WHY DOES MEDICINE NEED CHRISTIANITY?

Introduction

        The medical profession is losing its way. And it looks as if it will continue to get further and further lost in the next few years. This can be explained because medicine has abandoned its Christian roots and finds itself drifting on an uncharted sea.

        How is it getting lost? It is getting lost not in terms of treatment or technology but in terms of ethics and morality. For a long time doctors have acted on principles broadly similar to those found in the Bible but recently have chosen to abandon traditional ethics for new ones.

        It is ironic that medicine is turning its back on Christianity because it is to Christianity that medicine owes much of its development, progress and motivation. Ever since Jesus sent out His disciples to preach the Gospel and to heal, Christian doctors motivated by Jesus' teaching and example have been profoundly influential in shaping the history of healthcare. Many famous doctors were Christians who followed in Christ's footsteps to meet the spiritual and physical needs of a suffering world; people like Pasteur, Paget, Lister, Barnardo, Jenner, Simpson, Sydenham, Osler, Livingstone, Hodgkin and Bell. Medicine owes a huge debt to these men and the work that was motivated by their faith. But by drifting from its Christian roots, medicine is now in crisis.

    Why does Medicine need Christianity? These are sketches of five ways in which medicine needs Christianity.

1. WORLDVIEW

        Everyone has a worldview - a set of beliefs about life and the universe which determines the way they think. Worldviews generally fall into 1 of 3 categories: theism, atheism and pantheism. Theists are people like Christians who believe in a God who is a person. Atheists are people like Communists who believe that there is no God. Pantheists are people like Hindus who believe that God is an impersonal force of which all living beings and this universe are a part.

        Atheism and pantheism cannot provide a adequate framework for medicine as a caring profession.

        If we believe as atheists do that human beings are simply clever monkeys, that death is the end and that moral values are arbitrary then the whole framework of medicine as a caring profession collapses. Why treat humans differently from the way we treat chimpanzees, fish or bacteria? Why not destroy human life when it has outlived its economic usefulness? Why care if care itself is an arbitrary virtue?

        On the other hand if we believe that human beings are just another insignificant part of the totality of the cosmos as pantheists do, that we are locked into a cycle of birth and reincarnation and that morality involves simply being in harmony with nature then the incentive to treat human beings as special is similarly undermined. Why single out humans as worthy of more care than other (even inanimate) elements of the cosmos? Why should we care for other human beings if it makes no difference in the next life and if death is not something to avoid but to embrace? Why oppose nature taking its course?

It's only if we believe that human beings are unique and special, that our actions in this life have profound consequences for the next and that morality is absolute that we have a basis for compassionate care of our fellow human beings. Christianity meets these criteria.

         The Christian faith is anchored in the belief that human beings are created by an all powerful, all knowing benevolent and morally perfect personal God so that we can enjoy an eternal relationship with Him. This is counterbalanced by the belief that we have destroyed our relationship with God by rebelling against Him. This means that we now stand under God's judgment and condemnation. But God, because of His love for us individually and together, has entered human history in the person of Jesus Christ to rescue us and to restore us to a relationship with Him. We are called to respond to His offer of forgiveness by turning to Him and putting our faith in Him. When we do this He begins to restore us to Himself, promising us that we will participate with Him in the new heaven and new earth which He has prepared for all who love him. However, if we refuse or ignore His call then our own judgment and eternal separation from Him is inevitable.

        The Christian world view is incompatible with atheistic and pantheistic world views and, if it is true, it has huge implications for the way we should practice medicine. It is the loss of the Christian worldview that is causing the current crisis.

Ignoring Christian values results in self-seeking arrogance instead of service, the destruction of human life instead of its preservation and unethical behavior which goes unchecked by our consciences.

        Medicine needs Christianity because Christianity provides a world view which gives human beings dignity as special creations of God and asserts that our actions in this life are of eternal significance.

2. A MORAL BASE

        Current ethical crises in medicine include euthanasia, embryonic research, cloning and sexual health (especially STDs, teenage pregnancy, abortion and contraception).

Technological advances in medicine and changes in society since the end of the 2nd World War have made ethical decision making increasingly complicated. Patients have higher expectations and ethical decisions are made in an atmosphere of economic limitations, intense public scrutiny and anti-theistic worldviews

        There has been a huge change in attitude towards the value of human life. From the time of Hippocrates until around 40 years ago almost all doctors were agreed that human life is sacred, but this has now changed.

        Doctors make their ethical decisions according to a variety of criteria which may include emotions, reason, conscience, consensus, regard to consequences, adherence to human authority or arbitrary moral principles such as the four famous principles of autonomy, beneficence, non-malfeasance and justice.

        These may help us in deciding how we should behave but none of them are infallible. Emotions may change. Reason may fail or start from flawed assumptions. Conscience can be absent or oversensitive. Consensus changes over time and is subject to prejudice and perversion. Consequences are often difficult to judge before the event. Human authorities are not infallible.

        Neither are arbitrary principles the answer. Consider autonomy, beneficence, non-malfeasance and justice. There are three major problems with them.

        Firstly, the principles themselves are not defined. Beneficence (doing good) and malfeasance (not doing bad) are not defined - so it left up to the individual to decide what is a good action in any given circumstance. Is killing bad?

        Secondly, the four principles conflict in almost all situations. Which principle should then take precedence? If my understanding of "doing no harm" conflicts with patient autonomy then which principle should carry most weight?

        Thirdly, there is the issue of personhood. Who qualifies as a person that I should do good to and not harm? Many bioethicists today are saying that embryos, fetuses, severely handicapped infants and those with dementia or in a PVS are not persons to whom we owe responsibility.

        These problems mean that the four principles cannot be used reliably to predict what we should do in a given situation of ethical conflict. They can be used to justify almost any course of action whatsoever.

        In contrast to this Christianity provides clear and authoritative teaching on what is ethically good and bad according to well defined principles found in the Bible. These principles are derived directly from what God has revealed to be true about Himself. While emotions, reason, conscience and other human attributes may be helpful, we turn to God's authoritative revelation of Himself in His word and through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to see how we should behave.

        From the Bible we learn that human beings are invaluable to God, irrespective of their ability or maturity as they are made in His image. Bearing this in mind, the 2 principles by which Christians live are that they must love God and love others as people bearing His image. The whole of the Bible is given over to defining what these principles mean in practice.

        Medicine needs Christianity because Christianity provides it with God's unambiguous moral values which are seen put into practice in the life of Jesus Christ.

3. SERVICE

        Doctors should serve their patients to the best of their ability. There are many attitudes and attributes that doctors need if they are to do this properly. They need to put their patients' interests before their own, to put their patients' health before their own careers and to be trustworthy. They are being increasingly accused of not doing this.

        Medicine needs Christianity because it provides the kind of motivation that doctors need. This motivation is best seen in the life of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who gave up His rightful claims to being served by His creatures by choosing to serve them, both His friends and His enemies. He taught that service was the road to greatness and ultimately gave up His own life that we might be restored to relationship with God.

        Modern medicine desperately needs to recover this motivation to serve - what motivates Christian doctors is their patients' good, not their own careers. They serve their patients as they themselves have been served by Jesus Christ. Their service springs out of gratitude for what Jesus has done in saving them from their sins and restoring them to relationship with Himself. Christian doctors are able to love others because they have experienced God's love.

        Medicine needs Christianity because Christianity provides it with serving doctors who humble themselves to self-sacrificially serve the weak and the vulnerable as Jesus Christ did.

4. WHOLE PERSON PERSPECTIVE

        Current trends in the medical and scientific worlds are based on the assumption that human beings have evolved and are ultimately just a random collection of chemicals. We are led to believe that all that we are and do is largely determined by our genes and that our thoughts and conscience are merely electrochemical phenomena.

        But the Bible teaches that human beings are a complex unity of body, soul and spirit, and that these elements together form an inseparable whole. We can be understood in physical terms because we are made from physical elements, but we are more than just physical beings. We are also spiritual beings. We know that physical health can affect the mind, and that the mind can also affect physical health (as in the case of psychosomatic illness). We know that illness causes us to ask questions about meaning and purpose. We know that major life events like bereavement or divorce can have profound effects on our health. We are not simply physical beings, not merely a material manifestation of our genetic make-up

        If we treat our patients simply as physical bodies we will be doing them a gross disservice. It is true that they have physical bodies and that they may need their biochemistry corrected, their physiology normalized and their anatomy repaired. However they are also spiritual beings with serious questions about hope, meaning and destiny. Jesus Christ healed physical illness but He also restored broken relationships, forgave sin and reintroduced people to their Creator.

        Medicine needs Christianity because Christianity provides it with an understanding of man which recognizes that he is a glorious unity of body, mind and spirit.

5. AN ETERNAL HOPE

        Death comes to us all. It is the one thing that none of us can escape and also the one thing which is beyond our control. Most of us fear it.

        We may react to the fear of death in 1 of 4 ways: we fight it, we try to control it, we deny it or we despair that it has defeated us. We see these reactions in terminally ill patients facing death. They may decide to fight the illness in order to prevent death happening. They may try to exert control over death by asking for the euthanasia needle. They may simply deny that death is going to happen and begin to live in a fantasy world. Finally they may just despair, give up and become depressed. If any one of these methods of coping fails then patients may employ one of the others.

        We as doctors may react similarly to death. We may fight death in our patients by continuing to treat when all hope of a cure has passed. We may be tempted to control death with the euthanasia needle, to prove to ourselves that we are still masters over it. We may deny to the patient that death is going to happen by telling them lies about the diagnosis or prognosis or by using jargon that they may not understand. Or we may simply despair of the patient and look for someone we can spend our time on more effectively.

        All these reactions signal a loss of hope and it is the eternal hope which only Christianity can provide that medicine so desperately needs. Atheists who believe that death is the end and pantheists who believe in reincarnation have no hope to offer. Christianity, however, teaches that death is of far greater importance.

        Death was not part of God's original design for men and women. But when we rejected God and sinned against Him death entered our world. Death will come to all of us and after death God will judge us to determine our eternal destinies - His people to enjoy Him for ever in the glorious new world and those who are not His people to be punished forever in Hell.

These beliefs about death have profound implications for the way we practise medicine.         

        Firstly, we recognize that death is an inevitable reality for us all. This means that it is not our aim simply to prolong life at any cost.

        Secondly, as we will all face God's judgment when we die it is clear that choices and decisions made in this life will help determine our destiny in the next. This means that euthanasia is not a solution, because it is not compassionate to propel a patient towards a judgment for which he is unprepared. Euthanasia is not a dignified death; it actually robs the patient of dignity by saying that his life is worth less than his death. In an era when effective palliative care is available, euthanasia is an answer which simply devalues human life.

        Thirdly, we will not deny death but rather be honest and truthful with our patients about the diagnosis, prognosis and effectiveness of our treatment, knowing that his greatest need is to prepare for death and to make his peace with God.

        Fourthly, we will not despair in the face of death because we have a hope of something far better beyond the grave. Although Jesus healed many people he did not come primarily to empty the hospitals. He came to empty the graveyards. As Christian doctors we must realize that our patients' greatest need is not the restoration of their physical health but rather the restoration of their broken relationship with God.

        Medicine needs Christianity because Christianity provides it with the sure and certain eternal hope that death is not the end and that death has been conquered by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

CONCLUSION

        Why does Medicine need Christianity? In these five ways:

1.        Christianity provides medicine with a world view which gives human beings dignity as special creations of God and asserts that our actions in this life are of eternal significance.

2.        Christianity provides medicine with God's unambiguous moral values which are seen put into practice in the life of Jesus Christ.

3.        Christianity provides medicine with serving doctors who humble themselves to self-sacrificially serve the weak and the vulnerable as Jesus Christ did.

4.        Christianity provides medicine with an understanding of man which recognizes that he is a glorious unity of body, mind and spirit.

5.        Christianity provides medicine with the sure and certain eternal hope that death is not the end and that death has been conquered by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

        Christianity provides medicine with an overall worldview in which it can function, a moral base, a servant model for leadership, a whole person perspective and an eternal hope.

As doctors we desperately need Christianity; but far more than that we need Jesus Christ the great physician; Christ transforming the way we look at God, disease, suffering and death; Christ with His words to guide us and His Spirit to empower us; Christ with His example of humble service and His voluntary walking in the path of the cross to secure our salvation; Christ in the way He related to each human as a whole person made in the image of God, and Christ conquering death and enabling us to look beyond it to resurrection and victory in a world without sorrow, tears, suffering or pain.