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Christianity Today, November, 2009

My Top 5 Books on Life Ethics

Paige C. Cunningham, executive director, the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity | posted 11/12/2009 09:11AM

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How to Be a Christian in a Brave New World
By Joni Eareckson Tada and Nigel M. De S. Cameron

Two pioneers in defending the dignity of human life challenge the church to understand and care about efforts to remake humanity using robotics, embryo harvesting, and genetic engineering. Who better than Eareckson Tada to talk about the use of exotic technologies to heal human bodies?

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Human Dignity in the Biotech Century: A Christian Vision for Public Policy
By Joni Eareckson Tada and Nigel M. de S. Cameron

This volume comprises essays from top thinkers and activists in the field on topics like learning from past mistakes, new technology, genetics, and transhumanism. Get ready for the science fiction realities of the 21st century, and get involved.

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Does God Need Our Help?: Cloning, Assisted Suicide, and Other Challenges in Bioethics
By John F. Kilner and C. Ben Mitchell

Designed like a field guide, this accessible book covers all the bases. Kilner and Mitchell present the major secular ethical frameworks and contrast them with biblical perspectives. They also sort out promising developments from morally dubious ones

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Bioethics: A Primer for Christians
By Gilbert Meilaender

For the reader wanting to dig deeper, Meilaender—a former member of the President's Council on Bioethics—lays out the theological framework. From prenatal screening to organ donation, this volume elucidates and elaborates. A must-read for pastors, teachers,lay leaders, and thoughtful Christians.

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Embryo: A Defense of Human Life
By Robert P. George and Christopher Tollefsen

If you have ever wanted to defend the moral value of an embryo without using the Bible, this is the book for you. Simplifying a complex issue, the authors offer a compelling case for the embryo from the perspective of systematic biology and ethical reasoning.

Related Elsewhere:

Christianity Today has a special section on the Life Ethics on our site.

Previous Top 5 lists have featured emerging movement, Islam, loss, Calvin, spiritual memoirs, neglected doctrines, spiritual memoirs, marriage, Lent, fiction books for the soul, managing your money, devotionals, how character shapes belief, food, atheism, China, presidents, world Christianity, ancient-future faith, the civil rights era, social justice, church history, popular culture, the Civil War, apologetics, atheism, and sex.

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November 2009, Vol. 53, No. 11

Comments (5)

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2-for-1 Gifts!

Paige Cunningham

November 16, 2009 7:49am

Joe, I appreciate your reference to Paul's epistles. However, I was focusing on bioethics in particular, not ethics in general. The problem is that many believers do not know how to apply biblical principle to real life situations, e.g., assisted reproduction, treatment at the end of life. Without solid theological and philosophical (viz. ethical) guidelines, many evangelicals resort to culturally determined decisions. (The star rating doesn't reflect my confidence in the works I suggested; it's just a placeholder.)

http://ketch22.wordpress.com

November 14, 2009 2:17pm

Hmmmm... I am surprised you could even see Joe's horse from way up there.

Hmmm

November 12, 2009 11:09pm

Look who just rode in his his high horse! It's Joe Clayton!

Joe Clayton

November 12, 2009 9:39pm

If I was given the task to choose the best five books on Christian ethics, I think I would have chosen the Apostle Paul's letters to the Romans, the Ephesians, the Philippians, the Colossians, and one from the rest of his inspired treatises on Christianity. These letters are still applicable to the modern Christian.

Mark Manassee

November 12, 2009 2:20pm

I would also add the excellent book Reading the Bible in the Strange World of Medicine by Allen Verhey. It has been very helpful pastorally and personally.

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