(Part 1)
JBTM_13-2_Fall_2016
JBTM_13-2_Fall_2016
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JBTM Book Reviews<br />
137<br />
Beyond the form and structure of the work, the content is excellent and clearly fulfills the<br />
aim advertised in the subtitle, “A Guide for Pastors, Health Care Professionals, and Families.”<br />
The book is divided into four unequal parts: <strong>Part</strong> I: Christian Bioethics; <strong>Part</strong> II: Taking Life;<br />
<strong>Part</strong> III: Making Life; <strong>Part</strong> IV: Remaking/Faking Life. The authors credit the memorable (and<br />
rhyming) titles of the final three parts to Nigel M. de S. Cameron, one of Riley’s mentors at<br />
Trinity International University (xiii).<br />
The authors set the scene in the introduction by describing an infertile couple’s<br />
dilemma, and after outlining the book’s contents they return to the couple and conclude<br />
the introduction by setting a goal for themselves and their readers: “Our prayer is that by<br />
the time you have read this book you will have a better idea how you would help Phil and<br />
Sara and the other people whose cases you will find in this volume” (5). The authors go even<br />
further by unabashedly stating the rationale behind the book. After clearly subscribing to the<br />
“all truth is God’s truth” view, Mitchell and Riley explain that they “see science and faith,<br />
medicine and theology as friends, not enemies” (5). This explains their approach, which is<br />
further evidenced by the “common ground” dynamic between them in the pages that follow.<br />
They do not engage in a dialogue to show the flaws in one field or another. Instead, the coauthorship<br />
approach exhibits their appreciation for one another, because they are not in<br />
combat but in collaboration.<br />
In “<strong>Part</strong> I: Christian Bioethics,” the authors open the discussion by focusing on the<br />
morality of medicine. Chapter 2 sets up the purpose and payoff of the book by framing the<br />
challenges inherent in bioethics, covering the ancient challenges, up to the twenty-first<br />
century. <strong>Part</strong> I clearly foreshadows the book as one that refuses to settle for easy answers to<br />
simple questions.<br />
The authors cover euthanasia, assisted suicide, and abortion in “<strong>Part</strong> II: Taking Life.”<br />
Chapter 3 focuses on the sanctity of human life and abortion. The authors cover a range of<br />
important questions, including: “Under what circumstances, if any, can abortion be morally<br />
justified?” “Do the doctors have the moral authority to end the life of an unborn child?” and<br />
“What biblical norms or principles, if any, apply to medical technologies that did not exist<br />
when the Bible was written?” (47). This sample shows the authors’ refusal to evade some of<br />
the most challenging questions raised in bioethics. Chapter 4, on human dignity and dying,<br />
covers a range of questions, including, “Is it ever right to remove life-sustaining treatment<br />
like a ventilator” (68), as well as a helpful taxonomy of suffering (79–81).<br />
In “<strong>Part</strong> III: Making Life,” Mitchell and Riley turn their attention to the ethical boundaries<br />
and moral quandaries involved in procreation technologies. Chapter 5 covers infertility and<br />
Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART). In chapter 6, the authors explains the ethical<br />
dilemmas and life-saving potentialities of organ donation and transplantation. To conclude<br />
<strong>Part</strong> III, Mitchell and Riley discuss in chapter 7 the tantalizing and (arguably) terrifying<br />
prospect of clones and human-animal hybrids.