Book Review: ‘Why the Church Needs Bioethics’

The pace of change in modern times often has the power to astonish and to take the breath away. Technologies which are greeted with amazement in their infancy soon become a part of everyday life and before long are taken for granted. Yet although new technologies and discoveries seem to promise unmitigated progress, very few, if indeed any, produce no unintended “side effects.” There seems to be a general principle ingrained in the very fabric of life that “progress” always brings with it another series of challenges, another round of dangers and another set of temptations.

Solomon alludes to this principle in the first chapter of Ecclesiastes, where he portrays man’s attempts to overcome problems and difficulties as leading to yet more problems and difficulties: “This sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith. … That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered” (Ecclesiastes 1:13, 15). It is as if man is constantly seeking to straighten out the paths of his life, but whenever he succeeds in doing a little straightening, he finds that another crooked path has been placed before him that he hadn’t previously anticipated.

This principle is never truer than in the fields of medicine and biology. The last hundred years has seen some astounding developments in scientific discoveries and their application to the human condition. Yet, just as with any other sphere of life, advancements in biological and medical knowledge, although wonderful in so many different ways, have presented us with a series of bioethical dilemmas that never previously existed (bioethics is the study of ethical questions brought about by advances in biology and medicine).

For most of us, these dilemmas can be as baffling as the new technologies themselves. And if we are honest with ourselves, the pace of new discoveries and techniques in the areas of science and medicine is largely outstripping our ability to respond coherently to the many ethical situations that have arisen because of them. To put it simply, we Christians lack a good deal of wisdom in this area. It is this pressing need for wisdom that is addressed in a recently published book, Why the Church Needs Bioethics: A Guide to Wise Engagement With Life’s Challenges.

Let me begin by stating what this book is not. Anyone seeking a Christian study of bioethical dilemmas which takes a simplistic approach to issues and which gives the reader a bunch of Biblical proof texts aimed at proving that such and such a thing is right while such and such a thing is wrong, will find themselves disappointed. The authors of this book recognize that firstly, many bioethical situations do not necessarily have simplistic answers; secondly, bioethical situations sometimes call for different responses based on a range of different factors; and thirdly, that God simply hasn’t given us verse upon verse in His Word to state unequivocally what is the correct response to every given bioethical situation.

Rather, the authors of this book all seem to realize that what God has given us, both in His Word and His Works, is a worldview which, if properly understood and applied, is able to navigate us through the often muddy waters of difficulties that arise because of societal and technological changes.

The book is split into four parts. The first three focus on bioethical considerations related to birth, life, and death, while the final section seeks to show how Christians can better equip themselves to deal with the bioethical challenges that they may be facing as individuals, families, and churches, both now and in the future.

Each of the first three parts begins with a case study, which then forms the basis for discussions over the next few chapters. The case study in Part 1 features a childless couple who have tried and failed to have a baby using in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment, and are now about to embark on more IVF treatment, only this time they intend to use eggs donated by the wife’s sister. Part 2 begins with a case study featuring a group of brilliant physics students who are offered the opportunity of working on a project which, if successful, would provide affordable

energy to the world. The catch is that in order to do so, they will have to go along with their professor’s plan to enhance their mental capabilities by getting them to take a mind-enhancing drug. The final case study in Part 3 focuses on a nominally Christian couple with one daughter, where the husband is diagnosed with terminal cancer giving him only months to live. He undergoes chemotherapy and various other procedures which leave him in great pain and discomfort—so much so that his wife begins to look into the possibility of euthanasia.

These are all plausible real life situations, and increasingly common ones, and they all demand a wise Christian response. But while the book addresses the obvious questions that spring to mind—are IVF, surrogacy, mind-enhancers, and euthanasia ethical—its strength lies in the fact that it goes far beyond these questions and examines a whole host of other connected ethical questions which perhaps we might not necessarily have considered. For example, what strains are put on the relationships of those involved in IVF treatment? How can pastoral care be used to help a dying man make wise choices which take not just his predicament into consideration, but also his wife’s and his child’s?

Each chapter within the book is written by a different expert in their field—D. A. Carson, Richard E. Averbeck, and Kevin J. Vanhoozer to name but three—and seeks to give wisdom from a specific area, for example, wisdom from the Old Testament, wisdom from counselling, wisdom from law, wisdom from pastoral care, and wisdom from health care.

Central to all these discussions is the Gospel itself, which the authors recognize must be at the heart of any proper understanding of all bioethical issues. Jesus Christ not only gives wisdom, He is wisdom. Which is why Luke—answering Solomon’s lament that that which is crooked cannot be made straight—says of Christ that He is indeed able to make the crooked straight (Luke 3:5). Why the Church Needs Bioethics is very clear on this point: If we are to learn wisdom and bring it to bear on any issues of a bioethical nature, we must begin by understanding the Gospel, and then seek to apply the ramifications of the incarnation, death, and resurrection of the Son of God on every issue we are confronted with.

The hope of the authors is that readers will be challenged to seek wisdom, and to apply it to a whole range of matters relating to birth, death, and everything in between. As the editor, John F. Kilner says in his conclusion, “If you have read the previous chapters and have found some wisdom there for engaging bioethical challenges, then this book has fulfilled one of its purposes … But in some ways the most important purpose of this book is to motivate and inform your ongoing efforts from this point forward.” I believe that the book does indeed have this effect, and most readers will go away not only benefiting from the wisdom between its covers, but also with a great desire to seek more wisdom in order to engage with bioethical situations.

This is a timely book with an extremely helpful and fresh approach to a subject that Christians and churches urgently need to get their heads around, so that we can make wise choices for our own lives, and so that we can demonstrate to the world that the wisdom of God really is the wisdom we all need when dealing with matters of birth, life, and death.

Rob Slane is the author of The God Reality: A critique of Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion. A former atheist, Slane is now a member of Emmanuel Church in Salisbury, England, where he and his family live.