A Framework for Examining Bioethical Issues from a Sunni Perspective: Maslaha.

All religions should develop convincing responses to emerging bioethical problems stemming from medical and technological advancements. Additionally, believers need to know their faiths' interpretations of bioethical issues to be able to make medical decisions in line with their religious values. Therefore, Islamic bioethics should provide Muslims with conclusive and credible answers regarding newly rising problems in health care by revisiting the religious norms and decrees. However, the diversity in the Islamic denominations, the traditionalist aspect of the Sunni jurisprudence demanding strict compliance with the scriptural texts, the lack of unanimously accepted authority, and the limited number of academic works in Islamic bioethics (at least in English) complicate exploring new standards or rules for new ethical matters. In this view, the present paper aims to delineate two primary Islamic theological schools and propose al-Ghazali's maslaha as a general framework to analyze bioethical issues in the Sunni tradition. Maslaha allows exercising discretion in light of the protection of five fundamental values: religion, life, reason, lineage, and property. Maslaha has the potential to enable Sunni Muslims to appraise contemporary ethical questions, concerns, and dilemmas through an Islamic view and make more autonomous decisions by having religious guidelines.

Religion, Spirituality, and Health Revisited: Bringing Mainline Western Protestant Perspectives Back into the Discourse-Theology's "Seat at the Table".

Theological perspectives have been given short shrift in the literature on religion and health research. This study demonstrates how including different schools of mainline Western Protestant theological thought (evolutionist, correlationist, and dialectical) in the scientific process could contribute to clarifying controversies. The issue is not just theoretical: Theology can even challenge assumptions on elicitability and reproducibility. Theology perceives spirituality as a dialogue with the Total Other, thus making each encounter with the transcendent (not just the individuality of the person) unique and unpredictable. By accepting setbacks on a journey with wide-ranging aspirations, theology redefines health as the momentum of constant striving toward the divine spirit. Since these theological insights relate to interventions that affect patients' intimacy, attempting to recognize the (albeit implicit) spiritual-theological standpoint of the patient and the self-and how these relate to authentic traditions of spirituality-appears to be an essential prerequisite for ethical spiritual intervention.

Tracing the evidence of design: Natural theology through an unpublished manuscript by William Stanley Jevons.

This paper takes its cue from an unpublished manuscript by the Victorian polymath William Stanley Jevons (1835-1882). I elucidate how he attempted to integrate science and religion through natural theology. I argue that Jevons's manuscript shows that he took the theory of probability to be the most appropriate tool for finding evidence of divine design in natural phenomena. Jevons thus took part in the nineteenth-century natural theology debate, specifically between William Whewell and Charles Babbage. This debate was about both how to interpret the analogy between natural and human contrivances, and about the tools which should be used in natural theology. After introducing the manuscript, I present Jevons's religious ideas about Unitarianism and the relationship between chance and design in his writings. I show Jevons's commitment to natural theology and his idea that humans, due to their finite intellect, should use the theory of probability to investigate divine providence. I then compare Jevons's position to Whewell's and Babbage's Bridgewater Treatises. I show how they had different conceptions of natural theology compared to Jevons, and different ideas about the tools that should be used to investigate natural laws.

Facts and doubts on the beginning of human life - scientific, legal, philosophical and religious controversies.

It is very complicated to give correct answer to the question "How to define human life?" Nowadays dilemmas consider the respect of human life from the birth to death involve not just biology but also other sciences like philosophy, theology, sociology, psychology, law and politics. These sciences evaluate the topic from different points of view. Integration of all of these perspectives could result with a proper definition. The principal purpose of this paper is to try to determine when a human individual begins. If this proves to be too difficult, we might have to settle for a specific stage in the reproductive process before which it would be impossible to say with any plausibility that a human individual exists. It is necessary to return the moral dimension of observation to the science of life. The point is to reconcile the universal ethical principles concerning the absolute value of life with the everyday challenges and dilemmas. It is our deepest conviction that life has an absolute value and that there always remains something indestructible and substantial in life, which may neither be evaluated by anything final, nor completely reduced to the material biological equivalent and the genetic substratum.

The Sufferings of the Biblical Job as an Icon of Postmodernity: The 'loneliness' of God and the human being in a consumerist paradise.

This article explores ways in which the attitudes of the biblical Job may enrich postmodernist philosophy by addressing some of its inherent problems. The discussion focuses in particular on the biblical Book of Job that can serve as an example of confronting suffering as a dramatic implication of human life that denies the sense of happiness. In an attempt to suppress this fear, the postmodern human contests, in various ways, the truth of their ontic frailty and the fragility of their constructed "happiness". The questions that the biblical Job posed to God with a distinct air of resentment and regret seem at first sight to be meaningless as they are thrown into the void of a terrifying Universe. The critique offered here comes out of a Christian philosophical and theological base which posits that belief in the sacrum, transcendence, God and the hope of eternal life are key elements in a meaning system that fosters mental health and human happiness. In the postmodern system of meaning, individuals may no longer question the existence of God for the sake of human freedom, nor seek evidence of God's non-existence, but simply live as if God does not exist. From a Christian perspective, it appears that non-belief in a transcendent spiritual dimension can inline people in postmodern society to feel that they live in an atmosphere of existential anxiety. Similarly, a Christian critique would consider that it is the postmodernist view of fluidity in all aspects of human life that leads to uncertainty and suffering, a causal consequence that people may not advert to. In this way, confronted with many postmodern phenomena, they may unknowingly live in a world of illusion. The Christian critique would also see it is as necessary and important to address constructively the challenges raised by cultural postmodernity. For this reason, the article will reflect on the realism of human suffering, the forgetting and rejection of God, as well as transcendence.

The Prohibition of Suicide and Its Theological Rationale in Catholic Moral and Canonical Tradition: Origins and Development.

This paper analyzes the nuances of the Roman Catholic Church's opposition to suicide. First, we analyze biblical suicide cases, showing that these were not usually met with clear condemnation. Next, we show the development of the Roman Catholic Church's moral teachings, with special attention to Augustine. The canon law of the Middle Ages still made some distinctions regarding motivation, but at this point, Roman Catholic funerals started to be refused to those having committed suicide as discouragement to others. This was maintained by the Council of Trent. In the twentieth century, the Roman Catholic Church followed modern psychiatry in attributing suicide to mental illness, and the ban on Roman Catholic funerals was lifted. Currently, the Roman Catholic Church tries to discourage suicide while accompanying people in need.

Opinions of nursing and theology faculty students on Xenotransplantation.

BACKGROUND: It is mentioned that students' opinions about xenotransplantation (XTx) have been explored in a limited manner. In particular, there is no literature in Turkey on Nursing and Theology students' perspectives on XTx. This research aimed to find out what Nursing and Theology students thought about XTx. METHODS: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted on students studying at the Theology and Nursing faculties. The study population consisted of 2.581 students educated in these faculties. Without using any sampling method, it was aimed to reach all students, and 1.780 (70%) students were reached. Data were collected using a participant identification form and questionnaire form, which the researchers developed. RESULTS: The difference between the answers given by the Nursing and Theology students to the information statements about XTx was statistically significant (p < .001). Nursing and Theology students' attitudes to organ or tissue Tx from halal animals in case of necessity were positive (p < .001). While the nursing students' attitude toward organ or tissue Tx from non-helal animals in case of necessity was negative, Theology students had no idea (p < .001). In other attitude statements, while nursing students responded positively, Theology students responded as "I have no idea" (p ≤ .001). CONCLUSION: Theology students tended to have the question about XTx and only positive attitude towards XTx from halal animals. Nursing students mostly had positive attitude, but negative when XTx is practiced out of necessity.

Why Medicine Needs a Theology of Monstrosity.

For centuries, philosophers and theologians debated the meaning of monstrous births. This article describes the debates that took place in the early modern period concerning the origins of monstrous births and examines how they might be relevant to our understanding of disability today. I begin with the central questions that accompanied the birth of conjoined twins in the early 17th century as well as the theological origins of those questions. I then show the shifts that occurred in philosophical debate in the 18th century, which reveal the changing understanding of God's interaction with creation, as well as the burgeoning medical responses to monstrous births. By reexamining these earlier debates, I claim some of the earlier questions posed by philosophers and theologians have been neglected but remain relevant in bioethics debates concerning how best to consider and treat newborns with certain disabilities.

Theravada Buddhism and Roman Catholicism on the Moral Permissibility of Palliative Sedation: A Blurred Demarcation Line.

Although Theravada Buddhism and Roman Catholicism agree on the moral justification for palliative sedation, they differ on the premises underlying the justification. While Catholicism justifies palliative sedation on the ground of the Principle of Double Effect, Buddhism does so on the basis of the Third Noble Truth. Despite their theological differences, Buddhism and Catholicism both value the moral significance of the physician's intent to reduce suffering and both respect the sanctity of life. This blurs the demarcation line between Buddhism and Catholicism regarding the moral justification of palliative sedation.

Perspectives of Major World Religions regarding Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide: A Comparative Analysis.

Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (EPAS) are important contemporary societal issues and religious faiths offer valuable insights into any discussion on this topic. This paper explores perspectives on EPAS of the four major world religions, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism, through analysis of their primary texts. A literature search of the American Theological Library Association database revealed 41 relevant secondary texts from which pertinent primary texts were extracted and exegeted. These texts demonstrate an opposition to EPAS based on themes common to all four religions: an external locus of morality and the personal hope for a better future after death that transcends current suffering. Given that these religions play a significant role in the lives of billions of adherents worldwide, it is important that lawmakers consider these views along with conscientious objection in jurisdictions where legal EPAS occurs. This will not only allow healthcare professionals and institutions opposed to EPAS to avoid engagement, but also provide options for members of the public who prefer an EPAS-free treatment environment.

Irreligion, Alfie Evans, and the Future of Bioethics.

Timothy Murphy has done those of us in the field of bioethics a great service by being forthright about how irreligious centers of power work against theology and theologians. This has opened the door to direct and honest conversation about some facts that were previously known (especially to theologians working in the field) but rarely discussed publicly. Now, eight years after Murphy's important article appeared in the American Journal of Bioethics, there is room to engage the facts and arguments surrounding the (lack of a) role for theology in the field. It is important, first of all, to agree that if theology is to be excluded while other normative traditions included this must be defended on the basis of a coherent set of defensible claims, not merely raw assertions and power plays. Once the field comes to terms with the fact that no coherent set of defensible claims exist which can justify excluding theology from the field, this will create the conditions for the possibility of the kind of intellectual solidarity which can transform bioethics into a field that is at once much more diverse and inclusive while also of its very nature interested in robust debate which includes references first principles and metaphysical foundations.

Homo religiosus: The Soul of Bioethics.

Although many of the pioneers of present-day bioethics came from religious and theological backgrounds, the recent controversy about the role of religion in bioethics has elicited much attention. Timothy Murphy would ban religion from bioethics altogether. Much of the ado hinges on conflicting understandings of just what bioethics is and just what religion is. This paper attempts to make more explicit how the fields of bioethics and religion have been understood in this context, and how they should not be understood. We begin by looking at bioethics as a field: its origins, purpose, scope, and its methods. We then examine the notion of religion, looking especially at its importance for bioethics. Humanity is not just Homo sapiens but also Homo religiosus. Religion is more than a code of ethics; it gives insight into many of the foundational matters of bioethics.

Secular Dreams and Myths of Irreligion: On the Political Control of Religion in Public Bioethics.

Full-Blooded religion is not acceptable in mainstream bioethics. This article excavates the cultural history that led to the suppression of religion in bioethics. Bioethicists typically fall into one of the following camps. 1) The irreligious, who advocate for suppressing religion, as do Timothy F. Murphy, Sam Harris, and Richard Dawkins. This irreligious camp assumes American Fundamentalist Protestantism is the real substance of all religions. 2) Religious bioethicists, who defend religion by emphasizing its functions and diminishing its metaphysical commitments. Religious defenders empty religion of its theology to present its feel-good functions in a way that is acceptable to the irreligious. However, religion reduced to its functions dissolves into a counter-culture that may counteract materialism but lacks the power to motivate much more. This article criticizes both camps, as both presume Enlightenment myths and consequently neuter religion. Both irreligious and religious bioethicists commonly presume Enlightenment myths about secularity and religion. Secularity is presumed neutral and rational. Religion is presumed divisive and irrational. This myth provides built-in value-judgements; we have already judged secularity as good and religion as bad. Much of the debate over religion in bioethics is arguing over false stereotypes of religion. Consequently, mainstream bioethics neuters religion, while the irreligious are gifted political power to define the field.

Religion at Work in Bioethics and Biopolicy: Christian Bioethicists, Secular Language, Suspicious Orthodoxy.

The proper role, if any, for religion-based arguments is a live and sometimes heated issue within the field of bioethics. The issue attracts heat primarily because bioethical analyses influence the outcomes of controversial court cases and help shape legislation in sensitive biopolicy areas. A problem for religious bioethicists who seek to influence biopolicy is that there is now widespread academic and public acceptance, at least within liberal democracies, that the state should not base its policies on any particular religion's metaphysical claims or esoteric moral system. In response, bioethicists motivated by religious concerns have adopted two identifiable strategies. Sometimes they rely on slippery-slope arguments that, sometimes at least, have empirically testable premises. A more questionable response is the manipulation and misuse of secular-sounding moral language, such as references to "human dignity," and the plights of groups of people labeled "vulnerable."

Catharine Beecher and the Mechanical Body: Physiology, Evangelism, and American Social Reform from the Antebellum Period to the Gilded Age.

From the mid-nineteenth century to the Gilded Age, Catharine Beecher and other American social reformers combined natural theology and evangelism to instruct their audiences how to lead healthy, virtuous, and happy lives. Worried about the consequences of urbanization, industrialization, unstable sexual and gender roles, and immigration, these "Christian physiologists" provided prescriptive scientific advice for hygiene and personal conduct based on the traditional norms of white, middle-class, Protestant domesticity. According to Beecher and her counterparts, the biosocial reproduction of ideal American households promised to reverse the degeneration of men and women across the country and to ensure the long-term vitality of their children. Using evidence from Beecher, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and other nineteenth-century writers, I investigate the methods and aims of Christian physiology along with its relationships to natural theology, Darwinian feminism, and other reform movements. I also analyze how Beecher and her successors employed concepts including the machine, the tissue, the cell, and the germ to justify their conclusions about the optimal structure and functions of American society. Overall, I demonstrate how these actors leveraged the body and the family as mechanisms to produce healthy parents, children, and communities for an ailing nation.

Women in pain: how narratives of pain and sacrifice complicate the debate over the Catholic provision of obstetrical care.

Disputes regarding the denial of obstetrical care in Catholic hospitals are met by well-worn responses from both Catholic and secular ethicists. Catholic ethicists often focus on fetal personhood while secular actors assert that Catholic care disaffirms the mother's personhood. However, this debate's focus on maternal and fetal personhood fails to encompass the divergent attitudes towards obstetrical healthcare. Attitudes towards pain, for example, are ignored. Modern medicine often approaches pain as a medical problem which ought to be treated. Catholic stances towards pain may present it as not wholly negative and, perhaps, constitutive of spiritual growth. Spiritually formative pain is commonly mapped onto obstetrical experiences; narratives of maternal sacrifice are found throughout Catholicism. Interrogating pain works to complicate and, perhaps, delegitimise the argument that Catholic care devalues the pain experience of the woman. Rather, pain is used to affirm the woman's personhood, facilitating spiritual growth and development.

"Therapeutic Effects" of the Sacrament of Anointment.

The first part of this paper provides a theological and anthropological insight into Christian understanding of the relations between illness, sin, death and Christian salvation idea. The second part of the paper explains the foundation of the present sacramental Church practice with regard to the Jesus's relation to the sick and with regard to the actions taken by the Apostolic Church, as testified in the New Testament, especially in the Epistle of James (Jam 5, 14-15) and as expressed in the teaching of the Church. The third part of the paper emphasizes the therapeutic significance of the Sacrament of Anointing which is analysed through the speech on the sacrament effects which are: relief and spiritual strengthening, forgiveness of sins and preparation for death. In order to realize this "sacramental therapy" in pastoral practice, a certain type of diagnosis of the patient's spiritual condition is needed. Suitable preparation for the sacramental therapy, unified with faith and prayers, is needed as well.

The Phenomenon of Miraculous Healing Through Suggestion in the Context of Faith and Magic - Psychological-Theological Approach.

The example of the practices of three eighteenth and nineteenth century physicians, the author points out the importance of the profile of healers whose role (suggestion) in the healing process was more effective than their controversial methods. The following represents the impact mechanisms of suggestion (placebo effect) on the amazing healing phenomenon, indicating the possibility of the fatal consequences of suggestion in the context of (black) magic (nocebo effect), corroborating the facts stated. It warns of the frequent confusion of the fields of psychology and religion (the resuscitation of Mesalianism, the ancient misconception of confusing authentic spiritual experiences with psychological states), which has become the dominant feature of New Age self-help literature and psychology. It concludes with Christian miracle theology and features of Christian prayer for healing, suggesting guidelines useful for the pastoral and therapeutic work that has been derived from this research.

Contending with Spiritual Reductionism: Demons, Shame, and Dividualising Experiences Among Evangelical Christians with Mental Distress.

The belief that mental distress is caused by demons, sin, or generational curses is commonplace among many evangelical Christian communities. These beliefs may have positive or negative effects for individuals and groups. Phenomenological descriptions of these experiences and the subjective meanings associated with them, however, remain somewhat neglected in the literature. The current study employed semi-structured interviews with eight evangelical Christians in order to idiographically explore their experiences of mental distress in relation to their faith and wider communities. Through an interpretative phenomenological analysis, two superordinate themes were constructed: negative spiritualisation and negotiating the dialectic between faith and the lived experience of mental distress. Participants variously experienced a climate of negative spiritualisation, whereby their mental distress was demonised and dismissed, and they were further discouraged from seeking help in secular institutions and environments. Participants often considered such dismissals of their mental distress as unhelpful and stigmatising and experienced heightened feelings of shame and suffering as a result. Such discouragement also contributed to the process of othering and relational disconnection. Alongside a rejection of church teachings, which exclusively spiritualised psychological distress, participants negotiated a nuanced personal synthesis of faith, theology, and distress, which assumed a localised and idiographic significance. This synthesis included advocating for the uptake of aetiological accounts, which contextualised mental distress in terms of the whole person and resisted de-politicised, dichotomised, and individualistic narratives. Results are discussed in relation to a broad range of literature in the field, while further research suggestions are provided.

Bibliometric Analysis and Visualization of Catholic Health Care Research: 1973-2019.

A multi-dimensional construct of Catholic health care is examined using a bibliometric analysis of 181 scientific studies from the Web of Science database. Medical ethics, religion, and health services research by 418 authors from 26 countries reveals developments in the Catholic health care domain since 1973. Using VOSviewer, we map keyword clusters to reveal the structure of research on Catholic health care that transcends religious and secular literatures. The clusters mostly reflect clinical and ethical issues of reproductive health and the end of life, as well as the essence and the future of the Catholic identity from the theological and empirical perspectives.