End of Life and Saving Souls: Should a Desire for Converts Influence End-of-life Ethics?

Authors

Michelle E. Frazer, Cedarville UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Fall 2013

Volume

13

Issue

1

Keywords

End of life, salvation

Abstract

In 1 Timothy 2:3, Paul states “God our Savior… wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (NIV). In keeping with God’s desire for the salvation of all, Christians should work towards that goal. From an evangelical Christian perspective, upon death, the status of one’s soul is fixed, bound either for heaven or hell.

This perspective should deeply influence our interactions with unbelievers, not only encouraging us to share the gospel, but also giving us an incentive to delay their physical death. Indeed, according to 2 Peter 3:9, the reason God is delaying the final consummation of all things is because “he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Similarly, Christians should desire to avoid taking away an individual’s chance at salvation. This argument can be a powerful (though not necessarily all-trumping) argument against killing, often used in the context of pacifist or anti-death penalty argumentation, but I contend this argument is also an important consideration for end-of-life ethics in a medical context.

Comments

Paper originally prepared for the Honors Seminar Body and Soul: Foundations of Human Personhood

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Frazer, Michelle E., "End of Life and Saving Souls: Should a Desire for Converts Influence End-of-life Ethics?" (2013). CedarEthics Online. 54.
https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/cedar_ethics_online/54