Living Well and Dying Well Toward a Reimagined Christian Approach to Medicine

Abstract

This essay argues for a new paradigm for medical decision making. Advances in medical technology combined with medical paternalism led to the assumption of medical intervention, with the requirement being on the moral agent to ethically justify refusing treatment. In response, this essay develops a Lutheran vision of medical decision making, grounded in the concept of Christian vocation. Through the lens of Christian vocation, medicine is framed as a tool in the service of fulfilling the moral agent’s vocations, and therefore it is incumbent on the moral agent to ethically justify the choice to use that tool. From there this essay provides a framework for how the moral agent can use Christian vocation to set life goals associated with those vocations, and how those life goals can then inform decisions about when to use the tool of medicine and when to refuse the tool of medicine. Ultimately, this article seeks to provide Christian vision for living well and dying well through the fulfillment of all of one’s vocations throughout the Christian life, where medicine is seen as a tool in the service of those vocations, and where, through the exercise of Christian freedom, the moral agent is not obligated to choose medical intervention at all costs.