Patience Compassion Hope And The Christian Art Of Dying Well

By mining the rich tradition of virtue ethics, Christopher Vogt uses the virtues of patience, compassion, and hope as a framework for specifying the shape of a good death, and for naming the practices Christians should develop to live well and die well. Bringing together historical, biblical, and contemporary sources in Christian ethics, Vogt provides a long-overdue theological analysis of the ars moriendi or "art of dying" literature of four centuries ago. Through a careful analysis of Luke's passion narrative, Vogt uses Jesus as the primary model for being patient in the face of death and for dying well.

The T&T Clark Handbook of Christian Ethics provides an ecumenical introduction to Christian ethics, its sources, methods, and applications. With contributions by theological ethicists known for their excellence in scholarship and teaching, the essays in this volume offer fresh purchase on, and an agenda for, the discipline of Christian ethics in the 21st century. The essays are organized in three sections, following an introduction that presents the four-font approach and elucidates why it is critically employed through these subsequent sections. The first section explores the sources of Christian ethics, including each of the four fonts: scripture, tradition, experience, and reason. The second section examines fundamental or basic elements of Christian ethics and covers different methods, approaches, and voices in doing Christian ethics, such as natural law, virtue ethics, conscience, responsibility, narrative, worship, and engagement with other religions. The third section addresses current moral issues in politics, medicine, economics, ecology, criminal justice and other related spheres from the perspective of Christian ethics, including war, genetics, neuroethics, end-of-life decisions, marriage, family, work, sexuality, nonhuman animals, migration, aging, policing, incarceration, capital punishment, and more.

We cannot choreograph our own death, but we can die well. This is a book for those who are facing death. It is also for their relatives, friends and carers. John Wyatt looks at recent trends in dying. He examines the 'art of dying', a Christian tradition from the past. We see opportunities for dying well and faithfully, real-world examples of personal growth and instances of reconciliation and personal healing in relationships. On the other hand, there are also challenges to face: the fears and temptations that dying can bring. We learn from Jesus' example as we focus on his words from the cross. The wonderful news is that we can look forward to 'a sure and steadfast hope', the amazing hope of resurrection and its implications for our lives today.

Physicians, philosophers, and theologians consider how to address death and dying for a diverse population in a secularized century. Most of us are generally ill-equipped for dying. Today, we neither see death nor prepare for it. But this has not always been the case. In the early fifteenth century, the Roman Catholic Church published the Ars moriendi texts, which established prayers and practices for an art of dying. In the twenty-first century, physicians rely on procedures and protocols for the efficient management of hospitalized patients. How can we recapture an art of dying that can facilitate our dying well? In this book, physicians, philosophers, and theologians attempt to articulate a bioethical framework for dying well in a secularized, diverse society. Contributors discuss such topics as the acceptance of human finitude; the role of hospice and palliative medicine; spiritual preparation for death; and the relationship between community, and individual autonomy. They also consider special cases, including children, elderly patients with dementia, and death in the early years of the AIDS epidemic, when doctors could do little more than accompany their patients in humble solidarity. These chapters make the case for a robust bioethics—one that could foster both the contemplation of finitude and the cultivation of community that would be necessary for a contemporary art of dying well. Contributors Jeffrey P. Bishop, Lisa Sowle Cahill, Daniel Callahan, Farr A. Curlin, Lydia S. Dugdale, Michelle Harrington, John Lantos, Stephen R. Latham, M. Therese Lysaught, Autumn Alcott Ridenour, Peter A. Selwyn, Daniel Sulmasy

A renowned ethicist who himself faced death during a recent life-threatening illness, Allen Verhey in The Christian Art of Dying sets out to recapture dying from the medical world. Seeking to counter the medicalization of death that is so prevalent today, Verhey revisits the fifteenth-century Ars Moriendi, an illustrated spiritual self-help manual on "the art of dying." Finding much wisdom in that little book but rejecting its Stoic and Platonic worldview, Verhey uncovers in the biblical accounts of Jesus' death a truly helpful paradigm for dying well and faithfully.

We human beings are mortal. Our lives in this world inevitably terminate in death. This reality, however, need not cause us to despair, since Jesus Christ has gone before us into the far country of death, giving us hope that this defining feature of our earthly lives is not the end, but instead is an entrance into Christ's presence and a path to the fullness of the Spirit's new creation in which God will be all in all. Christian Dying: Witnesses from the Tradition is a collection of essays containing reflections from Christian authors--whether Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant--on the meaning and appropriation of Christian hope in the face of death in conversation with a number of great voices from the Christian tradition. CONTRIBUTORS: Michel Rene Barnes, John C. Cavadini, Marc Cortez, Brian E. Daley, S.J., Paul L. Gavrilyuk, Matthew Levering, David Luy, Mark McIntosh, Gilbert Meilaender, Cyril O'Regan, Marcus Plested, Brent Waters.

The eudaimonia gap -- The theological virtue of hope in Aquinas -- Rejoicing in hope -- Presumption and moral reform -- Despair and consolation -- The problem of worldliness -- Hope and the earthly city

Hospital and hospice chaplains are expected to assist individuals and families face the reality of their mortality via a gentle, calming presence. To the greatest extent possible, chaplains help people die with an awareness of being loved, of loving and forgiving, and of gratitude for the life they have lived. But terminal agitation and spiritual distress are common components of the final stage of life. How do professional chaplains honor and attend to each individual’s spiritual/religious needs to the best of their abilities in the days preceding death? This book explores that critical question.