Tuesday, October 01, 2013

The Sacredness of Human Life

The newest issue of the Journal of Lutheran Ethics is now out, in which I review David Gushee's The Sacredness of Human Life.




3 comments:

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  2. Gary4:19 PM

    "[16] In the final chapter, Gushee takes up the question of whether or not God's creation itself should be treated as sacred, and whether or not speaking of the sacredness of human life is in fact a really bad idea. Here, Gushee, while summarizing a wide range of philosophical approaches to the topic, contends that the sacredness of life paradigm can still function as an adequate organizing framework in an era of ecological crisis."

    This statement seems very vague. It sounds like the ecology should be treated as sacred, but human life should not necessarily receive the same level of respect and honor.

    I hope I am misunderstanding. It would be sad to think that a Lutheran pastor considers a tree more sacred than an un-born child.

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  3. Gushee is not Lutheran. But I'd encourage you to read the book. It's not at all that the sacredness of human life is lowered, but rather that the sacredness of life paradigm already developed in relationship to humanity can be expanded to encompass even more of God's creation.

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