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Euthanasia and the Christian Tradition by Edward J. Larson and Darrel W

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Euthanasia and the Christian Tradition by Edward J. Larson and Darrel W Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Institute of Pastoral Studies: Faculty Publications and Other Works Faculty Publications 2000 A Review of A Different Death: Euthanasia and the Christian Tradition by Edward J. Larson and Darrel W. Amundsen M. Therese Lysaught Loyola University Chicago, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/ips_facpubs Part of the Ethics in Religion Commons Recommended Citation Lysaught, MT. "A Review of A Different Death: Euthanasia and the Christian Tradition by Edward J. Larson and Darrel W. Amundsen." Pro Ecclesia 9(3), 2000. This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Publications at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Institute of Pastoral Studies: Faculty Publications and Other Works by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. © Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology, 2000. sumed theology (p. 174)," trimming Chris­ policy. Larson, a professor of history and law tian self-understandings to harmonize with at the University of Georgia and former staff the practices and ideologies of advanced counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives capitalism. Committee on Education and Labor, worked Unlike some contributors to his volume (e.g., in the legal context surrounding the 1994 John Tropman, John R. Schneider) Clapp has Washington state legislation outlawing phy­ a strong notion of church, one that sees lay sician-assisted suicide. Amundsen, professor formation and discipleship as central to liv­ of classics at Western Washington Univer­ ing the gospel. The church is not primarily sity, has written extensively in the history about providing Christian "principles" to of medicine and remains the premier scholar guide kings and the rich (who jettison or in the history of religion and medicine. reinterpret such principles when the "natu­ The book takes as its defining context the ral" demands of their roles demand it). 1997 referendum which made Oregon "the Rather, the job of the church is to form a dis­ first jurisdiction in the Western world since tinct and distinctive people who follow an the rise of Christianity to enact a valid stat­ executed leader, a leader whose priorities ute authorizing physician-assisted suicide and practices give no useful "principles" for or euthanasia" (p. 9). The introduction alone maintaining coercive order or exploitative makes this book a great tool to use with economic systems. In the end, while Clapp undergraduates, as it illustrates interdisci­ notes that Christians can appreciate some plinary integration, the fact that ideas have limited aspects of consumer capitalism, the effects (such as how Durkheim's conflation overriding need for the church is to attend of martyrdom and suicide has led to the to constituting itself as a "peculiarly and cooptation of Christianity to warrant social explicitly Christian" culture - a countercul­ practices), and a hypothetical process of re­ ture, if you will, in the midst of a capitalist search and critical thinking. The first task culture with its near-idolatrous claims on of the book, comprising chapters 1-6, is an our attitudes, passions and practices. D intellectual history of suicide and euthana­ sia throughout the Christian tradition. Here Amundsen seeks to provide thorough contextualization and plausible theological Edward J. Larson, Darrel W. Amundsen grounding of early Christian texts and prac­ A Different Death: Euthanasia and the Chris­ tices. He begins with an overview of the tian Tradition (Downers Grove, IL: Greco-Roman, medical, and Jewish back­ InterVarsity Press, 1998), 288 pp. grounds from which Christianity emerged, Reviewed by M. Thérèse Lysaught, Univer­ focusing in the latter on issues of death in sity of Dayton, Dayton, OH relation to martyrdom, war, salvation, and illness. This provides an important backdrop for the consideration of practices of martyr­ To read the opinions of the Ninth Circuit dom, forgiveness, asceticism, suffering, sick­ Court of Appeals (1996) as well as other re­ ness, and suicide in early Christianity. The cent legal and scholarly treatises on suicide focus on suicide, sickness, euthanasia, and and euthanasia, one could well end up be­ the withdrawal of medical treatment con­ lieving that early Christianity supported tinues throughout and "after" the middle suicide and euthanasia. Such arguments, ages. Particularly important is Amundsen's however, are misreadings of the tradition, acknowledgement of minor and aberrational at best, and distortions thereof at worst. It is areas of ambiguity within the Greco-Roman precisely these distortions that Edward J. and Jewish traditions, the decisive lack of Larson and Darrel W. Amundsen set out to such ambiguity within early Christianity, and debunk. In addition, they "seek to assist his treatment of Augustine, illustrating how readers to reexamine the issues of euthana­ Augustine articulated the wisdom of the tra­ sia and suicide in light of the historic Chris­ dition he inherited rather than representing tian faith" (p. 12). On both counts, they do a decisive, individual shift. an excellent job. Amundsen's historical interpretation and Larson and Amundsen are squarely centered construction is well done. Some minor criti­ in the mainstream of bioethics and public cisms could be raised: some secondary ref- 378 Reviews erences seem a bit dated; more treatment on in forming their consciences and acting on the melding of Christianity and medicine their religious beliefs through the realm of after the fourth century would be desirable; public policy will find here a helpful tool. D at certain points more explanation or inter­ pretation of particular textual passages and a more socio-politically grounded treatment Bernhard Lang of certain practices (e.g., martyrdom and as­ ceticism) would have been warranted; and Sacred Games: A History of Christian Worship given their evangelical location, scripture (New Haven, CT - London: Yale University and the early church receive more attention Press, 1997), xiv + 527 pp. than Catholic medieval and post-medieval Reviewed by Jan Michael Joncas, University resources. But overall, the presentation is of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN thorough and compelling, and the analy­ sis is more theologically adept than one would have anticipated. In the end, it is With admirable brevity, Bernhard Lang, Pro­ clear that one cannot responsibly locate fessor of Religion at the University of support for suicide or euthanasia within the Paderborn (Germany), states the aim and Christian tradition. structure of his tome: Chapter 7 marks an abrupt move to the sec­ The present book argues that the essen­ ond task of the book, namely, an overview tial meaning of Christian worship is of the historical development of the assisted embodied in the six patterns of praise, suicide movement from a legal and policy prayer, preaching, sacrifice, sacrament, perspective. But perhaps style serves sub­ and spiritual ecstasy, all of which have stance, given the authors' point that the their roots in ancient, pre-Christian ritual movement itself marks an abrupt reversal life. Accordingly, the book is divided into of nearly 2000 years of unanimous rejection six interpretative essays that explain the of suicide, especially as mediated by physi­ theological meaning of each of these "sa­ cians. Clearly, the baton shifts to Larson here. cred games," explore its ancient and bib­ He presents an historical account of the lical roots, and follow its course through "right-to-die" movement in the U.S. and history with special emphasis on historic follows the subsequent slippery slope and contemporary forms (p. xi). through movements in support of physi­ What the author has achieved, however, is cian-assisted suicide. Advocating the with­ not so much a history of Christian worship holding and withdrawal of treatment in as the construction of a set of "ideal types" appropriate circumstances as well as hos­ by which to categorize a variety of Chris­ pice, Larson marshals compelling analysis tian ritual behaviors. Insofar as these types and attention to detail to argue against those are descriptive rather than explanatory, they who distort the logic of the Quinlan and are reminiscent of the kinds of surveys Cruzan decisions to promote physician-as­ found in Avery Dulles' Models of the Church sisted suicide and, inevitably, euthanasia. or Models of Revelation. Insofar as the author A bit more integration of Christian theology presents information in generally chrono­ and practical, public involvement would logical order in explicating each of his "ideal have been warranted in this section and types," the work reminds one of the kind of would have reduced some of the uneven- survey of sacramental practice and theory ness between the two sections. But overall, found in Joseph Martos' Doors to the Sacred. this section and the volume as a whole Unfortunately Sacred Games does not suc­ achieves their objective. Both students and ceed either as a work of systematics or a interested adults should find this book in­ work of history. To illustrate his categories formative, interesting, thought-provoking, Lang selects examples without making clear and useful. In providing thorough and ca­ why the ones he chooses should be preferred pable reviews of the Christian tradition and to others or how they relate to one another, recent legal opinion, Larson and Amundsen thus falling into the mistakes that some sys­ have made an important contribution to the tematic theologians make in extracting ongoing debate on physician-assisted suicide "prooftexts" from Scripture or ecclesial and euthanasia. Moreover, those interested documents without regard for historical con- PRO ECCLESIA VOL. IX, No. 3 379 .
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