Case Study: Death and Dying

Case Study: Death and Dying

Grand Canyon University: PHI-413V

Case Study: Death and Dying

People all over the world believe in different faiths that have different ideas and beliefs about life. Healthcare professionals need to be aware of these different faiths so that they can provide spiritual care for their patients. “The spiritual care recognizes, as well as responds to any needs of a human spirit that is faced with trauma, is sad, or in ill health. This will include any need for meaning of self-worth, expression of oneself, support in faith, or even rites or prayer or sacrament, or just as a listener. Spiritual care encourages human contact with a compassionate relationship, and will move such in whatever direction is needed.” (NHS Education for Scotland, 2009). As it is important to learn about the various worldviews and respectfully understand the patients’ practices and wishes, it can also be very helpful when it involves topic death and dying. This knowledge can create an easier path for the healthcare provider to choose the proper approach of a patient and their unique situation.

Christian Worldview

God is the prime reality in the Christian worldview. He is divine, omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient, and He is composed of the Holy Trinity – the Father, Son, and the Spirit. In this worldview, man and women were created to safe keep His creation within paradise. Regardless of His wishes, Adam and Eve, chose to disobey and to bring sin to the world. This resulted in all human beings to be doomed and born with Original Sin and would experience suffering, illness, and death. But, God himself did not want His creation live with everlasting suffering due to their disobedience, so He sent Jesus Christ, His son to save us from Sin. Salvation from suffering will be promised as long as We lead a good life with faith in God and Jesus. The Christian worldview also holds a second coming of Christ that will bring restoration of this world as Jesus will bring judgment of living and dead. He will decide who to bring to the Kingdom of God. Life after death with resurrection in either Heaven or Hell is within the Christian worldview. Heaven awaits those, who believe and follow Him, but will bring suffer in Hell for those that reject Him. Christian worldview sees suicide or the killing of a person as a Sin as life is divine given by God and no living person has the right to take this life (pathwayschurch.com, n.d.).

Case Study

Christians know God continues to exist and guides us through the evil and sins throughout the universe. The things in the world don’t look as they should, and we are surrounded by decay and death committed by sins of us humans. In the biblical event known fall, Adam and Eve committed sin by eating the forbidden fruit. With this, they caused rebellion and a dishonest world, destroying Gods creation of the perfect world. The Nature of human sin is the denial of the Creator with his rightful glory and the wisdom we need to seek for ourselves (Mohler, 2011). This describes the reason why human beings are not in peace with our creator. As Christians, we need to understand the fall and the committed sin, to fully perceived the intended meaning of human order, as this not possible without source of sin. (Mohler, 2011).

Georges’ interpretation of suffering in a Christian narrative will be the focus in the world of fallen. He will need to understand a Christian view of suffering in relation to sin. With the provision of Adam and Eves’ sin, all human beings are born with a tendency of sinning. The path to suffering and pain with the ultimate price of death will be inevitable.

George interprets his suffering and pain with the emphasis of resurrection through a light of Christian with an understanding that Jesus could have compensated for faults or bad aspects in any chosen way, instead he chose on the suffering of death. “The unexpected experience of suffering and death as a Christian can have a very optimistic and characteristic meaning for George, as this leads to a redeeming power of Jesus’ suffer and death. St. Paul’s statement reveals in more detail that we are “always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body (2 Cor 4:10).  Fear and pain is not less with more confidence and refinement to carry the suffering rather than being overwhelmed with the situation” (Southern Nebraska Register, 2014). The given suffering was not the only purpose of endurance but it will help other human beings with passing on the experience or like situations to help them lead the way. As a person is able to endure the suffering, he or she will shine with glory as the lord denotes the work and grows closer as one.

Life is a beautiful gift given by Him, the Creator, although it comes with suffering as we are unable to reach full autonomy within our own life. Human beings are only the part of life that is given to us as we need to learn to cherish the valuable given gift. The worth a human is not recognized through the differences in life. It will not matter what sickness they will suffer or of their capability of contributing to society. The inevitable fall with the result of death will follow. The diagnosis of ASL will not make George any less of a human being, rather than the choices he makes with this given diagnosis and suffering.

In the Christian worldview active euthanasia is clearly prohibited within the sixth commandment, no matter how extensive the illness of a person is. For the term of passive euthanasia, most Christian ethics have the believe that the refusal of natural means of life-sustenance’s for a rather helpless patient is compared to refusing that same mean to an infant child, as this will directly cause the death of that human being (ESV, 2019). With a decision from George to end his life whether through euthanasia or through assisted suicide, he makes the conscious decision that his life is not worth of life and rejecting the given dignity we inherited with the image of God, as this decision is not in support of Christian faith. George needs to come to term with His wishes and accept what God has chosen for his life. He needs to lean on this given faith in this time of suffer, while working on becoming closer to his creator.

It is stated in Romans 5:3 to show great joy with our suffering, as this suffering will create endurance. But unfortunately rejoice in suffering does not always come easy. Euthanasia in Christian worldview is equal to killing. A human being shouldn’t approve of someone ending their own life due to their suffering, and one should not participate in the activity of ending someone else ‘s life caused by great suffering. As a human being and Christian one should stand beside a person suffering during the time being and support their needs. “Giving the permission to someone to die includes refusal of treatment without the intention of death to be caused. As this if preventing harm to that person and shows being kind or helpful with the free grace of God (Wurster, 2018). It is acceptable to refrain from treatment and accept the consequences of possible death, rather than taking actions to aim taking someone’s life willingly. Morally it is allowed for a person to choose to die as long as the chances of life not in favor.

I believe, as a Christian, George should not consider taking his own life or ask for assistance to do so, as it is morally not acceptable. He should quest for comfort and lay decisions in his faith willing for the greater good. Unfortunately, this diagnosis brings the inevitable of great suffering and he should seek the comfort of his loved ones through this hardship. Lean on God and the ones close to him, to comfort him with strength in this time of need. He will need to find peace within himself and the given diagnosis and accept the future to come. With this great suffering, it is that we learn to know God immensely and to know the greater of faith and prayer, as George will rejoice with his creator. George will need to understand that he will endure suffer and he will not be a burden. He has to learn acceptance of the given diagnosis and allow his loved ones to be at his side to provide support and reassurance. As he will hold on to his faith, there will be no better time to find peace and reach to his creator than thru prayer as his suffering will not be unnoticed by God. As Christians we know and accept the suffering not as an option but as a guarantee rejoice.

References

Case Study: End of Life Decisions. (2019). Retrieved from https://lms-ugrad.gcu.edu/learningPlatform

Mohler, A. (2011). The Christian Worldview as Master Narrative: Sins and its Consequences. Retrieved from https://www.theaquilareport.com/the-christian-worldview-as-master-narrative-sin-and-its-consequences/

The Christian View of Suffering. (2014). Retrieved from https://www.lincolndiocese.org/op-ed/faithful-watchful-citizen/1900-christian-view-of-suffering-2014

The Value and Dignity of Human Life. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.esv.org/resources/esv-global-study-bible/the-value-and-dignity-of-human-life/

What is ALS? (2019). Retrieved from http://www.alsa.org/about-als/what-is-als.html

Wurster, M. (2018). What does the Bible teach about euthanasia and physician assisted suicide? Retrieved from https://erlc.com/resource-library/articles/what-does-the-bible-teach-about-euthanasia-and-physician-assisted-suicide