Torch, Spring/Summer 2007

Voices for Scholarship, Research, and Engagement Spring-Summer 2007 17 “ As I continue in my medical education and as I enter the medical profession, I will be faced with challenging clinical situations that require careful ethical reflection. In so many ways, my fellowship has helped to prepare me. I have no doubt that I will look back on this year as a time of wonderful opportunity and growth. ” Aaron Costerisan, Center Fellow Theoretical Bioethics Dr. Dennis Sullivan , director of Cedarville’s Center for Bioethics and a medical d ctor, wrestles with complex issues daily. Carefully analyzing the news, he seeks to explain these complex matters to his students and to the general public. In a recent audio program (one of his CedarEthics podcasts), he presents a primer to explain the ethical concerns about stem cell research. Aaron Costerisan , a Christian medical student at Loyola University and a visiting Fellow at the Center, wrote concerning the topic: “It was quite interesting and disconcerting to realize how little some people understand about stem cell research … Advocacy on behalf of embryonic human beings is a vitally important way to uphold the cause of the fatherless — a prominent command in Scripture.” Environmental Ethics E.O. Wilson, the prominent Harvard biologist and secular humanist, gives this challenge to the church: “I am puzzled that so many religious leaders … have hesitated to make protection of the creation an important part of their magisterium.” To this, Dr. John Silvius , the Center for Bioethics’ associate for environmental ethics, responds, “Perhaps we have unknowingly conveyed an unbiblical message that Emmanuel came to save humans only, while leaving the rest of creation that groans for His coming … The message of Emmanuel and the scope of His redemptive love includes the whole of creation.” (Silvius’ entire commentary can be found on the Center’s weekly blog.) Clinical Ethics Christians have been deeply divided over the case of Terri Schiavo, a profoundly disabled woman who passed away on March 31, 2005, after her feeding tube was discontinued. Dr. Susan Salladay , the Center’s associate for clinical ethics, notes: “When conflicts occur among Christians over critical ethical issues, it is morally distressing to Christian nurses. Whom can they trust as moral authorities?” In a recent ethics commentary in the Journal of Christian Nursing (January 2007), Salladay examines opinions on both sides of the Terri Schiavo question. Center Partners God is using the Center for Bioethics at Cedarville University to bring a biblical perspective to the key bioethical issues of our day. We are seeking individuals and organizations who share this vision to partner with us through prayer and financial support. Learn more at www.cedarville.edu/bioethics .