Christian Faith in Creation for Environmental Ethics and Climate Protection

The paper examines the practical consequences of the Christian faith in the creation for environmental ethics and climate protection. Both are interpreted as a practical form of faith in creation, distinguishing between faith in creation and reflected theology of creation. Methodologically, the article proceeds by interpreting classical statements of the Bible and the Christian tradition in light of modern insights. The article pays special attention to the conversation between creation theology and modern evolutionary theory. In this context, the problem of theodicy is posed in a new way. The author criticizes tendencies to reduce faith in creation to ethics. In the Christian tradition, he interprets faith in God as a form of courage based on presuppositions that are not absorbed in anthropology and ethics. Christian faith does not produce but proclaim a meaning of life and of the world, which can come to both only from God and will endure even in view of the possible self-destruction of mankind. This conviction has ethical implications and consequences for a realistic commitment to environmental protection. On the one hand, it is motivating, on the other hand, it is critical of an apocalyptic view of the world and its consequences

Ethics in medicine: Challenges in the 21st century

The article provides an overview of important topics in contemporary medical ethics. Methodologically, it is a literature review. The article addresses only a limited selection of the problematic areas, which are, however, related to each other: digitisation of medicine, genome editing, personalised medicine as well as ethical problems and dilemmas of allocation in healthcare. The global COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as a focus and trigger. Reflections on human rights and justice in medicine are fundamental not only on the individual and social level but also on a global scale. The fundamental question is how society as a whole can be involved in the complex biopolitical and bioethical debate. The social and cultural consequences of life increasingly being understood as a technical product rather than a gift are serious. Contribution: The article also reflects on the specific contribution that Christian theology, and in particular the reformed heritage, can make to bioethical debates in modern society. The distinction between instrumental knowledge [Verfügungswissen] and orientational knowledge [Orientierungswissen] is helpful for its better understanding. A crucial result of this article is that medical treatment is repeatedly faced with ethical dilemmas. Moreover, medical progress not only creates new and better solutions to medical problems, it also raises new ethical questions that did not exist before. The purpose of medical ethics lies in identifying such dilemmas and developing ethical decision-making processes that help us to deal with such dilemmas to some extent

Das Hirntod-Problem

Stoecker R. Das Hirntod-Problem. In: Körtner UHJ, Kopetzki C, Müller S, eds. Hirntod und Organtransplantation - Zum Stand der Diskussion. Schriftenreihe Ethik und Recht. Vol 12. Mörlenbach: Verl. Österreich; 2016: 77-97