reviews

How Should We Then Die?

A Christian Response to Physician-Assisted Death

by Ewan C Goligher MD

• Lexham Press, 2024, £15.99, 160pp,
• ISBN: 9781683597476
• Review by Susan Marriot – CMF Head of Public Policy

Brothers and sisters working in health care in Canada, like Dr Goligher, have had no choice but to think about Physician-Assisted Death (PAD). Living and working where PAD is legal takes the consideration from hypothetical to immanent and concrete. I am therefore grateful to Dr Goligher, a critical care physician, for writing this book. It has helped me to consider PAD for myself (would I ever accept the offer of an assisted death?), for my community (how would I respond if a friend or relative or patient told me they wanted to be assisted to die?), and for my discussions with others about how the law should or should not change in this country.

Dr Goligher engages the arguments in favour of PAD without demonising or ‘straw-manning’ those in favour. He works through the general moral arguments against PAD before showing how Christian faith enriches those arguments. I was particularly helped by his chapter unfolding the ways that PAD devalues people. I was even moved by his assertion that ‘reminding others of their intrinsic value is the essence of loving our neighbour.’

The book is reasonably short, clearly structured, and very readable. It is highly relevant to all who want to consider how to love their neighbour at times when they are tempted to despair. ›

Healthcare and the Mission of God

Finding Joy in the Crucible of Ministry

by Paul J Hudson MD

• Genesis Publishing House, 2024, £13.99, 256pp
• ISBN: 9798990436282
• Reviewed by Fi McLachlan, Head of CMF Global

Healthcare and mission can sometimes be seen as separate tasks. Paul Hudson, in this new book, ambitiously aims at a more integrated understanding of serving God in healthcare and how it fits with God’s purposes in the world. He longs that we discover that ‘healthcare and God’s mission are not driven by separate agendas but flow from an integrated centre — the heart of Jesus’.

Through sharing something of his journey in community healthcare in Ethiopia and global healthcare leadership for Serving in Mission, Hudson earths his book in the lived experience of mission workers. He also points us to the foundation of Scripture, reminding us of how healing points us to the great story of Christ reconciling all things to himself. He refreshes our understanding of disciple-making as the core reason Jesus sends his people into the world. He sees this purpose as integral for any believer in healthcare. In addition, he encourages those in leadership positions to stay focused on God’s purposes. Leadership keeps healthcare ministry aligned with God’s agenda by bringing people together around a purpose. Hudson urges leaders not to delegate the ministry’s vision and its connection with God’s mission to anyone else.

He always returns to the theme, ‘without the grand story of the Bible, we may inadvertently communicate that healing is in the medical care itself and that sickness and health are not God’s concern or in his control.’

Hudson’s heart is that people not only know and understand the place of health in the gospel of salvation but also thrive as Christ’s disciples as they serve. Through the chapters and the range of themes Hudson touches on, he longs that authentic, biblical ministry in the name of Christ continues through medical mission wherever we are serving. At the end of each chapter, there are helpful questions for reflection, enabling the reader to consider afresh how and why healthcare sits within God’s mission and clarifying our own motivation for serving God through healthcare.

I commend Hudson’s book for the long-termers needing fresh inspiration and encouragement and for those just starting out on this journey into global health and mission. We can learn so much from this book.

A Small Book Series:

A Small Book for the Anxious Heart

Meditations on Fear, Worry, and Trust

by Ed Welch

• New Growth Press, 2019, £11.99, 192pp
• ISBN: 9781645070368

A Small Book About a Big Problem

Meditations on Anger, Patience and Peace

by Ed Welch

• New Growth Press, 2017, £9.98, 192pp
• ISBN: 9781945270130

A Small Book for the Hurting Heart

Meditations on Loss, Grief and Healing

by Paul Tautges

• New Growth Press, 2020, £12.99, 192pp
• ISBN: 9781645070443
• Reviewed by Steve Sturman, CMF Associate for Pastoral Care and Wellbeing, and a neurologist in Birmingham

In Ecclesiastes 12:12, we read, ‘Of making many books there is no end’, and so it would seem to be in the world of Christian publishing. The Small Book Series, however, is a refreshing departure from the genre of mainstream Christian writing.

The books are indeed small, but more importantly, are comprised of short, stand-alone meditations, beautifully articulate, that can be digested in minutes. Like a prescription, they can be taken one a day. There is, however, no lack of depth and insight, but the quantities are just right to allow meditation and provoke thought.

As they are read, these books have the potential to be truly life-changing. They bring the reader back to the main subject each day for 50 days, giving new scriptural insights for application. The reader’s thinking is, therefore, progressively realigned to the Word of God.

These books are a valuable pastoral resource. We often do not realise the depth of our need. In the face of pain, anger, or fear, we can all withdraw and re-purpose the emotions we feel. These books, however, direct the reader to brief meditation to explore the state of the soul and then apply the word of God to remedy it. They are to be recommended, especially to those of us who might otherwise avoid reading at length about these subjects. ›

A Christian response to chronic pain

by Andrew Perrett and Louise Robinson

• Cambridge Papers, September 2024
• ISSN: 13617710
• available for free at cambridgepapers.org/a-christian-response-to-chronic-pain
• Reviewed by Steve Fouch, CMF Head of Communications

The problem of pain has inspired many Christian books, but the issue of chronic pain is one that perhaps needs more exploration. All other types of pain have some value as a safety mechanism, yet chronic pain is not only intractable by its nature, but it often serves little or no purpose in protecting us from harm. It is, in itself, a cause of harm.

In this helpful Cambridge Paper, a GP and a person living long-term with chronic pain grapple with the practical, spiritual, and pastoral issues faced by those living with intractable pain and those who live with and/or care for them.

Whilst grappling honestly with the deep theological and existential questions raised, this is also an eminently practical piece. It would be useful for a church or home group leader as much as a Christian health professional, friend, or family member wanting to support someone affected.