The Orthodox Christian
view on Euthanasia
The sixth Commandment is "Thou
shalt not kill"
In all societies throughout the history of mankind an
extraordinarily important significance has been attached to
dying and death. For our ancestors, who lived under the
conditions of agricultural societies, death was in the
nature of things and was accepted fatalistically. But with
the development of contemporary societies the problem of
dying acquired a new meaning: the achievements of medical
science and technology now permit life to be prolonged. We
do not simply live longer; we live much longer than our
ancestors. However, in the opinion of many, the additional
years often turn out to be not at all the best time of life,
that "slow and steady advance into enemy country." For some
this experience turns out to be unbearable.
In 1990, Americans were shaken by the following event:
Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a retired pathologist, constructed and
offered to interested persons a device which journalists
christened "the suicide machine." At the request of a 54
year old woman who was suffering from Alzheimer's disease,
he inserted into one of her veins a syringe connected to
this machine. The patient pressed a button, a solution of
potassium chlorate began to enter the vein, and within a few
minutes her heart stopped.
[Sadly, the same is now occurring on our own
shores. Even sadder, is that the difference in the
Northern Territory of Australia, where this has now
occurred three times, is that there the act is legally
sanctioned! - ed.]
In the Netherlands, the sick who experience unbearable
sufferings can now ask a physician to help them die. If
several physicians testify to the incurability of the
illness, the sick person can receive a deadly injection.
Opponents of such a kind of medical assistance point out
that when such injections are used to execute the death
sentence for criminals in American prisons they are
frequently called "cruel and inhuman punishment."
Does a person have the right to end his life with
dignity? Is it necessary to prolong a person's life when it
is obvious that he has no chance to lead a "normal life"? Is
it ethical to cut short the life of a hopelessly ill person
in order to free him from unbearable torment and suffering?
These and similar questions are very timely in our days, as
life expectancy keeps increasing and mankind strives to
better the quality of its earthly existence. Every physician
and priest and each person, who to some extent or other has
anything to do with the sick and dying, unavoidably will
come up against these questions.
What is the teaching of the Church
concerning "euthanasia" (a Greek word meaning "a good
death")?
The Orthodox Church teaches that euthanasia is the
deliberate cessation of human life, and, as such,
must be condemned as murder. However, the
headlong progress of contemporary medical technology and the
various means of artificially sustaining life require that
theologians make more precise the Church's approach to the
problem of euthanasia and "the right of a person to put an
end to his life."
Euthanasia is the act of painlessly killing
hopelessly ill people. Proponents of euthanasia point out
that the use of contemporary medicine and the means of
treating the hopelessly ill does not lead to their recovery,
but only agonisingly prolongs their dying. This in turn
raises another moral question: Is it murder not to use the
good things of contemporary medicine for prolonging the life
of the hopelessly ill?
The Fathers of the Church teach that death is unnatural
for man, because man was created not for death, but for
life. Death, along with suffering and illness, which we
talked about in our earlier catechetical discussions, occurs
not according to God's will. Concerning this it says in the
Book of Wisdom: For God made not death: neither hath he
pleasure in the destruction of the living. For he created
all things, that they might have their being. (Wisdom
1:13-14). And in the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel we read:
For I desire not the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord
God; wherefore, be converted and live (Ezekiel 13:32).
According to the teaching of the Holy Fathers, the
meaning of Adam's sin is that man, who was created in the
image and likeness of God and infused with breath by His
Spirit, when he had appeared on the face of the earth, chose
death instead life, evil instead of righteousness. "And so
death passed upon all men, for that in him (Adam) all have
sinned" (Romans 5:12), says the Apostle Paul. And having
sinned, man brought death also to his children, who shared
his nature and life.
Spiritual life for the Christian consists of dying with
Christ to sin and the world and of passing with Him through
the experience of bodily death in order to be resurrected in
the Kingdom of God. Christians must transfigure their own
death in the affirmation of life, meeting the tragedy of
death with faith in the Lord and conquering, according to
the words of the Apostle Paul, "the last enemy-death" (I
Corinthians 15:26) by the power of one's faith.
I am the resurrection, and the life: he that
believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die
(John 11:25-26).
The deeply believing Christian must be ready to accept
any death, for his faith in the Resurrection and in the
infinite goodness of God are measured by his acceptance of
death. A Christian is called to have "the remembrance of
death," that is, not to forget his mortality, and that the
final triumph of light will appear only after the
resurrection of the dead. But preparedness for death does
not mean that earthly life loses its value. On the contrary,
it remains the greatest good, and the Christian is called
unto the fullness of the present life, in so far as he is
able to fill up each moment of this life with the light of
Christ's love.
It follows from this patristic presentation about life
and death that a Christian is forbidden to participate in
the deliberate cessation of the life of others, including
also the hopelessly ill.
At the same time that the Church suffers together with
people in extreme misfortune, She cannot at all change her
mission to preserve the sacred gift of life. The Church
approves the use of various medicines and even narcotics to
decrease the physical pain of the sufferer. In instances
where it is completely evident that death is inescapable,
and the person is spiritually prepared for death by means of
confession and communion, the Church blesses that person to
die, without the interference of various life-prolonging
medical devices and drugs.
The Church tries to instill in the sufferer that his
illness is caused by sin - not only his own, but also that
of the whole world. If he bears his infirmity righteously,
manfully and patiently, that is, with faith, hope and even
joy, then he will become the greatest witness to God's
salvation in this world. Nothing can compare with such
patience, for the glorification of God in the midst of
suffering and infirmity is the greatest of all offerings
which a man can ever make from his life on earth.
All the saints suffered from some kind of bodily
infirmity. And they all - even those who healed others by
their prayers - never asked healing for themselves. And the
most obvious example is the example of Jesus Himself.
Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh,
teaches the Apostle Peter in his First Epistle, arm
yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath
suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; that he no
longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the
lusts of men, but to the will of God (I Peter 4:1-2). The
Christian, according to the grace given him by the Lord,
must spiritually accept participation in the sufferings of
Christ.
At the same time that the Church blesses the hopelessly
ill person to consciously prepare for death, not resorting
to artificial means of supporting life, She decisively parts
from those who consider that in all instances it is
necessary, no matter what, to prolong the life of the dying
by whatever means are available. In Her prayers "at the
parting of the soul from the body," the Church prays God to
send to the hopelessly ill "a speedy and painless end,"
believing that the prolonging of the life of the hopelessly
ill enters into conflict with God's plan for that
person.
One ought not to generalise about the Church's approach
to this question. The problem of maintaining the life of the
gravely ill needs an individualised approach - a careful and
round discussion in each instance with the relatives of the
ill person, his physician and spiritual director. Moreover,
this discussion must be accompanied by prayer with the
request for God's guidance.
The Church makes a precise differentiation between
euthanasia and the decision not to use extraordinary means
to maintain life in those instances when a person is
hopelessly ill. The Church affirms the holiness of life, and
it is the duty of each Christian in every way possible to
protect life as a sacred gift of God. The sole form of "a
good death," from the Church's point of view, is the
peaceful acceptance of the end of earthly life, enriched by
faith and trust in God and in the hope of resurrection in
Christ.
The original of this page,
and much more interesting Orthodox reading material can be
found at
The Russian
Orthodox Cathedral of St. John the Baptist,Washington
DC
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