Abstract:
The article deals with the question: ‘Is it morally acceptable for terminally ill Christians to
voluntarily request medically assisted suicide or euthanasia?’ After a brief discussion of
relevant changes in the moral landscape over the last century, two influential, but opposite
views on the normative basis for the Christian ethical assessment of medically assisted
suicide and voluntary euthanasia are critically discussed. The inadequacy of both the view
that the biblical message entails an absolute prohibition against these two practices, and the
view that Christians have to decide on them on the basis of their own autonomy, is argued. An
effort is made to demonstrate that although the biblical message does not entail an absolute
prohibition it does have normative ethical implications for deciding on medically assisted
suicide and voluntary euthanasia. Certain Christian beliefs encourage terminally ill Christians
to live a morally responsible life until their death and cultivate a moral prejudice against taking
the life of any human being. This moral prejudice can, however, in exceptional cases be
outweighed by moral considerations in favour of medically assisted suicide or voluntary
euthanasia.
