(Part 1)

JBTM Book Reviews
138
As an appropriate final piece of the bioethics puzzle, chapter 8 introduces readers to a more
recent and still-emerging area in the field. The chapter stands alone in “Part IV: Remaking/
Faking Life” and is devoted to life-extension technologies, cutting-edge advancements which
are heightening the stakes (and the longevity) of bioethical issues.
The concluding chapter ends with a stirring reminder of the stakes. Though some
current bioethical dilemmas may subside, new ones will emerge. The combination of
budgetary constraints, increasing costs, and the waning influence of Judeo-Christian values
and Hippocratic virtues are poised (collectively) to increase the pressure on the vast and
complex institutions and agencies (public and private) involved in health care. The looming
threat is that the tangled issues of health care will turn out to be a spreadsheet-driven, beancounting,
budget-oriented “problem to solve” through mathematical formulae and economic
prognostications. Mitchell and Riley have set out to persuade readers that the issues are not
primarily reducible to calculations and finances. Rather, these issues involve humans who are
made in God’s image and as such demand our highest moral standards and ethical judgments
in line with God’s revealed truth.
Two indices (name and subject) help make the book user-friendly, and all acronyms and
foreign terms are transliterated and explained. The book aims perfectly at the stated target
audience: pastors, health care professionals, and families. These groups should read this
engaging work. The chapters are not needlessly long, the verbiage is clear, and the sources
are a helpful mix of ancient and contemporary sources, including the Bible and websites. The
tone is both conversational and authoritative. Regardless of whether readers agree with the
authors at each point, this work is essential for evangelicals interested in ethics, medicine,
or both.
- Ryan A. Neal, Anderson University, Anderson, South Carolina
Christian Faith: Dogmatics in Outline. By Brian A. Gerrish. Louisville: Westminster John
Knox, 2015. 400 pages. Paperback: $50.00.
Brian Gerrish is an honored scholar in the field of theology. He is John Nuveen
Professor Emeritus of Historical Theology at the University of Chicago Divinity School and
Distinguished Service Professor of Theology at Union Presbyterian Seminary. His books
include: Saving and Secular Faith: An Invitation to Systematic Theology and The Pilgrim Road:
Sermons on Christian Life.
Gerrish attempts to make “a contribution to the disciplines of historical theology and
dogmatic theology” (xi), as he addresses how the church has understood certain doctrines
throughout its history. Gerrish believes reputable dogmatics revises and reinterprets