Ethical Matters for Christian Spouses Journal Entry

Journal Entry: Image of God1The baby does have a human status; its imperfect physical development has not impacted its soul, which is a gift given by God. The baby, moreover, will be perfect in Heaven at the resurrection (1 Cor 15:13-18); however, to ensure the child is welcomed to Paradise, the baby should be baptized once delivered, as Scripture says: "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household (Acts 16:31). Moreover, Christ Himself said, Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them (Mat 19:14). Neither should the woman fear carrying the baby to term, for as 1 Tim 2:15 states, Women will be saved through childbearingif they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety. So one can see here that there is no reason to terminate the life of the child growing in the womb; if God wishes to call the child to Him once the child has been delivered from the womb, that is Gods plan. But no one should play God and attempt to terminate the growth of the child because of some fear that one has. That is to lose hope in God. God is good, and His plans are always wise and good. The moral action here, therefore, is to carry the child to term, deliver the child, baptize the child, and should the child die be blissful in your thanksgiving that now you have a child in Heaven who sees the face of God. Ethically speaking, some might argue that the child does not have human status because there is no upper brain and no skullbut there is no Christian basis for such a declaration. The child has a soulthat is what matters for a Christian (Carroll, 2015).2Abortion cannot be justified from a Christian perspective, because it is an act of killinginfanticideno matter how reasonable the excuse may be. If one is fearful for ones life, one must pray and put ones trust and hope in God. If one is fearful for ones children, it is the same. But all fear comes from the Devil, unless it is a holy fear of Godwhich is what this woman needs to contemplate. She will risk offending God by killing one of His innocents? Rather, she should cultivate a holy fear of the Lord, as Proverbs 9:10 states: Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Moreover, the Christian Faith teaches against fear from the devil, as Christian-Faith (2020) teaches: Fear is the opposite of faith. If we do not trust the Lord for every thought and action of our lives, fear becomes a natural phenomenon. But Scripture reminds us that God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound…

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…one is not under any moral or ethical compulsion to administer them (Brody et al., 2011). Christian ethicists have stood by this judgment for as long as feeding tubes have been around. God does not command us to do that which is unnatural. If medical science could keep one alive in a bottle for thousands of years, some might choose that or see that as a moral obligationbut it is not so. We are not meant to live on this earth forever. We are meant to return to God. So the best thing that one can do for a parent who can no longer be fed through natural means and who is refusing to eat or drink, is to make sure that parent is prepared to come before God. Let that parent be given an opportunity to make his soul right with God, with the sacrament of the sick. This is the proper care from a Christian perspective: Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit! And having said this he breathed his last (Luke 23:46). Do not feel guilty about not stopping the removal of the feeding tube from the father. This guilt and doubt is from the devil. God will not judge you for not interfering just because you might have had ill feelings toward your father. That is a separate matter.…