Customer Reviews

Holy People, Holy Lives: Law and Gospel in Bioethics

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I approached this book hoping to get a better understanding of a confessional Lutheran approach to the ethical challenges that we face today, particularly in the field of medicine. Although the author's treatment of these issues was sound, I cannot fully agree with all of his conclusions.

I was pleased to see his summary of the history of philosophy which underlies much of the discussion of ethics today. However, when I finished this section, I found myself wishing for a more detailed treatment of the specifics of each of these viewpoints (Aristotle and Plato, Kant and Nietzsche) and how exactly they apply in specific situations. Maybe that's not fair, because this is not a philosophy book as such, and he did give one example for each. However, once he established the philosophical basis for ethical discussions, and made it clear that all viewpoints in these discussions are coming from one of these bases (or a combination thereof), a firmer application of how they play out specifically would have been illuminating.

I did admire the author's emphasis on law and gospel as the proper framework in which to approach these issues. He did not address very well, however, how a Christian who views the world from a law-and-gospel framework is supposed to engage a world where others who do not. Simply having a right answer is not much help when dealing with others who began from a different assumption and arrived at a different conclusion.

The author's treatment of issues surrounding reproductive technology was reasonable but, I felt, incomplete. To begin at the blessing and command from God in Genesis to "Be fruitful and multiply" is a good starting point, and the author made a valid distinction between the law-centered and man-centered focus of "reproduction" versus the gospel- and God-centered focus of "procreation." Nevertheless, I felt that he either neglected or glossed over the possibility that reproductive technology, so long as it does not destroy life, can be God's gift when responsibly applied (as with all other forms of medicine). There also was a disproportionate focus on coitus as the only proper means of procreation, to interfere with which (even by "harvesting" sperm for in utero insemination) is to interfere with God's design; I do not find this view to be spelled out in Scripture.

The author's treatment of end-of-life issues, and especially of suffering, was valid, but at times it just seemed, well, too easy. A similar viewpoint but with a much more sensitive presentation was given in Gene Edward Veith's "Spirituality of the Cross."

All in all, a good starting point, but I am still looking for the "perfect" book on bioethics from a Scriptural and confessional Lutheran perspective.

This is truly an essential resource for Christians on the prominent, important topic of bioethics.

Here, Dr. Eyer provides Christian inputs in the difficult dillemmas which our advancing medical technology has created for us coupled with an ever increasing culture away from truth.

He sets the stage so well for discussion for the individual bioethical topics of abortion, recreation, euthanasia, etc., by providing a brief history of ethics and bioethics, followed by what are two chapters which alone are worth the book and its read and usage: Law and Gospel Foundations For Ethics and The Meaning of Suffering.

These two emphases are throughout the rest of the discussion and will resonate well with those driven by God's Word in the Bible. He provides additional resources for followup as well.

Highly recommended. I am now using it in an Adult Bible Study on Bioethics.