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Essay on Christians' Response to the Issue of Euthanasia

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Christians' Response to the Issue of Euthanasia

Euthanasia is currently a highly debated topic for many Christians and in this section of my coursework I will be looking at how Christians may respond to the question of it.

However before I explore or begin to explain how a Christian may respond, I need to explore how Christians make their moral decisions. Christians use a number of sources to make decisions or discuss moral issues such as euthanasia. The first of these is the Bible. Although the Bible does not actually mention euthanasia it does teach Christians about the sanctity of life and the values of humanity so a Christian may draw on these teachings as suggested in section A, when …show more content…

The Roman Catholic Church as an absolute view on euthanasia and believes that in all cases it is morally wrong. Firstly the Church believes that God creates every person and therefore life is sacred and killing an innocent person is therefore never acceptable.

The Roman Catholic Church has always taught the absolute view of the commandment:

"Thou shall not kill" =====================

Pope John Paul II has also taught:

"Euthanasia is a grave violation of the law of God, since it is the deliberate and morally unacceptable killing of a human person." Evangelism Vitea 1995

The Roman Catholic Church also states that ant attempt at ending human life is opposing God's love for that person. They believe that circumstances such as long illness actually help people to face death, even though it is frightening however the Church believes that when doctors are faced with a patient who is terminally they should either:

* Not give anything with the deliberate intention of killing the patient.

* They may giver pain relief even if it has a side effect of the patients life is shortened, as long as the patient does not become so confused that he or she cannot prepare properly for the death.

The Roman Catholic Church teaching highlights the belief in the sanctity of life as an extremely important teaching and

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