Constructing a moral framework within which to operate is never an easy task. Where should we begin: from our own reasoning, from peer group standards, from public opinion or ethical codes for medical practice? Dionysius in this issue highlights the dangers of all of these and points us back toward a biblical basis for morality and ethics.

Abortion and homosexual sex are both practices which have in recent history been generally condemned by public and profession, yet both are now vociferously supported by people at all levels. This issue of Nucleus comes at a significant time, as we now mark the 30th anniversary of the Abortion Act and of the legalisation of homosexual sex. The shifting sands of public and private morality have once again moved.

Pornography finds few who are prepared to extol its virtue for all to hear, yet its evil influence pervades society. This may range from sex shops to the top shelf of newsagents to the seemingly more innocent use of sexual attraction in advertising. As humans we often fail to abide by even our own shaky moral frameworks. Without a firm foundation, our ethics will never be secure. Only the unchanging standards of the Word of God give us a rock on which to build our lives (Matthew 7:24-27).

Even when we have forged firm principles on a biblical basis, the battle is not over. Do we make them the standard by which we live out our daily lives, or simply a quiet comfort for moments of contemplation? Nick Land challenges us to live by what we believe and administers a timely dose of divine chlorpromazine to treat our spiritual schizophrenia.

We need the wisdom of God in order to search out answers to the questions which we face as we strive to practise medicine to his glory. We also need the indwelling Holy Spirit to empower us to live consistently by these. Above all, we must realise that we can do nothing in our own strength.

'...apart from me you can do nothing.' (John 15:5)