Science, Biological, Medical (genetics, illness/mental illness, death)

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.

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.

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.

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

Lloyd Steffen and Dennis R. Cooley. The Ethics of Death: Religious and Philosophical Perspectives in Dialogue. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014, 325pp.

The Journal of Lutheran Ethics (JLE) is in the midst of a season of significant change, and I want to share these changes with JLE’s many readers and friends. Beginning in September 2013, JLE will move from a bi-monthly to a monthly publication schedule. The journal’s hope is that monthly publication will be able to […]

[1] Mental illness can happen to anyone. Three years after my ordination as an ELCA pastor, I was diagnosed with an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in 1987. The OCD would manifest itself in washing my hands a lot and often checking to see if I had done everything correctly. It was controlled by medication and therapy. […]

[1] Nourish us, O God. This is a simple prayer of the church, of its people, of its leaders. Yet mental illness can draw us away from the belief and trust that God provides what we need for a balanced life. Dark emotions triggered by stressors that include social, biological, environmental, and relational factors can […]

Note: the typical civilian practice is to use all lowercase letters in the word “soldier.” However, in military contexts and writings, the Army now requires the use of “Soldier” instead as a sign of respect. The author uses this capitalized version throughout the article. [1] According to the ELCA Social Message on The Body of […]

[1] The new social message on The Body of Christ and Mental Illness from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) begins with a cry from Jesus on the cross: “My God, my God why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O my […]