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Bioethics History

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Bioethics in Transition: Why Academic Conferences Still Matter

Monday, March 11, 2019

Thoughtful Christian engagement with contemporary challenges requires careful examination, taking time to think through implications, and learning from experts. I have observed this kind of Christian thinking in action since I first began working at The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity (CBHD). But in all the busyness of life, how can someone who is not an expert keep up with such things, especially with all of the pressing issues arising in medicine, science, and technology that impact our everyday lives?

The Good Death in Antiquity and the Middle Ages | Part 1

Monday, January 13, 2020

In older Christian books on moral theology or ethics, the usage of the term euthanasia was common. However, these works interpret it in a fashion entirely different from how it is currently employed. The word euthanasia is a Greek composite term (eû + thánatos) meaning nothing but “good death,” “beautiful death,” or “pleasant death.” Accordingly, older Christian textbooks presented “euthanasia” as a Christian preparation for death. But what exactly was meant by that?

The Good Death during the Reformation and Modernism | Part 2

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Only four years after the publication of Staupitz’ book, Martin Luther also authored a writing on the good death: Ein Sermon von der Bereitung zum Sterben (“A sermon on the preparation for death”). Unlike Staupitz, who called for a mystical imitation of Christ’s death, Luther emphasized the connection between Christ and a Christian which is established solely through faith in the forgiveness of sins on the basis of Christ’s complete work on the cross. Christians have a living hope beyond death because of the righteousness of God which was established on Golgotha. It is from this perspective that Luther answers of what constitutes a good death.[1]

Reawakening Medicine’s Twentieth Century Demons?

Friday, October 30, 2020

Throughout the last century, the spirit of the age exhibited a voracious appetite for human life. Medicine became the source for myriad racial enmities and immoral projects catalyzed by ascendant science and reckless medical research that was completely oblivious to the dignity of human life. The contingent bioethical lapses reflected the impact of social Darwinism on an age of physicians who primarily acted as scientists, not healers.

40 Years of James Bond: The Fruits of the Sexual Revolution

Dignity Vol. 9, No. 1 (Spring 2003)

A Review of the Book Life, Liberty and the Defense of Dignity: The Challenge for Bioethics

Dignity Vol. 9, No. 2 (Summer 2003)

The Hanger and the Plastic Bag: A Review of the Documentary Live and Let Go, An American Death

Dignity Vol. 9, No. 2 (Summer 2003)

Family Secrets: A Review of the Documentary Offspring

Dignity Vol. 9, No. 4 (Winter 2003)

A Review of the Book Rapture: How Biotech Became the New Religion

Dignity Vol. 10, No. 4 (Winter 2004)

From the Director's Desk (Spring 2007)

Dignitas Vol. 13, No. 1 (Spring 2007)

CBHD: Celebrating 15 Years

Dignitas Vol. 14, No. 4 (Winter 2007)

From the Director's Desk (Summer 2009)

Dignitas Vol. 16, No. 2 (Summer 2009)

On the Scandal Within the Scandal of Bioethics

Dignitas Vol. 18, No. 4 (Winter 2011)

Christian Explorations in the Concept of Human Dignity

Dignitas Vol. 19, No. 3 (Fall 2012)

Report from the Academy of Fellows

Dignitas Vol. 20, No. 1 (Spring 2013)

Advance Medical Directives in the Era of Health Care Reform: Who Decides?

Dignitas Vol. 20, No. 4 (Winter 2013)

“Womb Transplant Babies”: A Preliminary Exploration of Recent Biomedical Advances

Dignitas Vol. 21, No. 4 (Winter 2014)

Developments in the Practice of Physician-Assisted Death Since Its Legalization in the Netherlands

Dignitas Vol. 23, No. 2 (Summer 2016)

From the Director's Desk - Winter 2016

Dignitas Vol. 23, No. 4 (Winter 2016)

Transformations in Care

Dignitas Vol. 23, No. 4 (Winter 2016)

Book Review: Adam Cohen, Imbeciles: The Supreme Court, American Eugenics, and the Sterilization of Carrie Buck

Dignitas Vol. 24, No. 1 (Spring 2017)

Should Evangelical Christian Organizations Support International Family Planning?

Dignitas Vol. 24, No. 2 (Summer 2017)

Dying a “Good Death” by Preparing for Eternity: Reclaiming the Forgotten Meaning of Euthanasia

Dignitas Vol. 25, No. 3 (Fall 2018)

Nothing New Under the Sun: Immigration and Physicians Present and Past

Dignitas Vol. 26, No. 1-2 (Spring/Summer 2019)
TV Show

Bioethics: The Dilemmas of Modern Medicine

Book

The House of Eve

Movie

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks