The second commandment

For my theologising I have to read a chap called Patrick Miller

On the second command, and the tendency for us to make theological graven images, he says this:

theology is a very dangerous game and always teeters on the brink of idolatry, with the tendency, intentional or not, of seeking to get at God for our own well-being and program

P58

Miller, Patrick D. 2009. The Lord Alone. The Ten Commandments. Westminster John Knox Press

Something remembered from Paul Ramsey

I read this book called “Patient as Person” quite a few months back and I’d jotted this down and forgotten about it.

When talking about euthanasia and aggressive, intensive medical care in the face of a terminal prognosis, Ramsey suggest that these two, quite dissimilar things are really expressing the same thing. They are both expressing a denial of death.

To pursue aggressive medical means till the body is decaying is to deny that part of our human existence its end.

And to choose and actively pursue death either at the individuals choice or via a surrogate is an attempt to escape the death before us.