor in dialogue working through the issues. This professional balance offers a more well-rounded and holistic picture of how to think through the various situations.