BOOKS
PARISH NURSING
HEALTHCARE MINISTRY WITHIN THE CHURCH
By Mary Elizabeth O'Brien
339pp., Boston: Jones and Bartlett, 2003, $46.95, paperback.
Sr. Mary Elizabeth O'Brien has written another outstanding book. Parish Nursing is comprehensive and practical, covering the topics that every parish nurse will greatly appreciate. It is clearly Christian, and appropriate for those working in a church setting, regardless of denomination. The context is inspirational as well as informative. Prayers, poetry and stories bring principles to life.
The book begins with a biblical and theological foundation for parish nursing, followed by a rich historical account that goes far beyond the modern parish nurse movement. While maintaining the standard definition and roles of parish nursing, the author personalizes them and interprets them from a practical Christian perspective, giving an abundance of biblical references to inform the practice. Practical suggestions with case study illustrations cover a broad spectrum of situations and populations. The style is conversational and reader-friendly, even when describing parish nurse education programs, a proposed theory for parish nursing and a small research study.
Overall, this book makes a delightful contribution to the parish nursing literature. It provides practical tools, insightful examples and inspiration for parish nurses in all settings. For those who ever wondered how faith and nursing correspond, this book gives such brilliant examples that you will never wonder again.
BOOK BRIEFS
JCN receives more books than we have space to review. Book Brief's are short synopses based on the publisher's descriptions. JCN staff have not read or evaluated these books.
CUTTING-EDGE BIOETHICS
A CHRISTIAN EXPLORATION OF TECHNOLOGIES AND TRENDS
Edited by John F. Kilner
C. Christopher Hook
Diann B. Uustal
201 pp., Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2002, $22.00, paperback.
This new volume from the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity provides a faith-based evaluation of recent technologies and trends in bioethics, including the current debate surrounding stem cell research. Fifteen noted scholars and medical practitioners discuss some of today's new and controversial work in biomedicine, including xenotransplantation, artificial intelligence, cybernetics and more. They appraise the scientific and the ethical questions involved from a Christian perspective. Designed to orient general readers to the current state of biomedical research, Cutting-Edge Bioethics will help you examine the challenging moral issues posed by this ever-advancing field.
GENETIC TURNING POINTS
THE ETHICS OF HUMAN GENETIC INTERVENTION
By James C. Peterson
364 pp., Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2001, $22.00, paperback.
This timely volume clearly lays out the central ethical questions raised by today's rapid advances in biotechnology. Peterson, an associate professor of ethics at Wingate University (North Carolina), sorts through the maze of clinical decisions occasioned by human genetic intervention, organizes the range of moral considerations that now face us and explores their practical impact on individuals, families and communities.
The ethical questions are covered in the order of how soon the particular technologies that raise them are becoming available. This unique format allows readers to go directly to issues of particular interest. Peterson assumes no prior knowledge of genetics or ethics, making his work one of the most accessible discussions of bioethics available today.
THE REPRODUCTION REVOLUTION
A CHRISTIAN APPRAISAL OF SEXUALITY, REPRODUCTIIVE TECHNOLOGIES AND THE FAMILY
Edited by John F. Kilner
Paige C. Cunningham
W. David Hager
290 pp., Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2000, $20.00, paperback.
This multiple-authored book presents a challenging look at today's most hotly debated issues in bioethics. Within the high-paced, highly controversial field of bioethics, the most fiercely debated issues center on sexuality, reproductive technology and the family. This new volume from the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity provides a thought-provoking appraisal of the ethical dimension of the reproductive revolution from a Christian perspective. Thirty scholars and medical practitioners discuss some of the most pressing topics related to human reproduction, including: the moral status of embryos, the use of donor eggs and sperm, surrogate motherhood, human cloning and the abortifacient effect of birth control pills.
AT THE BEGINNING OF LIFE
DILEMMAS IN THEOLOGICAL BIOETHICS
By Edwin C. Hui
416 pp., Downers Grove, IL: interVarsity Press, 2002, $25.00, paperback.
Today ordinary people-not just nurses, physicians, ethicists and theologians-face a bewildering array of bio-medical issues. Advances in medical technology force complex decisions about human life at its precious and sometimes precarious beginning upon more and more people.
Hui originally trained and served as a medical doctor. As such, he gave keen attention to the ethical and theological questions inevitably raised by the myriad biomedical procedures offered to patients each day. Having taken up a second profession as theologian and ethicist, Hui not only offers ethical guidance for those having to decide about such procedures but also lays a solid theological foundation for making those decisions. He shows clearly how a Christian understanding of what it means to be a person sheds crucial light on the biomedical dilemmas we face whenever we deal with human life at its beginning.
This is a book for anyone who wants to think through on a profoundly Christian basis the biomedical ethical issues of human life at inception. Nurses, pastors, counselors and other health care professionals will find this book to be an especially helpful resource.
REMEMBERING JESUS
CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY, SCRIPTURE AND THE MORAL LIFE
By Allen Verhey
526 pp., Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2002, $35.00, hardcover.
In the past decade many Christians have embraced the "What Would Jesus Do?" campaign, which encourages people to base their decisions and actions on this question. In Remembering Jesus, Verhey takes a serious look at what Jesus really said and did and applies it to contemporary Christian ethics.
Verhey asserts that following Jesus requires remembering him, and this entails reading and understanding Scripture, where the memory of Jesus is found. By remembering Jesus, this book contributes to the efforts of Christians to discern the shape and style of life "worthy of the gospel." More specifically, it displays the implications of Christian integrity for medical, sexual, economic and political ethics, seeking to understand what Jesus would really have to say about these issues today.
While ideally suited as a text for courses in Christian ethics, Remembering Jesus will also become a valued resource for nurses and general readers looking for clear, biblically based instruction on moral living in the modern world.
WHY BOTHER BEING GOOD?
THE PLACE OF GOD IN THE MORAL LIFE
By John Hare
216 pp., Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002, $15.00, paperback.
Everyone, it seems, struggles with moral and ethical issues. On a daily basis, newspapers, television, radio and magazines feature the moral scandals of political, religious and business leaders-not to mention entertainers. Moral failure has become so common that it no longer shocks us. We wonder whether it is possible to be morally good in a largely secular society.
What is the source of moral authority? Do we need God to be good? In Why Bother Being Good? Hare explores the nature of goodness, the human condition, the role of reason and the value of community in moral development. He also shows how these relate to the Christian doctrines of atonement, justification and sanctification. With a general audience in mind, Hare carefully defines terms and uses poetry and narrative to illuminate his arguments. He writes, "If all the arguments in this book work, what I have shown is that the morality we are familiar with requires a theological background if it is going to make sense."
KINGDOM ETHICS
FOLLOWING JESUS IN CONTEMPORARY CONTEXT
By Glen H. Stassen
David P. Gushee
496 pp., Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003, $30.00, hardcover.
Stassen and Gushee combine ethical reflection with faith in Jesus Christ, a life of discipleship and the hope of the present and coming kingdom of God. The result is a challenging, comprehensive treatment of Christian ethics centered on the life and teachings of Jesus.
Drawing on detailed studies of the Sermon on the Mount, the authors shed light on the whole of biblical ethical teaching as it relates to a wide range of issues, including peacemaking, just war, nonviolence, sexuality and gender roles, marriage and divorce, race, economics, care of creation, prayer and politics. Their work yields neither an impossible idealism, nor an abstract ethical system nor a generic religious legalism. Rather they set forth a holistic ethic that motivates us and provides us with a practical basis for living under the lordship of Jesus Christ.
BIOETHICS FROM A FAITH PERSPECTIVE
ETHICS IN HEALTH CARE FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
By Jack Hanford
150 pp., Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press, 2002, $19.95, paperback.
Hanford, a professor emeritus of bioethics at Ferris State University (Michigan), offers a rational, faith-oriented framework for deciding how to deal with important biomedical health care issues. Through case analysis and resolution, on such topics as organ donation, managed care, the Human Genome Project and medical technology, this book shows the relevance, significance and guidance that a faith perspective can offer for dealing with bioethical issues.
CHRISTIAN VIRTUES
By Cindy Bunch
9 studies, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003, $6.00, paperback.
This LifeGuide Bible Study series book will help you study ten virtues-faith, hope, love, wisdom, justice, courage, integrity, moderation, forgiveness and perseverance.
LAW AND ETHICS FOR CLINICIANS
By Jacqulyn Kay Hall
392 pp., Amarillo, TX: Jackhal Books, 2002, $34.95, paperback (order fromhttp://www.jackhalbooks.comor Jackhal Books, 18 Nottingham Road, Amarillo, TX 79124, phone/fax 806-353-8727, add $5.00 for shipping, TX residents add 8.25% sales tax).
This book presents broad and basic law and ethics for doctors, nurses and other health care professionals. The author has extensive experience as a nurse, ethicist, attorney and teacher on the clinical faculty at Texas Tech University School of Medicine and School of Pharmacy. She posits that if clinicians practice their profession well, they will be ethical. That practice then will be far above the minimum standard of the law. Law & Ethics for Clinicians enables the clinician to understand the law by knowing the ethic that produces the law. With that knowledge and a few basic examples of that principle, she can predict the law for herself and know that her practice is lawful.
THINKING CHRISTIANLY ABOUT NURSING
By Judith Allen Shelly
5 studies, Madison, WI; NCF Press, 2003, $5.00, paperback.
Five studies written for nurses guide them through topics related to nursing from a Christian perspective. Based on the same themes as Called to Care: A Christian Theology of Nursing, (InterVarsity Press, 1999), the studies provide a biblical foundation for nursing. Studies include: Nursing: A Response of Faith; Seeing the Whole Person; Understanding Our Environment; Shaping Our Worldview; Shalom: Redefining Health. The studies are intended for personal or group use.
LIFE'S WORTH
THE CASE AGAINST ASSISTED SUICIDE
By Arthur J. Dyck
110 pp., Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2002, $20.00, paperback.
In this book from the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity, the author addresses the moral basis against physician-assisted suicide. Using four concepts, Dyck reminds readers of the worth of human life. He outlines a Christian response for those dying and those who care for them. It is a must read for anyone dealing with these issues.