Editing Bioethics (section)

=== Christian bioethics ===
In Christian bioethics it is noted that the Bible, especially the [[New Testament]], teaches about healing by faith. Healing in the Bible is often associated with the ministry of specific individuals including [[Elijah]], [[Jesus]] and [[Paul of Tarsus|Paul]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Village |first=Andrew |date=1 June 2005 |title=Dimensions of belief about miraculous healing |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/1367467042000240374 |journal=Mental Health, Religion & Culture |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=97–107 |doi=10.1080/1367467042000240374 |s2cid=15727398 |issn=1367-4676|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The largest group of miracles mentioned in the New Testament involves cures, the Gospels give varying amounts of detail for each episode, sometimes Jesus cures simply by saying a few words, at other times, he employs material such as spit and mud.<ref>Twelftree (1999) p. 263</ref><ref>H. Van der Loos, 1965 ''The Miracles of Jesus'', E.J. Brill Press, Netherlands.</ref>

Christian physician Reginald B. Cherry views faith healing as a pathway of healing in which God uses both the natural and the supernatural to heal.<ref name="Cherry">{{cite book |last=Cherry |first=Reginald B. |title=The Bible Cure |publisher=HarperOne |year=1999 |isbn=9780062516152 |edition=reprint |orig-date=1998}}{{Page needed|date=January 2014}} Citing: {{Bibleverse|John|9:1–7}} and {{Bibleverse|Mark|10:46–52}}.</ref> Being healed has been described as a privilege of accepting Christ's redemption on the cross.{{sfn|Bosworth|2001|p=32}} Pentecostal writer Wilfred Graves Jr. views the healing of the body as a physical expression of [[salvation]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Graves |first=Wilfred Jr. |title=In Pursuit of Wholeness: Experiencing God's Salvation for the Total Person |publisher=Destiny Image |year=2011 |isbn=9780768437942 |location=Shippensburg, PA |page=52 |author-link=Wilfred Graves Jr.}}</ref> {{Bibleverse|Matthew|8:17|NIV}}, after describing [[Jesus exorcising at sunset]] and healing all of the sick who were brought to him, quotes these miracles as a fulfillment of the prophecy in {{bibleverse|Isaiah|53:5|NIV}}: "He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases".

[[Jesus]] endorsed the use of the medical assistance of the time (medicines of oil and wine) when he told the parable of the [[Good Samaritan]] (Luke 10:25–37), who "bound up [an injured man's] wounds, pouring on oil and wine" (verse 34) as a physician would. Jesus then told the doubting teacher of the law (who had elicited this parable by his self-justifying question, "And who is my neighbor?" in verse 29) to "go, and do likewise" in loving others with whom he would never ordinarily associate (verse 37).<ref>{{cite web |last=Booth |first=Craig W. |date=16 December 2003 |title=Faith Healing – God's Compassion, God's Power, and God's Sovereignty: Is a Christian permitted to seek medical assistance and to use medicine? |url=http://thefaithfulword.org/faithhealing.html |access-date=1 May 2007 |work=thefaithfulword.org}}</ref>

The principle of the sacredness of human life is at the basis of Catholic bioethics.<ref name="faculty.cua.edu">[http://faculty.cua.edu/Pennington/Law111/CatholicHistory.htm "Abortion and Catholic Thought: The Little-Told History"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218195040/http://faculty.cua.edu/Pennington/Law111/CatholicHistory.htm|date=18 February 2012}}</ref> On the subject of [[Christianity and abortion|abortion]], for example, [[Catholic Church|Catholics]] and [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Orthodox]] are on very similar positions. Catholic bioethics insists on this concept,<ref name="faculty.cua.edu"/> without exception, while [[Anglicanism|Anglicans]], [[Waldensians]] and [[Lutheranism|Lutherans]] have positions closer to secular ones, for example with regard to the end of life.<ref name="autogenerated3">[https://books.google.com/books?id=VBN6r3cC6v0C&pg=PA110 When Children Became People: the birth of childhood in early Christianity] by Odd Magne Bakke</ref><ref name="universityofcalifornia">[https://books.google.com/books?id=-SZnZTSQV9EC&pg=PA12 Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood] by Kristin Luker, University of California Press</ref>

In 1936, Ludwig Bieler argued that Jesus was stylized in the New Testament in the image of the "divine man" (Greek: [[theios aner]]), which was widespread in antiquity. It is said that many of the famous rulers and elders of the time had divine healing powers.<ref>{{Cite book|last=ST. PATRICK|first=SAINT & SECUNDINUS|url=https://www.amazon.com/Patrick-Secundinus-Ancient-Christian-Writers/dp/B004UUVU2I|title=The Works of St. Patrick. St. Secundus: Hymn on St. Patrick. Translated and Annotated by Ludwig Bieler|date=1 January 1953|publisher=Newman Press}}</ref>

Contemporary bioethical and health care policy issues, including abortion, the distribution of limited resources, the nature of appropriate hospital chaplaincy, fetal experimentation, the use of fetal tissue in treatment, genetic engineering, the use of critical care units, distinctions between ordinary and extraordinary treatment, euthanasia, free and informed consent, competency determinations, the meaning of life, are being examined within the framework of traditional Christian moral commitments.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kleppe |first1=R. K. |last2=Kleppe |first2=K. |date=February 1976 |title=Preparations and properties of ribonucleic acid polymerase from Acinetobacter calcoaceticus |journal=Journal of Bacteriology |volume=125 |issue=2 |pages=435–443 |doi=10.1128/jb.125.2.435-443.1976 |issn=0021-9193 |pmc=236101 |pmid=1380}}</ref>