Hauerwas argued from the premise that "medical ethics" does not so much solve
our difficulties as it reflects the moral anarchy of our times. Moving behind the
fact of technology which permits so-called medical advances, he questioned
what the practice of medicine is truly about in such a society. These are issues
that the evangelical church has been astoundingly silent about, inasmuch as they
are in essence pastoral issues. Hauerwas exposed the theological dimensions
of this issue in probing the real reasons underlying the practice of modern
medicine. "Modern medicine's desperate attempt to cure through increasing use
of technology may be but a way of avoiding the fact that it lacks any moral
rationale for dealing with the inevitability of death."
In the same context, contemporary philosopher Herman de Dijn describes the
despair of persons floundering in the spiritual wilderness of modern culture. The
way out, he declares, will be led not by philosophers but by prophets--prophetic
voices who can reconnect despairing persons with transcendent truth mediated
by the Spirit of God.
The growing interest in medical ethics has had the effect of focusing attention on
the "objective and universal conditions all humans share--i.e., sickness,
reproduction, death, etc."
course of life. The expanding possibilities of medical technology have made
them extraordinarily complicated and confusing questions today. The sorts of
questions coming from Christians are difficult for most pastors. "What do we do
about multiple fertilized eggs that have resulted from our attempts at in vitro
fertilization?", asks the young couple agonizing over their failed attempts to have
children. "How do we know if and when it's morally right to pull the life plug on
mother?" "What is really morally wrong with asking my physician to help me die
when I've become too great a burden to my family?" Such questions to pastors
almost always reflect deep pain and contain an implicit plea for help in knowing if
the Bible has anything to say about them. This is an arena of ministry where we
as evangelicals have much ground to make up. And there are others like it.
Our steps must take us in the direction of correcting our collective evangelical
behavior. Wells has called attention to the loss in the church of a theological
center with the power to hold together thought and practice. This cleavage of
belief and practice looms as one of the most devastating threats to the life and
ministry of the evangelical church. Decade after decade of social statistics has
demonstrated that we as evangelicals largely resemble the rest of society in
matters of moral and ethical behavior. If in earlier generations the guides for
Christian living were established by "driving deep the stakes of theological
doctrines and moral behaviors," it appears that in our generation Christians are
more likely to behave according to their perceptions of the acceptable norms of
their peer group. "They don't read the rule book; they look around their support