There is no doubt; this is a very difficult dilemma. Many may approach this issue by stating the obvious by quoting the commandment “thou shall not murder”. However I believe there needs to be more to answering this question than simply quoting one of the 10 commandments. I am by no means a medical expert. The question above can be classified as a form of euthanasia.
Euthanasia is the bringing about of a gentle and easy death in the case of incurable and painful disease. (Reader's Digest Oxford Complete Wordfinder)
There are different forms of euthanasia.
Active euthanasia. This would be by a positive act to bring about death by directly administering a drug.
Passive euthanasia. This would involve the withdrawal of treatment (or food) so as to hasten death.
Involuntary euthanasia. The ending of a person's life without any indication that such was the wish of the person concerned.
Voluntary euthanasia. The ending of a person's life at their request. A law to allow this is what pressure groups are wanting.
Non-voluntary euthanasia. This involves the ending of the life of a person who does not have the faculty to make a decision whether to live or die.
I believe the form of euthanasia posed in this particular question falls into the Non-voluntary category.
The Bible does not command us to do everything we can to keep a person alive. If a person is being kept alive only by machines, I believe it is not immoral to turn off the machines and allow the person to die.
If a person has been in a persistent vegetative state for a prolonged period of time, I do not believe it would be an offense to God to remove whatever tubes / machines that are keeping the person alive.
Should God desire to keep a person alive, He is perfectly capable of doing so without the help of feeding tubes and/or respirators. It is never easy to tell a doctor to suspend the life support of a loved one. We should never seek to prematurely end a life, but at the same time, neither do we have to preserve a life as long as possible.
My advice to anyone facing this decision is to pray to God for wisdom (James 1:5) in regards to what He would have you do.
All human life is made by God according to His image (Genesis 1:17). As such God created every person, whether sick or healthy, disabled or able-bodied. No matter what condition or state we are currently in, we are all God’s workmanship.
Ending our life is not a decision for us make, only God has a right to give or take a life.
We need to ask God for wisdom when issues such as these arise. At the end of the day, God decides when life starts and when it ends.
The following link is a good resource to read further on this issue: http://www.tkc.com/resources/resources-pages/euthanasia.html#Anchor-What-49575
Euthanasia is the bringing about of a gentle and easy death in the case of incurable and painful disease. (Reader's Digest Oxford Complete Wordfinder)
There are different forms of euthanasia.
Active euthanasia. This would be by a positive act to bring about death by directly administering a drug.
Passive euthanasia. This would involve the withdrawal of treatment (or food) so as to hasten death.
Involuntary euthanasia. The ending of a person's life without any indication that such was the wish of the person concerned.
Voluntary euthanasia. The ending of a person's life at their request. A law to allow this is what pressure groups are wanting.
Non-voluntary euthanasia. This involves the ending of the life of a person who does not have the faculty to make a decision whether to live or die.
I believe the form of euthanasia posed in this particular question falls into the Non-voluntary category.
The Bible does not command us to do everything we can to keep a person alive. If a person is being kept alive only by machines, I believe it is not immoral to turn off the machines and allow the person to die.
If a person has been in a persistent vegetative state for a prolonged period of time, I do not believe it would be an offense to God to remove whatever tubes / machines that are keeping the person alive.
Should God desire to keep a person alive, He is perfectly capable of doing so without the help of feeding tubes and/or respirators. It is never easy to tell a doctor to suspend the life support of a loved one. We should never seek to prematurely end a life, but at the same time, neither do we have to preserve a life as long as possible.
My advice to anyone facing this decision is to pray to God for wisdom (James 1:5) in regards to what He would have you do.
All human life is made by God according to His image (Genesis 1:17). As such God created every person, whether sick or healthy, disabled or able-bodied. No matter what condition or state we are currently in, we are all God’s workmanship.
Ending our life is not a decision for us make, only God has a right to give or take a life.
We need to ask God for wisdom when issues such as these arise. At the end of the day, God decides when life starts and when it ends.
The following link is a good resource to read further on this issue: http://www.tkc.com/resources/resources-pages/euthanasia.html#Anchor-What-49575
[Answered by George M. ]
