Articles

What does it mean to die well in this culture? Last January that question brought together nearly 50 Lutheran ethicists, pastors, chaplains, hospital and hospice care-givers at the annual Lutheran Ethicists’ Gathering for a rich and wide-ranging discussion. The April and May issues of JLE are dedicated to sharing key insights for its audience by presenters to the Gathering. Like sharing news of a superb hole-in-the wall restaurant, we want others to benefit from the excellent fare of last January.

Veatch, Robert. Hippocratic, Religious and Secular Medical Ethics: Points of Conflict. Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press 2012.

Evans, Abigail Rian. Is God Still at the Bedside? The Medical, Ethical, and Pastoral Issues of Death and Dying. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2011. Pp. ix + 484. $22.23.

In the Christian tradition, pastoral care to the dying has a long history. ​​Reinis particularly explores ​​the medieval literary genre of self-help books known as the ars moriendi, or “art of dying.” Martin Luther contributed to this genre with his Sermon on Preparing to Die (1519); dozens of Lutheran pastors, among them Wenzeslaus Linck in Nuremberg and Martin Moller in G​​örlitz, followed in his footsteps. All of them offered spiritual comfort to the dying in ways that addressed contemporary concerns. The recently-published The Divine Art of Dying (2014) by Karen Speerstra and Herbert A​nderson heralds a long-overdue renaissance of this genre. Reinis considers how ​the practices of the past can inform our actions today in our increasingly secularized society.

Over time, we have moved from a model where doctors have the final say in end-of-life care to patients having ultimate decision-making power. Though both of these have benefits, neither inherently consider the family members involved, or the ways in which hopice and palliative care have developed in recent decades. Doka argues for an ecological approach to end-of-life care in which each of these dimensions is taken into consideration to ensure that the ecosystem of a person’s life–including the grief process of their family–is taken into consideration when preparing for a patient’s passing.

What does it mean to die well in this culture? While far too many people never have the opportunity to face that question because their lives are snuffed out, it is being asked with greater urgency and frequency as contemporary societies become more scientifically and medically sophisticated.

Martin Luther spoke of Anfechtung as an essential part of the life of faith. Trials of spiritual angst can serve to teach us to despair of our own merits (or lack of them) and to rely solely on God’s amazing grace. But what happens when religious leaders in public service have to undergo such tribulations […]

Hoch, Robert P. By the Rivers of Babylon: Blueprint for a Church in Exile. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2013. $18.00

Vasko, Elisabeth T. Beyond Apathy: A Theology for Bystanders. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2015, 192 pages, $29.00

As Kurt Lammi demonstrates, feeling the absence of God in one’s life does not automatically make a person a bad pastor or a bad Christian. Showers goes one step further to explore what techniques a person can try to bring about a renewed awareness of God’s presence in their lives. He particularly focuses on Bernard of Clairvaux’s four stages of loving God, which Showers illustrates through an image of a “grace spiral.” For Showers, what may begin as a frightening experience can open a door to a deeper relationship with God.