Explain the beliefs that Christians of different denominations hold about their responsibility for those at the end of their lives.

Though there is no mention of Euthanasia in the bible, there are still some texts in the Bible which we can refer to with the issue of Euthanasia. The Old Testament includes the Ten Commandments and Exodus 20:13, one of the commandments, 'You shall not kill'. As all Christians are obliged to follow God's Ten Commandments, there should be no exceptions.

Genesis sets the scene for the whole bible. We see that our life is a gift from God. Genesis 1: 27 say, 'God created man in the image of himself.' If we are all created in the image of God, then that makes us all equal. That means that a terminally ill person's life is no less than that of a healthy person.

Psalm 139:13 says 'You created my inmost self, knit me together in my mother's womb.' This shows that we belong to God and therefore, our lives are equally important to God.

The New Testament includes the two greatest commandments that Jesus gave. When Jesus was asked by a teacher of the law which commandment is the most important of all, Jesus replied to him, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with your entire mind, and with all your strength.' He said that the second most important commandment is, 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself'. Mark 12: 28-34. Loving God includes keeping the Ten Commandments, including do not kill and by loving our neighbor as ourselves, we should treat them as we would like to be treated in that situation.

Timothy 5:8 says that 'Anyone who does not look after his own relations, especially if they are living with him, has rejected the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.' This shows that, as Christians, we have a duty to care for our relatives if they are ill. Pallatitive care is caring right to the end. Christians have this duty as they believe that life is sacred and belongs to God.

Corinthians 3: 16-17 says that we are a temple of God with the spirit of God living inside of us. He says that 'If anyone should destroy the temple of God, God will destroy that person, because God's temple is holy; and you are that temple.' This shows that by destroying the life of a person, we are destroying God, so we should therefore care for that temple (person).

Christ's death shows Christians how much Jesus suffered for us. This helps us when we are suffering as we know that Jesus suffered terribly for us.

Luke 4: 38-41 describes how Jesus healed Simon's mother-in-law who had a high fever. Luke 5: 17-20 describes how Jesus healed a paralytic man. This shows the power of God, able to perform miracles.

As Christian belief is based on the bible, we should take notice of what is written. When addressing the issue of Euthanasia, we should refer to these bible texts, even though there are no direct links to Euthanasia in the Bible. We should use these texts to reflect on our responsibility to those who are at the end of their lives.

A key Christian idea is Discipleship, which is following Jesus Christ. We should therefore follow his two greatest commandments in order to follow him. Genesis suggests that we are stewards of the earth; this means that it is our duty to look after each other which links back to Agape.

The Catholic Church teaches that all forms of Euthanasia are wrong. They believe that Euthanasia is wrong because it is a form of murder. They believe that people are taking the role of God upon themselves which is a sin. God decides when to take a human's life and we should not interfere with that process. Many Catholics regard switching off a life-support direct Euthanasia.

Georgia Wright 10a