The Image Disaster: Euthanasia and God’s view of human life

With the legalization of euthanasia once more being debated in parliament, I thought it might be a good time for some vintage Briefing articles on the topic.

In 1995, Neil Chambers examined the issues surrounding the value of a human life, the pervasiveness of sin in our decisions, compassion for those suffering, and the role of personal autonomy.

It’s a great run-down of the reasons a Christian ought not be comfortable with euthanasia, and the biblical and ethical arguments haven’t changed much in fifteen years.

“Voluntary euthanasia is a question of basic human rights,” writes Labor
MP Paul O’Grady. “It is about the right of individuals to choose for
themselves the quality of life they want and when they no longer enjoy that
quality of life.”

Is it? Is this really what we are debating?

The more basic issue in the euthanasia debate is that of who rules: God or
man. Who has the right to determine who lives and who dies? Who has the right
to determine under what conditions human life may be taken? The euthanasia
proposals being discussed in Australia and other parts of the world today seek
to give to one group of humans—doctors—the right to end human life. They do
this without reference to God, or to the circumstances under which God has said
human life may be taken. Their moral justification comes from the wishes of the
patient. That is, these proposals bestow ultimate moral sovereignty on the
human agent. Humans are understood to be morally autonomous, accountable only
to themselves and thus free to do as they wish with their own lives.

In this form, euthanasia is a rejection of the Bible’s understanding of both
God and humanity, usurping God’s sovereignty over human life and denying the
reality of our ‘creatureliness’. It will be disastrous for the individuals
and the society that embraces it.

Read the full article online (2,500 words).

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