Describe the teachings of Christianity about the sanctity of life in relation to euthanasia.

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Religious Studies

Ethics Coursework

  1. Describe the teachings of Christianity about the sanctity of life in relation to euthanasia.

All Christians believe in the sanctity of life; this means that all life is holy and sacred, because it is God given and part of God is contained within the Human body, this scripture uses this as the reason for not killing one another

 "Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God has He made man." 

Genesis 9:6

They also think that because humans are created in God's image, we have been given an inherent and God-given dignity and our value is immeasurable in the eyes of God. It doesn’t’ matter if you are rich, or poor, able or not, all are the same to God.The bible teaches that Humans do not own their own bodies they belong to God. Humans are stewards of their lives rather than owners.

 ‘The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.’

Psalm 24:1

        This shows that Human lives are not for us to take since they do not belong to us, they belong to God, and it is only for him to decide when each life ends. Christians would therefore say that destroying our own bodies is an irreverent and unholy act. It is the belief that life is god given and extremely holy, which causes Christians to argue that the taking of life is not for humans to do, only for God. The Bible even tells us,

‘You shall not murder.’

Exodus 20:13

This, the sixth commandment makes it very clear that taking the life of another or of yourself is wrong this is due to the sanctified nature of human life.

      The word Euthanasia is taken from two Greek words ‘eu’ meaning ‘good’ and ‘thanatos’, meaning ‘death’, Euthanasia means ‘helping’ someone to die more quickly than is natural this is similar to the concept of Suicide except it refers to people who cannot kill themselves due to disability or advanced illness. There is a case in the bible of assisted suicide, or voluntary euthanasia:

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‘9 "Then he said to me, 'Stand over me and kill me! I am in the throes of death, but I'm still alive.'
10 "So I stood over him and killed him, because I knew that after he had fallen he could not survive.’

2 Samuel 1:9-10

There is also the condemnation of this act:

David asked him, “Why were you not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?”
Then David called one of his men and said, “Go, strike him down!” So he struck him down, and he died.
16 For David had said to ...

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