How do you respond to the woman whose baby is born with severe abnormalities? What should be done with spare embryos following IVF? Is cloning wrong if the embryo is manipulated to generate cells for medical research? These real questions might affect us professionally or personally, but how do we respond as Christians? What does the Bible say? Do we become hardened and desensitised to these issues or paralysed by the enormity and complexity of it all?

The author delves thoroughly and systematically through the current dilemmas in healthcare, guiding us through the developments in science, technology and society which have brought us to this point. He illustrates with poignant test case examples as well as everyday ones, highlighting the complexities and legalities involved, and the human pain behind every ethical dilemma.

From the Christian perspective, he then makes sense of the changed (?warped) humanistic thinking when we remove God from the picture. For example, from the chapter on reproductive technology, one of our biggest problems is our understanding of how to manipulate the construction of our bodies: 'We can improve on the Mark 1 old-fashioned design' is the belief of those who have a 'Lego Kit view of the human body'.

Our bodies are instead wonderful, original artistic masterpieces which reflect the meticulous design and order imposed by a Creator's will and purpose. The individual has value not because of character or ability to perform everyday activities, but through being made in the image of God. This will affect the way we treat individuals and view suffering and people's supposed 'quality of life'. The author writes with integrity, compassion and biblical insight. He doesn't pretend to have all the answers yet speaks honestly with great experience and understanding. He is an expert in his field of neonatal paediatrics and has grappled with many of the issues described.

This book is not light reading, but I highly recommend it both to healthcare professionals and lay people interested in gaining an up to date, thorough, and faithful analysis of the major life and death issues in healthcare, and who wonder how to respond as Christians. It could also be recommended to colleagues not yet Christians, to help them make sense of the value of life that God has given us.

Reviewed by
Jane Grier
(Staff Nurse, King's College Hospital, London)