Abstract
Protestantism is generally known for holding a variety of different positions, especially when it comes to moral issues. Concerning end of life care, though, there are some guiding ethical principles held by most Protestant Churches: human life is a gift of God and must, therefore, be protected; humans are created to live their life freely in responsibility before God and other human beings; and Christians are called to love and care for those in need, e.g. for ill and dying persons. This chapter discusses these guiding principles and their theological foundation. We also examine the conclusions European Church papers have drawn from these guiding principles for care at the end of life. Particular attention is paid to church perspectives on the withholding and withdrawing of life sustaining medical treatment, Advance Directives, decision-making in end of life care, and palliative care. We conclude that the positions of the Protestant European Churches on these issues are, for the most part, in line with leading secular positions in the field of medical ethics.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
The Community of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE) e.g. counts 94 member Churches, and not all Protestant Churches in Europe are members of the CPCE (https://www.leuenberg.eu/about-us/member-churches).
- 2.
A helpful collection of Church opinions concerning end of life issues is Schardien (2006). Concerning older Church papers we partly rely on this collection (and its German translations), but have also included some more recent publications of Protestant Churches in Europe. For a regularly updated overview on papers of German Protestant Churches on issues of medical ethics cf. www.ev-medizinethik.de. Concerning the position of the Church of England we partly rely on the overview of McCarthy (2014).
- 3.
The same applies for the Protestant Church of Germany (EKD) which is an umbrella organization of 20 independent Protestant Churches in Germany. The most important German Protestant Church papers on medical ethics have been published by the EKD and not by its member Churches. Therefore we refer to these publications.
- 4.
Therefore, Protestant Theology can embrace the philosophical concept of humans as “dependent rational animals” (MacIntyre 1999).
- 5.
For further discussion of this issue see Chap. 14 The Distinction between Ordinary and Extraordinary Treatment by Kearns, Emmerich and Gordijn.
- 6.
For further discussion of differing legal frameworks and their national contexts in Europe see Horn, Chap. 18, this volume.
- 7.
For further discussion of the ethical questions that arise in relation to Continuous Deep Sedation see Holm, Chap. 17, this volume.
- 8.
On the ethics of care at the end of life see Leget and Kohlen, Chap. 5, this volume.
Abbreviations
- CPCE:
-
Community of Protestant Churches in Europe
- EKD:
-
Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland (= Protestant Church of Germany)
- EKÖ:
-
Evangelische Kirche Augsburgischen und Helvetischen Bekenntnisses in Österreich (= Protestant Church of Augsburgian and Helvetian Confession in Austria)
- EPUF:
-
Église Protestante unie de France (= United Protestant Church of France)
- PKN:
-
Protestantse Kerk in Nederland (= Protestant Church in the Netherlands)
- SEK:
-
Schweizerischer Evangelischer Kirchenbund (= Swiss Protestant Church Confederation)
References
Anselm, R. (2015). Leben als Gut, nicht als Pflicht. Zeitschrift für Evangelische Ethik, 59, 104–113.
Barth, K. (1960). The Church Dogmatics. Volume III, 2 (§§ 43–47). Ed. by G. W. Bromiley, T. F. Torrance. Transl. by H. Knight, et al. Edinburgh: T&T Clark.
Bonhoeffer, D. (1959). Letters and papers from prison. Ed. by E. Bethge. Transl. by R. H. Fuller. New York: The MacMillan Company.
Church of England. (2012). Report of proceedings 2012: General Synod. February Group of Sessions. https://www.churchofengland.org/media/1429406/february%202012%20(edited).pdf. Accessed 12 Sept 2017.
Coors, M. (2014). Selbstbestimmung: relational – responsiv – hermeneutisch. Evangelisch-theologische Perspektiven. In C. Wiesemann, & A. Simon (Eds.), Patientenautonomie: Theoretische Grundlagen – Praktische Anwendungen (pp. 154–166). Münster: Mentis.
CPCE. (2011). A time to live, and a time to die. An aid to orientation of the CPCE Council on death-hastening decisions and caring for the dying. CPCE, Wien. http://www.leuenberg.net/sites/default/files/statement/a_time_to_live.pdf. Accessed 22 Aug 2017.
Dabrock, P. (2007). Formen der Selbstbestimmung. Theologisch-ethische Perspektiven zu Patientenverfügung und Demenz. Zeitschrift für medizinische Ethik, 53, 127–144.
Dabrock, P. (2009). Wirklichkeit verantworten. Der responsive Ansatz theologischer Ethik bei Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In W. Nethöfel, P. Dabrock, & S. Keil (Eds.), Verantwortungsethik als Theologie des Wirklichen (pp. 117–158). Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
de Lange, F. (2015). Loving later life. An ethics of aging. Grand Rapids/Cambridge: Eerdmans.
EKD. (1989). Gott ist ein Freund des Lebens. Herausforderungen und Aufgaben beim Schutz des Lebens. Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus.
EKD. (2002). Im Geist der Liebe mit dem Leben umgehen. Hannover: EKD. https://www.ekd.de/ekd_de/ds_doc/ekd_text_71_im_geist_der_liebe_mit_dem_leben_umgehen.pdf. Accessed 22 Aug 2017.
EKD. (2005). Sterben hat seine Zeit. Überlegungen zum Umgang mit Patientenverfügungen aus evangelischer Sicht. Hannover: EKD. https://www.ekd.de/ekd_de/ds_doc/ekd_texte_80.pdf. Accessed 22 Aug 2017.
EKD. (2008). Wenn Menschen sterben wollen. Eine Orientierungshilfe zum Problem der ärztlichen Beihilfe zur Selbsttötung. Hannover: EKD. http://www.ekd.de/download/ekd_texte_97.pdf. Accessed 10 Feb 2020.
EKÖ. (1997). “Sterbehilfe”. Stellungnahme der Evangelischen Kirche in Österreich zum Thema “Sterbehilfe”. https://evang.at/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/synode96a4.pdf. Accessed 22 Aug 2017.
EPUF. (2013). A propos de la fin de la vie humaine. https://www.eglise-Protestante-unie.fr/prod/file/epudf/upload/region-9/EPUdF%20synode%20la%20fin%20de%20la%20vie%20humaine-3.pdf. Accessed 22 Aug 2017.
Ferngren, G. B. (2009). Medicine & health care in early Christianity. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.
Fischer, J. (2005). Sterben hat seine Zeit. Zur deutschen Debatte über die Reichweite von Patientenverfügungen. Zeitschrift für Theologie und Kirche, 102, 352–370.
Fischer, A. (2011). Art. Tod (AT). In: Wissenschaftliches Bibellexikon. https://www.bibelwissenschaft.de/stichwort/35914
Gilligan, C. (2003). In a different voice. Psychological theory and women’s development. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Hammer, G.-H. (2013). Geschichte der Diakonie in Deutschland. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.
Held, V. (2006). The ethics of care. Personal, political and global. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hossfeld, F. L. (2003). „Du sollst nicht töten!“. Das fünfte Dekaloggebot im Kontext alttestamentlicher Ethik. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.
Huber, W. (2012). Von der Freiheit. Perspektiven für eine solidarische Welt. München: C. H. Beck.
Jüngel, E. (1971). Tod. Stuttgart: Kreuz Verlag.
Luther, M. (1897). Von der Freiheit eines Christenmenschen. In: Weimarer Ausgabe der Werke Martin Luthers Bd. 7 (pp. 20–38). Weimar: Hermann Böhlaus Nachfolger.
MacIntyre, A. (1999). Dependent rational animals. Why human beings need the virtues. Chicago/La Salle: Open Court.
McCarthy, B. (2014). The Church of England and medical ethics: Identifying an ethical framework. In B. McCarthy et al. (Eds.), At the end of the day. Church of England perspectives on end of life issues (pp. 1–19). London: Church House Publishing.
Noddings, N. (2013). Caring. A relational approach to ethics and moral education. Second Edition, Updated. Berkley: University of California Press.
Pannenberg, W. (1994). Systematic theology: Volume 2. Transl. by G. W. Bromiley. London/New York: T&T Clark International.
PKN. (2006). Medische beslissingen rond het levenseinde. Pastorale en morele overwegingen – Handreiking voor het pastoraat, PKN 2006. https://dspace.library.uu.nl/bitstream/handle/1874/19377/boer_06_medische_beslissingen.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y. Accessed 22 Aug 2017.
Schardien, S. (2006). Mit dem Leben am Ende. Stellungnahmen aus der kirchlichen Diskussion in Europa zur Sterbehilfe. Göttingen: Edition Ruprecht.
SEK. (2006). Palliative Care: Medizinisch-ethische Richtlinien und Empfehlungen. Vernehmlassungsantwort des Rates der SEK an die Schweizerische Akademie der Medizinischen Wissenschaften. http://www.kirchenbund.ch/sites/default/files/stellungnahmen/Palliative_Care_Vernehmlassung_06_de.pdf. Accessed 12 Sept 2017.
SEK. (2007). Das Sterben leben. Entscheidungen am Lebensende aus evangelischer Perspektive. Bern: SEK.
SEK. (2010a). Palliative Care zwischen Professionalisierung und Deinstitutionalisierung. Bemerkungen zu den‚Nationalen Leitlinien Palliative Care‘ aus der Sicht des Schweizerischen Evangelischen Kirchenbundes. http://www.kirchenbund.ch/sites/default/files/stellungnahmen/SEK-Nationale-Leitlinien-Palliative-Care-III.pdf. Accessed 12 Sept 2017.
SEK. (2010b). Perspektiven am Lebensende. Vernehmlassungsantwort des Rates des Schweizerischen Kirchenbundes SEK zur Änderung des Strafgesetzbuches und des Militärgesetzes betreffend die organisierte Suizidhilfe. http://www.kirchenbund.ch/sites/default/files/stellungnahmen/sek_perspektiven-am-lebensende.pdf. Accessed 12 Sept 2017.
Springhart, H. (2016). Der verwundbare Mensch. Sterben, Tod und Endlichkeit im Horizont einer realistischen Anthropologie. Tübingen: Mohr/Siebeck.
Toed, H. E. (1988). Perspektiven theologischer Ethik. München: Chr. Kaiser Verlag.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Coors, M., Dörries, A. (2020). Protestant Perspectives on End of Life Care. In: Emmerich, N., Mallia, P., Gordijn, B., Pistoia, F. (eds) Contemporary European Perspectives on the Ethics of End of Life Care. Philosophy and Medicine, vol 136. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40033-0_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40033-0_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-40032-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-40033-0
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyPhilosophy and Religion (R0)