Dignity & Dying: A Christian Appraisal / Edition 1

by John F. Kilner, Edmund D. M.D. Pellegrino, Arlene B. Miller

Overview

Twenty leading experts in the bioethics debate here engage matters of dignity and dying from a Christian perspective.

The book begins with essays by David Schiedermayer, Arlene Miller, and Gregory Waybright that root the book in the experience of dying itself. This is followed by contributions from Nigel Cameron, John Dunlop, Marsha Fowler, and Allen Verhey on the topics that provide the guiding vision for approaches to dignity and dying: autonomy, death, suffering, and faithfulness.

Four of the most pressing end-of-life challenges-forgoing treatment, medical futility, definition of death, and assisted suicide/euthanasia-are then examined by John Kilner, Christopher Hook, Holly Vautier, and Edmund Pellegrino.

The next section, with contributions from Ben Mitchell, Jerome Wernow, Arthur Dyck, and Henk Jochemsen, is devoted to investigations of key settings where people have wrestled with these challenges: Nazi Germany; Oregon; North American legal systems; and the Netherlands.

Finally, the book concludes with discussions of five potentially constructive alternatives to the premature ending of life: hospice care (by Martha Twaddle); long-term care (by James Thobaben); wise advocacy (by James Reitman); parish nursing (by Norma Small); and congregational ministry (by Dennis Hollinger).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802842329
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	03/16/2004
Series:	A Horizons in Bioethics Series
Pages:	268
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.61(d)

Editorial Reviews

"Dignity and Dying is both accessible and scholarly. Researchers will find each chapter's well-documented endnotes invaluable as they explore the vast field of literature. The book will serve as an excellent resource for medical or nursing students as well as in theology or philosophy courses. Ethics committees will find its experienced-based arguments helpful for their continued educational development. Religious persons must continue to bring their faith, intellectual tradition, and lived communal experience to influence the public debate on the moral issues surrounding end-of-life decisions. Dignity and Dying is a significant contribution to that discourse and deserves careful reading by those who confront these challenging issues daily."

Health Progress

"This book is solid proof that a Christian approach to dignity and dying has much to offer to contemporary society on basic issues such as suffering, the definition of death, autonomy and the right to die, euthanasia, and assisted suicide.... Constructive alternatives to euthanasia are offered. Chapters on hospice care, long-term care, advocacy, parish nursing, and congregational ministry offer important suggestions and will prove to be of significant value for those involved in pastoral ministry."

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