I think that this passage means that god thinks that everything is very important and nothing is forgotten but humans are the most important creation he made in the world.
I Corinthians 3v 16-17
‘Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that god’s spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple you will destroy him; for Gods temple is sacred, and you are that temple.’
I think that this passage means that if a person gets killed by an unnatural cause they are killing part of God, and saying that they don’t care about God. God again states that life is sacred.
Galatians 3v 26-29
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave or free, male nor female for you are one in Christ Jesus.
If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
I think that this means that everyone is the same to god no matter what, nothing will make any difference.
Exodus 20v13
You shall not murder
This means that if you murder anyone then you are going against gods will.
Christianity teaches many things about human life. Relationships with others are important. Jesus made an example to follow, when there is a set of people that other people like, Jesus still loves them whoever they are.
Jesus wanted to help people talk to then and cure them. Showing love for each other is also showing love to god, as when god sees people love each other he is pleased because he is seeing them how he wanted humans to be.
Paul spoke of how everyone is part of the same family. God cares about each person like his own child.
Members of the body Christ Romans say that we shouldn’t do anything to cause offence to others. The Catholic Church has a document that says from the moment of contraception it is a new life and must be respected.
God has chosen when a life comes into the world and he chooses when that life leaves the world. God decides when a child is to be conceived and killing it at anytime its like is going against his will. So from the moment of conception, there is a very important life, and it has to be respected.
Dealing with issues such as abortion and euthanasia is hard because some people would agree and others wouldn’t, but there are always going to be these issues. Some people feel that a baby is a human being from the beginning whereas others question when life begins. In real life cases there are many questions such as, does the foetus have a god given right? If someone was in this situation, it would be very hard to decide a definite answer. Should people have free will with decisions like these? I think that people should have a free will, but there will always be people that disagree with that. Can a person choose to end their life if they are suffering and are in pain? If a person had a dying elderly family member, then they would think a person should have the choice, but in other situations they may say they don’t have a choice and that only God has the choice.
Can you judge if someone’s life is worth living? In this question there could be many arguments, some for, some against and others in between due to the circumstances. All questions in abortion and euthanasia have many answers and have different effects on different religions.
The bible and Christian faith both teach that life is precious, it is god given, and that god has a plan for everybody’s life, all life deserves respect and that it should not be destroyed. Most Christians believe strongly in all of these points, but other people may not, this causes grief and trouble when these kinds of issues come about.
Euthanasia is when a life is ended prematurely by someone who has been asked because the person doesn’t want to continue their life for reasons such as terminal illness .In England euthanasia is illegal; however in some countries it is legal because they believe that people should have the choice to end their life in certain circumstances. Christians are divided on this issue because although it is going against gods will, if they had a family member that was in a very bad situation, where euthanasia became a possible option then it would be different because they just want the person to be happy.
The key questions for Christians are
- Does a free will give someone the right give someone to live?
- What is the most compassionate response to someone who wants to die?
- How can Christians best care for the suffering and terminally ill?
- How can you judge someone’s quality of life?
All of these questions come up when thinking bout euthanasia in an important situation.
Although the Bible doesn’t refer specifically to euthanasia, here are some bible arguments that can be applied. ‘Death is not a full stop, it is a comma. If you look at the whole of life, death is an activity in the middle, it is not the end.’ People have been given domination over other living things by god. God wants people to have quality of life. If someone has no quality of life, euthanasia might be single. God is love. Stopping suffering is a loving thing to do. So euthanasia could bring more glory to god than keeping a suffering person alive. These are points that show that euthanasia isn’t necessarily a bad thing, that it can be really good. Many people would argue using these points as evidence for euthanasia.
In the end it will be a personal judgement and some will see it differently. They might argue that there may be a purpose of suffering. People may learn from it. Life is sacred; euthanasia destroys life, so it must be wrong. The Holy Spirit lives in Christians. Euthanasia destroys god temple (I Corinthians 3.16-17). It is more compassionate to care for the dying than to speed up death. These points are very well thought out and could easily change someone’s mind about euthanasia, but still if they were in a relationship things would be different.
Some Christians feel that the hospice movement offers an alternative. The hospice cares for patients by relieving their pain through drugs. Any fears about death that they or their families may have are talked about and they are given comfort. Here are some comments from people who support hospice work. One person said ‘I’m against for a positive reason; I’ve seen people achieve so much in the ending of their lives – times that their families would have missed. It’s often time after they might have asked to opt out when they perhaps would have gone in bitterness, whereas they finally go in peace and fulfilment.’ –Dame Cicely Saunders. Another commented ‘I am so glad my mother came here to die. In the hospice she was cared for as a whole person, and my family and I were helped to deal with losing her. She had lived a long and happy life and I was very concerned that she should not leave this life in pain. The doctors and nurses helped her to manage her pain, and the Catholic priest was always there for us. My mother died peacefully in my arms with her family around her. That time in the hospice gave us time to prepare for death and to tell her that we loved her. I had never been to a hospice before my mother went in, but now I work as a volunteer there to help and support other families.
These 2 quotes show equally how euthanasia is not needed and how the last tiny bit of life can be lived happily and in comfort.
At the centre of the euthanasia debate is the argument that someone who has no quality of life might as well be dead. For example it could be argued that if people are poor and don’t have a very nice house and they are ill then they might as well die. Jesus said ‘I have come that you might have life-life in all its fullness.’ (John 10/10)
From the rest of his teaching it is clear that he thought that someone’s quality of life was determined not by their possessions but by:
- Their relationship with god
- Their relationships with others
- The feeling of rightness in themselves.
You cannot therefore see the quality of life. You cannot really measure it because it is about what you feel inside.
Therefore showing me that it doesn’t mean you might as well be dead if you are not rich.
The reason why Christians disagree over the question of euthanasia is because God has mapped out everyone’s life and euthanasia is ending it prematurely therefore going against gods will. There are those which interpret the bible literally and those who interpret the bible more liberally.
Those who interpret the bible literally will say killing someone is a sin and if you do for any reason you will go to hell.
The catholic view will be influenced by a grave violation of the law of god.
Those Christians who interpret the bible more liberally will feel that killing someone is a sin and is very, very bad but if you killed someone in self defence then you will not go to hell, and that you have to repent your sins.
Many people feel it is time to review the situation in Britain and consider making voluntary euthanasia legal because partly the reason is that there is so many ways to keep people alive, but what if they don’t want to be kept alive? Doctors may try their hardest to keep patients alive but some people would rather they just died. A person chooses everything they do in life and they should have the choice weather they want to end their life or not. (Depending on the circumstances). There are groups that try to change the law (legalise euthanasia) these are called exit and voluntary euthanasia society.
