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Who am I? It is one of life's basic questions and it has troubled philosophers through the centuries. One aspect of the answer lies in working out what it is to be a person. This is not just of academic interest. Your conclusion will affect the way you think about...
Putting principles into practice Autonomy: rights balanced with responsibilities I believe Christians can give considerable support to autonomy in so far as it endorses the unique value of each human being - someone created in the image of God (Gn 1:26-7) and for whom alone Christ died (Jn 3:16). However, Christians would...
Is it ever ethical to withdraw nutrition from patients? Are there circumstances in which treatment can be legitimately withdrawn? Is feeding a form of medical treatment? At present the law is open to interpretation on these issues. However, a court can declare that it is lawful to withdraw medical assistance...
The ethical dilemmas faced by health professionals in the developing world ultimately revolve around two main problems: not enough money, and not enough time. There is not enough money to do the job that needs to be done, and there is not enough time in which to do it. This...
A good friend of mine, aged 82, whose life had been characterised by humour, independence and good health, suffered a severe stroke. He had few relatives and lived alone. When admitted to hospital he was stuporose and paralysed on one side. During the next six weeks, until he died, there...
'If caring were enough, anyone could be a nurse' read a 1990's American nurse recruitment advertisement. It promoted nursing as an intellectual, science-based profession rather than a caring-based profession. The implication is that caring is no longer valued within our society. But if that really is the case, why...
The status of the embryo is fundamental to discussions on fertility treatments, genetics, contraception and abortion. If the embryo is nothing other than 'human tissue' then clearly it is expendable, but if it is 'a human being with potential' then it should be treated with the utmost respect. The issue...
Anticipate conflicts before they happen We should expect conflicts to occur (2 Tim 3:12) and try to anticipate them ahead of time. We should ideally think through the issues involved biblically well ahead of time, so we know exactly where we stand and why. Some conflicts arise completely out of the...
Christians often disagree, even leading Christians. Peter and Paul fell out over the circumcision issue (Gal 2:2). Paul and Barnabas divided over Mark (Acts 15:37-40). Syntyche and Euodia's dispute split the church in Philippi (Phil 4:2-3), and throughout Christian history disagreements have continued - over baptism, charismata, eschatology, ecclesiology, worship,...
