Covenants of Life

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-ix

   PDF

2. Introduction: The Theological, Medical and Philosophical Contexts of Paul Ramsey’s Medical Ethics

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

      PDF

   2. Covenant-Centered Ethics

      • David H. Smith

      Pages 3-8

   3. Paul Ramsey’s Ethic of Covenant Fidelity

      • Ronald A. Carson

      Pages 9-18

   4. Discerning Stewardship

      • Kenneth L. Vaux, Mark Stenberg

      Pages 19-31

3. Fundamental Issues

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 33-33

      PDF

   2. Keeping Body and Soul Together

      • Oliver O’Donovan

      Pages 35-56

   3. The Right to Life and Human Dignity

      • Leon R. Kass

      Pages 57-69

   4. Applied Ethics and Communities of Value

      • Paul F. Camenisch

      Pages 71-84

   5. Response I

      • Paul Ramsey

      Pages 85-102

4. Theological Issues

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 103-103

      PDF

   2. In Partnership with God

      • Byron L. Sherwin

      Pages 105-125

   3. Technology and Tragedy

      • Allen Verhey

      Pages 127-145

   4. Response II

      • Paul Ramsey

      Pages 147-169

5. Medical Issues

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 171-171

      PDF

   2. The Devil’s Being God’s Best Inspiration: The Boundary between Research and Care

      • Jan Van Eys

      Pages 173-183

   3. Telling and Keeping Still; Reviving and Letting Go

      • Stanley Schade

      Pages 185-190

   4. Ramsey as Trellis

      • William G. Bartholome

      Pages 191-199

   5. Response III

      • Paul Ramsey

      Pages 201-234

6. Back Matter

   Pages 235-257

   PDF

The intense fervor of a Mississippi Methodist preacher, the meticulous reasoning of an Oxford logician, the dogged persistence of a head longshoreman, the unflagging humor of a Rabelaisian satirist. To have met Paul Ramsey at a lecture in a medical university; a heady conference at Hastings-on­ Hudson; a congressional hearing; deliberations at a church assembly; or a bull session in some coffee shop was to be confronted with a gentleman of unforgettable energy, insight, and delight. In many roles--as a young instructor in religious studies at Princeton University, a concerned moral theologian commenting on the ethics of the "sit-ins" and nuclear issues, an observer and dialogue partner with physicians at Georgetown and other medical centers, a faithful editor and analyst of Jonathan Edwards' ethical writings, a trustee of the Hastings center, a voluminous correspondent with others who would join to disciplined pursuit of values--Paul Ramsey in all roles was indefatigable in zeal, rigorous in demand and gracious in coadventuring (to use one of his wonderful metaphors). This volume captures a unique exchange between Paul Ramsey and his most prominent colleagues. In one sense it remains a Festschrift in his honor, characterized, at times, by a markedly informal tone.

• Medical Ethics
• applied ethics
• death
• ethics
• health

• Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Evanston, USA

  Kenneth L. Vaux

• Northwestern University, Evanston, USA

  Sara Vaux

• House of Mercy in Lowertown, St. Paul, USA

  Mark Stenberg

Policies and ethics