Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 53:2 (Jun 2010)
Article: Beyond Bioethics 101: Where Theology Gets Personal And Pastoral
Author: Stephen P. Greggo

JETS 53:2 (June 2010) p. 349

Beyond Bioethics 101: Where Theology Gets Personal And Pastoral

Stephen P. Greggo

Lucas Tillett

Stephen P. Greggo is professor of mental health counseling at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 2065 Half Day Road, Deerfield, IL 60015 and Director of Professional Practice at Christian Counseling Associates in Delmar, NY. Lucas Tillett provided useful insights and editorial support for this paper. He has served as Dr. Greggo’s teaching assistant for two years.

I. Counseling, Bioethics, And A Ministry Of Theology

The crucial challenge for those who educate seminarians to enter people-helping ministries is to cultivate a worldview that adequately addresses the expanding scope of pastoral care and maintains a high standard of quality service for saints and seekers.1 Will those trained to offer personalized Christian nurture, correction, and comfort develop sufficient theological fluency to address the complexity of today’s medical dilemmas?2 Elective abortion or active euthanasia might readily be identified as moral violations against human beings created imago Dei. Beyond these, rapid development in biotechnology has brought numerous moral decisions into the lives of ordinary people.3 Infertility treatment, eugenics, end of life determinations, human enhancements, and extensive application of psychotropic medications are not broad political or social issues. These are routine matters related to patient choice in contemporary healthcare.4 Pastoral counselors may be equipped to expound on professional ethics related to principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. Will they advance kingdom ethics by aiding Christ-followers to discern moral right and wrong within the dazzling density of contemporary health care that lies beyond “bioethics 101?”5 Those wrestling

JETS 53:2 (June 2010) p. 350

with decisions on the edge of Christian morality require greater engagement in pastoral conversation than the traditional, courteous hospital bedside prayer.

Aulisio suggests that three key features of contemporary health care converge to incite bioethical debates: complex decisions, value heterogeneity (pluralism), and the general recognition that individuals have the right to determine their own health care (patient autonomy).6 Standards regarding procedures are thought to reside in medical journals, physician best practice pro...