Case Study: End of Life Decisions
The practice of health care providers at all levels brings you into contact with people from a variety of faiths. This calls for knowledge and understanding of a diversity of faith expressions; for the purpose of this course, the focus will be on the Christian worldview.
Based on “Case Study: End of Life Decisions,” the Christian worldview, and the worldview questions presented in the required topic study materials you will complete an ethical analysis of George’s situation and his decision from the perspective of the Christian worldview.
Provide a 1,500-word ethical analysis while answering the following questions:
- How would George interpret his suffering in light of the Christian narrative, with an emphasis on the fallenness of the world?
- How would George interpret his suffering in light of the Christian narrative, with an emphasis on the hope of resurrection?
- As George contemplates life with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), how would the Christian worldview inform his view about the value of his life as a person?
- What sorts of values and considerations would the Christian worldview focus on in deliberating about whether or not George should opt for euthanasia?
- Given the above, what options would be morally justified in the Christian worldview for George and why?
- Based on your worldview, what decision would you make if you were in George’s situation?
Remember to support your responses with the topic study materials.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is required.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. Refer to the LopesWrite Technical Support articles for assistance.
Sample Answer
Fallenness of the World
Concerning his recent diagnosis with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a degenerative disease, George can interpret his suffering by utilizing the Christian narrative of the world’s fallenness. Understanding the concept of the world’s fallenness can therefore help George understand the origin of his suffering and come to terms with it. In the story of creation in the book of Genesis in the Holy Bible, an emphasis is made that God created a perfect world. The world that God created and placed Adam and Eve initially had no suffering of any form, including diseases. However, the creation story in the Book of Genesis highlights how man fell and introduced suffering in the world (Sumner, 2014). Genesis chapter 3 tells the story of Adam and Eve and how they ate the forbidden fruit. After eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve introduced pain, suffering, and sin to God’s creation, with their relationship with God being severed (New International Version, 2011, Gen. 3). The origin of pain, suffering, and disease is from the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. The result of the loss of fellowship between God and man was an imperfect creation defined by pain, suffering, injustice, and diseases which was not the original intention of God (Hoehner, 2017). By understanding the origin of pain and suffering in the world, George can therefore be able to comprehend his current ALS diagnosis. The story of the falling of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden can make George realize that his disheartening diagnosis does not have much to do with him but with the current imperfect state of the world that began in the Garden of Eden. Understanding the current imperfect state of the world that suffers through injustice, pain, and diseases can make George accept his diagnosis and find the strength to go through treatment to slow down the expected degeneration and eventual loss of major functions.
Hope of Resurrection
After interpreting his ALS diagnosis in light of the world’s fallenness, George can subsequently gain hope and strength to go through his condition through the concept of hope of resurrection. After the falling of man in the Garden of Eden, which eventually led to the introduction of pain, injustice, suffering, and disease in the world, God provided an avenue to save his beloved children. The book of John 3:16 details that God gave his only son to save the world from pain, injustice, suffering, and disease introduced by the falling of man in the Garden of Eden (New International Version, 2011, John 3.16). Jesus Christ was born by Man, which represented God taking the position of human beings and going through the pain, injustice and suffering, and disease of the world. In his journey to save human beings, Jesus Christ went through suffering that human beings experience on a day-to-day basis. Eventually, Jesus Christ was rejected and crucified on the cross. Jesus paid the ultimate price for the sin of human beings that originated from the Garden of Eden by giving his life for the sake of the salvation of all people (Vitillo, 2014). The crucifixion of Jesus Christ is there for a victory for human beings in that Jesus gave his life as a willing sacrifice to atone for the sins of human beings and to try to reconcile the relationship between God and man and provide a way for human beings to live in a perfect world as God intended initially. Even though Jesus Christ was crucified and died, he showed victory over death through resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus Christ provided renewed hope for human beings showing that after all the pain, injustice, suffering, and disease, and even death, they will rise again as Jesus rose and be reunited with God in the new earth and new heaven that will be perfect and will have no pain, suffering, disease, and injustice (Fitzpatrick et al., 2015). By following the story of Jesus Christ and how he suffered in the world through betrayal, rejection, and ultimately crucifixion, George can gain hope despite his disappointing diagnosis of illness. The story of the crucifixion and subsequent resurrection of Jesus Christ can therefore inspire George to know that despite his imminent suffering from ALS and even premature death after a short period of time, he can have hope of resurrection in the second coming of Jesus Christ if he believes in him. By walking the journey of faith in God and his son Jesus Christ, George can therefore find the strength to go through his chronic condition with grace and understand that death will not be the end of his story.
Value of Life
As George contemplates his life with ALS, the Christian worldview can play a major role in shaping his perspective on the value of his life as a person. In the Christian worldview, all human beings were created in the likeness of God (Hoehner, 2017). God took time during creation to create human beings from mud while he only commanded all the other living and nonliving things into being. The creation story highlights the sanctity of human life and the need for all human beings to be valued and treated with dignity (Hoehner, 2017). All human beings’ lives have value before God despite the different situations that different individuals might be in, including socioeconomic levels or health status. All human life is therefore sacred, with human beings having no right to take life. Utilizing the Christian worldview, George can therefore view his life as being valuable despite his ALS diagnosis. Despite his terminal illness, George should continue to view his life as valuable and sacred and ignore any negative thoughts related to euthanasia.
