Why the Church Needs Bioethics: A Guide to Wise Engagement with Life's Challenges

by John F. Kilner (Editor)

Overview

In a world where incredible medical technologies are possible … does “can do” mean “should do”? Why the Church Needs Bioethics helps you understand and constructively engage bioethical challenges with the resources of Christian wisdom and ministry. Three rich and true-to-life case studies illustrate the urgency of such bioethical issues as reproductive and genetic technologies, abortion, forgoing treatment, assisted suicide, stem cell research, and human enhancement technologies. Leading Christian voices bring biblical and theological perspective to bear on the incredible medical technologies available today; mobilize useful insights from health care, law, and business; and demonstrate the powerful ways the church can make a difference through counseling, pastoral care, intercultural ministry, preaching, and education. This book equips students, church and lay leaders, and people in health-related fields with the knowledge to make faithful bioethical decisions and to help foster a world where human beings are shown respect as people created in the image of God. Contributors to Why the Church Needs Bioethics include leading Bible and theology scholars, such as D. A. Carson and Kevin Vanhoozer; leaders in the areas of preaching (Greg Scharf) and ethics (Scott Rae); and 15 other experts in the fields of biblical-theological studies, ministry, communication, business, law, healthcare, and bioethics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780310493051
Publisher:	Zondervan
Publication date:	07/05/2011
Sold by:	Zondervan Publishing
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

John F. Kilner (PhD, Harvard) is the Franklin Forman Chair of Ethics, Professor of Bioethics and Contemporary Culture, and Director of Bioethics Programs at Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois. The author or editor of 20 books, Dr. Kilner served as President and CEO of The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity in Bannockburn, Illinois from 1994–2005.

Read an Excerpt

Why the Church Needs Bioethics

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By John F. Kilner

ZONDERVAN

Copyright © 2011 John F. Kilner
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-310-32852-0

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Chapter One

WISDOM FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

Richard E. Averbeck

The situation of Betty and Tom, on which this chapter is based, is reminiscent of millions of similar situations today and throughout human history. It is part of our human groaning: "We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies" (Rom. 8:22–23).

For a woman, the anguish of not being able to have a child can far exceed "the pains of childbirth." We live as fallen people in the midst of a fallen world, all of which are in "bondage to decay" (v. 21). For some couples, this particular kind of groaning becomes an all-consuming part of their lives, at least for a time, if not permanently. It spoils everything, so to speak. Once they encounter this obstacle, no part of their marriage relationship or any family or other social relationship escapes its dark shadow. They will do almost anything to overcome it, no matter what tactics may be involved. Some handle it better than others, but the pain involved in not being able to have a baby is very real and can be overwhelming.

After long-term disappointing failure at trying to have a child naturally, Betty and Tom try in vitro fertilization (IVF) with Betty's eggs, but without success. As a result, they now intend to use eggs provided by Betty's sister, Laura, or perhaps even have her serve as a surrogate mother for them by being artificially inseminated with Tom's sperm. Meanwhile, a considerable amount of marital and social distance and conflict have arisen between them and with others. So they are trying to manage the complications of both the infertility itself and the ways they have been handling it. It is not a happy situation and, realistically, there is a great deal of potential for serious ongoing problems even if they should manage to find a way to have a baby "in the new-fashioned way." As noted above, this is not a new story. Each instance of it, however, has different people involved and, therefore, its own peculiarities.

The goal of this chapter is to look at the issues Betty and Tom face from the perspective of Old Testament Scripture. First, we will consider passages that deal directly with barrenness (i.e., infertility). According to the Bible, this was just as serious and difficult a problem in ancient Israel as it is today—perhaps even worse. Some of the ways and means available to deal with it were different, but not all of them were. Moreover, the harsh personal, marital, relational, and social repercussions were much the same as today. It is not difficult to find biblical correspondences with this case study. Second, after working through the infertility accounts, we will focus our attention on Genesis 1–4 and its implications for dealing with infertility from a biblically based bioethical point of view. Our purpose will be to discover what biblical framework of thinking and acting is available to guide Tom, Betty, and Laura through such a troubling dilemma in a way that is pleasing to God.

We cannot escape groaning in life, even if we are among the redeemed (Rom. 8:23). It comes with the condition and circumstances of being fallen people in a fallen world. Yes, God can and sometimes does step in supernaturally to change people's situations. Praise him! As harsh and painful as it may be to face, however, God is generally more interested in changing people than he is in changing their circumstances. This is a reality that all need to grasp no matter what their circumstances may be. The Lord wants people to walk faithfully and prayerfully with him in the midst of their life situations, whatever they may be. This is the only route to "the peace of God, which transcends all understanding" (Phil. 4:7).

INFERTILITY AND BARRENNESS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

It is a good and natural God-given desire for a man and woman, committed to one another in a loving marriage, to want to have a baby together. That God's original and perfect design welcomes reproduction needs to be affirmed with gentle care amid the difficulties faced by a couple struggling with infertility. Psalm 127:3–5 makes the point from a man's point of view: "Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate." From the woman's point of view, Psalm 113:9 praises the Lord for his grace when "he settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children."

One of God's covenant promises to the ancient Israelites as a nation was that if they remained faithful to their covenant with him, he would bless them with fertility (Exod. 23:26; Deut. 7:14). Fertility was a sign of God's favor toward them as part of his plan to prosper his covenant people, who were the especially blessed nation in the midst of all the other nations. Conversely, there are instances in which infertility is portrayed as a judgment from God, whether within Israel (e.g., 2 Sam. 6:23, regarding the barrenness of David's wife Michal) or among other peoples (e.g., Gen. 20:17–18, regarding Abimelech's entire household).

In the case of Betty and Tom, all that has gone wrong flows ultimately from the corruption of God's original design physically, relationally, and spiritually as seen in Genesis 3–4 and the rest of the Bible. We will come back to all this later, but it is important to note here that, on the one hand, some elements of the case are not necessarily a direct result of the people's personal corruption. The physical reality of infertility, for example, is a medical problem that can occur beyond people's control. On the other hand, the case study suggests that they may have contributed to the problem by waiting so long. Betty's "clock" has been "ticking" for a long time. The previous pregnancy and abortion shows that she was fertile earlier in life. It also shows, however, that something has gone terribly wrong in their thinking about having a baby in the first place. The disregard for the life of the earlier baby and the self-centered pragmatic reasons for the abortion are not the focus of this chapter, but they are emblematic of the underlying corruption that is in full view in the case study.

BARRENNESS AND INHERITANCE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT WORLD

There are a number of cases of barrenness in the Old Testament, beginning with Israel's three main ancestral women: (1) Sarai, Abram's wife (Gen. 11:30; they were later renamed Sarah and Abraham, respectively, Gen. 17:5, 15–16), (2) Rebekah, Isaac's wife (Gen. 25:21), and (3) Rachel, Jacob's wife (Gen. 29:31; Jacob was given a second name, Israel, in Gen. 32:28). In some ways, infertility was even worse in the Old Testament world than today because of the legalities associated with inheritance rights in the patricentric tribal clan culture of that day.

Consider, for example, the case of the daughters of Zelophehad (Num. 27:1–11; cf. also 26:33 and chap. 36). Their father had no male heirs, which meant that his line of descent would vanish from his tribal clan in the next generation. These women asked for and were granted their father's inheritance alongside their father's brothers in order to avoid the consequences of no male heir for their family's line of descent (Num. 27:4, 7). For some men even today, having a male heir is of some considerable concern. This does not appear to be the case with Tom. But in the ancient Israelite world, one can imagine the pressure not only to have children but especially to have a male heir.

Abraham, the eventual "father of the Jews" and the nation of Israel, felt heart-wrenching pain over the matter of an heir in his own life (Gen. 15:1–3). Because of his previous faithfulness to the Lord in the battle against the four kings and his subsequent interchange with Melchizedek (Gen. 14:1–2, 13–24), the Lord promised Abraham "your reward shall be very great" (15:1 NRSV). Abraham's response was anything but enthusiastic. From his point of view, what difference would a reward make anyway, since he was still "childless" and, therefore, without someone from his own body to pass the reward down to, along with everything else that he owned? Yes, he could leave it all to his household steward, Eliezer of Damascus (v. 2), but that was not a very satisfying solution to the dilemma.

Similarly, after Sarah bore Isaac, her concerns also turned to the problem of inheritance when she reacted strongly in a rage against Hagar and Ishmael: "Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac" (Gen. 21:10). Admittedly, Sarah's reaction here arose out of jealousies that had developed over the years, not just the economics of inheritance, as will be noted below.

ABRAHAM, SARAH, AND HAGAR: GOOD INTENTIONS GONE WRONG

The Abraham narratives (Gen. 11:27–25:11) raise the problem of Sarah's infertility to the level of a major driving force in their story. Right from the beginning, we are told that "Sarai was barren; she had no children" (Gen. 11:30). This emphatic dual statement of Sarah's infertility comes as early as possible in the text, as an element attached to the genealogical introduction to the Abraham narratives. Just a few verses later, Genesis 12:1–3 records God's call and commission of Abraham, beginning with "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you" (v. 1).

The next verse is especially important for our purposes here: "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you" (v. 2). One of the promises God gives Abraham is that leaving everything behind and going to this other land will result in his growing into a great nation. In other words, he will have a great multitude of descendants even though Sarah is infertile. Multiple divine reaffirmations of this promise state that he will have as many descendants as the particles of dust on the earth (Gen. 13:16) and the stars in the sky (Gen. 15:5), so to speak.

Sarah's infertility persists, however, for twenty-five years (compare Gen. 12:4 with 17:1, 24; 21:5). In the meantime, both Sarah and Abraham struggle with the problem. Genesis 15:1–5 reveals how much this troubles Abraham. (See certain elements of this passage treated above.) He has come to a point where God's other blessings in his life mean little to him. But the Lord makes the same promise of an abundant seed again, and, by faith, Abraham once again accepts the promise by faith: "Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness" (v. 6). Sarah's infertility is no small matter to Abraham. It occupies his heart continually. Nevertheless, he is willing to reaffirm his trust in the Lord's promise in spite of all appearances. This becomes one of the most important statements of faith in the Bible for all who are children of Abraham by faith, whether Jew or Gentile. (See the apostle Paul's reference to it, e.g., in Rom. 4:3, 11–12, 16, 18–22 and Gal. 3:6–9, 26–29.)

After living ten years in Canaan (Gen. 16:3), Sarah is the one who initiates Abraham's marriage to Hagar as a secondary wife: "Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife." The previous verse (v. 2) reveals that Sarah intends this as a form of surrogacy: "Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her" (lit. "perhaps I will be built up from her"). This arrangement is for the benefit of Sarah, not Hagar, and not just for Abraham's posterity either. Sarah's plan is to solve the problem of her own infertility through the body of Hagar. This tactic arises out of Sarah's own pain and frustration over not being able to have a child (Gen. 16:1–2). As she puts it, "The Lord has kept me from having children" (v. 2).

Although Sarah knows that the whole matter is really under the Lord's control, she takes it into her own hands anyway. At the same time, there is good reason to believe that what Sarah proposes here was not out of the ordinary in that culture. According to documents from the late third millennium BC down through the first millennium BC, surrogate marriages were common in cases of infertility. Hagar oversteps her position: "When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress" (cf. v. 4; i.e., she treated Sarah disrespectfully). When Sarah turns to blame Abraham for this (v. 5), he simply responds, "Your servant is in your hands.... Do with her whatever you think best" (v. 6). Among other things, this verse shows that becoming this kind of wife to Abraham does not remove Hagar's status as a maidservant as far as Abraham is concerned.

ISAAC AND REBEKAH, JACOB AND RACHEL: AM I IN THE PLACE OF GOD?

The story of Rebekah's infertility is relatively simple. She has been barren. Apparently Isaac and Rebekah struggled with that at first, but we are not told a great deal about it. Instead, her husband, Isaac, prays for her, and the Lord answers his prayer so that Rebekah becomes pregnant with twins (Gen. 25:21–23). The term for prayer here is relatively unusual in the Hebrew Bible 'atar, "to plead, make supplication"). Sometimes it seems to emphasize the intensity or persistence of the prayer, often on behalf of others (cf., e.g., Exod. 8:30; 10:18; Judges 13:8). The twins, however, struggle with each other even in the womb, and that leads to struggles with and between the parents throughout their lives. This ongoing struggle motivates most of the story of Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Esau (Genesis 25–35).

Embedded within this framework of struggle between Jacob and Esau, however, is the pain-filled story of the struggle between Jacob's two wives, Leah and Rachel, with particular attention to Rachel's infertility: "When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren" (Gen. 29:31). This leads to Rachel's demand, "Give me children, or I'll die!" (30:1), and Jacob's response, "Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?" (30:2). Even though Rachel is loved and is the favored wife, she is tormented by having no children, and she, in turn, torments Jacob. One can feel the wild emotions oozing out of the passage: frustration, rage, a sense of unfairness in life, trying to blame, demand for action to fix the problem.

So Rachel's next step is to take up the standard practice of surrogacy (Gen. 30:3): "Here is Bilhah, my maidservant. Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me [lit. "on my knees"] and that through her I too can build a family" (lit. "I myself can be built up from her"; the same expression as Sarah's in 16:2, cited above). The plan works, so Rachel responds, "God has vindicated me; he has listened to my plea and given me a son" (30:6). Similarly, Leah has borne four sons to Jacob before she stops bearing (29:32–35), at which point she gives her own handmaid Zilpah to Jacob, and through her obtains two more sons (30:9–13).

These women see this form of surrogacy as an act of faithfulness. After bearing a fifth son, Leah proclaims, "God has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband" (Gen. 30:18). The fierce battle between Rachel and Leah, therefore, continues (30:14–24). For Leah it is primarily a struggle for the affections of her husband in the face of his special devotion to Rachel (29:30–31; 30:14–20). Jacob prefers Rachel's bed over Leah's (30:14–16). However, after the birth of her sixth son, Leah hopes that this will change: "God has presented me with a precious gift. This time my husband will treat me with honor, because I have borne him six sons" (v. 20). There is no evidence, though, that it makes any difference.

The point of reviewing all these machinations is to show that, even though there are many cultural and situational differences between these patriarchal narratives and the Tom and Betty case study, there are also substantial similarities. Tom is ambivalent about having children at this relatively late stage in life but wants to make Betty happy. In the biblical story, Jacob has already obtained heirs through Leah, but he loves Rachel and wants to make her happy. In this regard, however, it is in God's hands, and he knows it (Gen. 30:1–3). It is important to note that Tom and Betty experience increased interest in spiritual things as they grow older and encounter this struggle with infertility.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Why the Church Needs Bioethics by John F. Kilner Copyright © 2011 by John F. Kilner. Excerpted by permission of ZONDERVAN. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Table of Contents

Contents

Team of Authors and Critiquers....................7
Introduction: Wisdom for Life's Challenges (John F. Kilner)....................11
CASE STUDY: Having a Baby the New-Fashioned Way....................21
1. WISDOM FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT (Richard E. Averbeck)....................25
2. WISDOM FROM BUSINESS (Scott B. Rae and Helen Eckmann)....................43
3. WISDOM FROM COUNSELING (Stephen P. Greggo and Miriam Stark Parent)....................60
4. BIOETHICS AND A BETTER BIRTH (John F. Kilner)....................79
CASE STUDY: Gaining Every Advantage....................101
5. WISDOM FROM THEOLOGY (Kevin J. Vanhoozer)....................105
6. WISDOM FROM LAW (Paige Comstock Cunningham)....................125
7. WISDOM FROM INTERCULTURAL MINISTRY (Harold A. Netland, Bruce L. Fields, and Elizabeth Y. Sung)....................144
8. BIOETHICS AND A BETTER LIFE (William P. Cheshire)....................163
CASE STUDY: A Difficult Death....................185
9. WISDOM FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT (D. A. Carson)....................188
10. WISDOM FROM HEALTH CARE (Robert D. Orr and Susan Salladay)....................206
11. WISDOM FROM PASTORAL CARE (Steven C. Roy)....................223
12. BIOETHICS AND A BETTER DEATH (John T. Dunlop)....................239
13. WISDOM FROM PREACHING (Greg R. Scharf)....................261
14. WISDOM FROM EDUCATION (Miriam L. Charter)....................279
Conclusion: Connecting the Church and Bioethics (John F. Kilner)....................301