Christian Bioethics A Guide for Pastors, Health Care Professionals, and Families

Living in an era of highly technical medicine is comforting but confusing at times. How should Christians make life and death decisions? How do we move from the ancient Bible text to twenty-first century questions about organ transplantation, stem cell research, and human cloning? What kind of care do we owe one another at the end of life? Is euthanasia a Christian option? In Christian Bioethics, an ethicist and physician discuss how to think about such thorny ethical issues. Combining their backgrounds in medicine and theology, C. Ben Mitchell and D. Joy Riley address real-life moral questions in a way that is accessible for both the layperson and the clinician, allowing readers eavesdrop on their conversation about the training of doctors, the interpretation of the Bible, and controversial issues like abortion, assisted suicide, genetic engineering, and in vitro fertilization. Examining these topics under three general headings -- the taking of life, the making of life, and the faking of life -- Christian Bioethicsis a worthy guidebook for anyone facing difficult decisions about health care.

C. Ben Mitchell is Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, and an ordained minister with pastoral experience. He received his Master of Divinity degree at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and his PhD in Philosophy with a concentration in Medical Ethics at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. D. Joy Riley is executive director of The Tennessee Center for Bioethics and Culture. Board certified in internal medicine, her writing and lecture topics include medical ethics, organ transplantation ethics, stem cell research, genetics, and assisted reproductive technologies.