My latest: on pastors and biomedical ethics, in CT

This morning I have a column in Christianity Today called “So What If the Bible Doesn’t Mention Embryo Screening?” It’s about the kinds of moral and theological questions raised by new technologies that are not directly or explicitly addressed in Scripture, and thus the kinds of intervention and teaching demanded of pastors for the sake of ordinary believers’ guidance in difficult decisions, and the general silence or unpreparedness everywhere in evidence today.

I tried to thread the needle. I’m sure readers will let me know whether or not I succeeded.

My latest: why Christians oppose Euthanasia, in CT

I’m in Christianity Today this morning with a piece called “Why Christians Oppose Euthanasia.” It is exactly what its title suggests. Here are two early paragraphs:

The church’s moral teaching has always held that murder—defined as the intentional taking of innocent life—is intrinsically evil. It follows that actively intending the death of an elderly or sick human being and then deliberately bringing about that death through some positive action, such as the administration of drugs, is always and everywhere morally wrong.

This ethical argument is very similar to the one Christians make about abortion. We could modify the oft-quoted line from Dr. Seuss—“A person’s a person no matter how small”—by substituting old or ill for “small.” (Other substitutions also suggest themselves: smart, abled, sexed, or hued.) To be sure, there are relevant differences between active euthanasia and, for example, removing a brain-dead person from life support. There are none, however, between administering fatal drugs and offering or prescribing them: Both directly facilitate the intended death of a patient under a doctor’s medical care.

Read the rest here.