Memorial OPC Adult Sunday School - Westminster Shorter Catechism - 2011-2012

For Today 1/15/12

Q67: Which is the sixth commandment?

A67: The sixth commandment is, "You shall not kill."

Q68: What is required in the sixth commandment?

A68: The sixth commandment requires all lawful endeavors to preserve our own life, and the life of others.

Q69: What is forbidden in the sixth commandment?

A69: The sixth commandment forbids the taking away of our own life, or the life of our neighbor unjustly, or whatsoever tends thereunto.

1. What Constitutes Death?

a. Respiratory (heart and lungs) and Brain Function (Frame, p. 61)

b. How about organ donation? Should those with a vested interest in harvesting organs be making decisions regarding when one is actually considered dead?

2. Prevention of Death?

a. Death as unnatural and yet inevitable (and for the Christian, not final) - "Because of the influence of the Christian tradition in Western culture, death has been seen as unnatural, as an evil to be opposed, and this value system has influenced the medical profession in its death-resisting efforts. ...At the same time, the Bible teaches that death, under the present conditions, is inevitable. ...Medicine's death-resisting instincts must be tempered by ones that are in some sense death-accepting" (J. Davis, Evangelical Ethics, p. 192)

b. Ordinary versus Extraordinary Measures (Frame, p. 65; Davis, p. 191)

c. Killing versus Letting Die (Frame, p. 67; Davis, p. 189)

(1) Suicide

(2) Euthanasia

(3) Letting "nature" take its course

d. Restoring health vs. Sustaining life vs. Prolonging death

3. Care for those who are dying?

a. Palliative Care

(1) Giving comfort and controlling pain (see Davis, p. 190)

(2) Providing food an water (starvation is never a legitimate "treatment option")

(3) Providing normal nursing care

b. Advanced Directives (Kloosterman, p. 101)

(1) The living will - some problems

(2) The durable power of attorney - some advantages