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We stand on the brink of unprecedented growth in our ability to understand and change the human genome. New reproductive technologies now enable parents to select some genetic traits for their children, and soon it will be possible to begin to shape ourselves as a species. Despite the loud cries of alarm that such a prospect inspires, Ronald Green argues that we will-and we should-undertake the direction of our own evolution. A leader in the bioethics community, Green offers a scientifically and ethically informed view of human genetic self-modification and the possibilities it opens up for a better future. Fears of a terribleBrave New Worldor a new eugenics movement are overblown, he maintains, and in the more likely future, genetic modifications may improve parents' ability to enhance children's lives and may even promote social justice. The author outlines the new capabilities of genomic science, addresses urgent questions of safety that genetic interventions pose, and explores questions of parenting and justice. He also examines the religious implications of gene modification. Babies by design are assuredly in the future, Green concludes, and by making responsible choices as we enter that future, we can incorporate gene technology in a new age of human adventure.

Medical error is a leading problem of health care in the United States. Each year, more patients die as a result of medical mistakes than are killed by motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer, or AIDS. While most government and regulatory efforts are directed toward reducing and preventing errors, the actions that should follow the injury or death of a patient are still hotly debated. According to Nancy Berlinger, conversations on patient safety are missing several important components: religious voices, traditions, and models. In After Harm, Berlinger draws on sources in theology, ethics, religion, and culture to create a practical and comprehensive approach to addressing the needs of patients, families, and clinicians affected by medical error. She emphasizes the importance of acknowledging fallibility, telling the truth, confronting feelings of guilt and shame, and providing just compensation. After Harm adds important human dimensions to an issue that has profound consequences for patients and health care providers.

Chow shares that when patients come to him, it's easy to see himself as a central part of their orbit, but he is really a vague, blurry periphery in most of their lives, which, in turn, swirl around their own vibrant stars. These can be relationships like family, simple joys like hobbies, or even intangible. They are certainly not him in clinic. He feels he chose the right career, one where he can perhaps help people cherish whatever brightens their lives for a just little longer.

Throughout its history, the American West symbolized a place of hope and new beginnings, where anything was possible, especially for men.However, the history written until the 1970s and 1980s excluded women.Sigrid Schönfelder illustrates how the American West served as a catalytic gold mine for many transformations for women.

Sivanand shares the experiences of her patient, a war refugee who suffers post-traumatic stress disorder. As the refugee has been separated from her family in Kigali, Rwanda, she hopes for a new dawn for her and her family. As a refugee, she takes herself to church, where her title as volunteer, is perhaps the most legitimate one. She also conveys how the kindness of other people softens the beating of her mind while giving her some motivation to move forward.

As a cancer patient and Old Testament scholar, I will offer my thoughts on how the Old Testament speaks theologically and practically to the human condition in relation to deadly disease. This essay follows (in broad strokes) my lifelong formative theological and ecclesiastical experiences with healing in Scripture and among believers. Episodes in my personal experience will be followed by theological exegesis related to perspectives and passages in the Old Testament that I find pertinent for the topic of cancer or any life-threatening illness or injury in the life of Christians whose faith is connected to the Bible as divine revelation. In particular, and mainly, texts related to wisdom in the Old Testament (Ecclesiastes to be exact) are considered. This is followed by reflections on passages that appear to offer guarantees of healing and then a conclusion that draws personal but also, hopefully, appropriate universal lessons about sickness and mortality from the Hebrew Bible.

Abstract Navigating pastoral care as a congregational rabbi is complex. Requiring deep self-reflection, intention, an understanding of the power dynamics inherent in the role and the multi-dimensional character of each person encountered, the pastoral role is a significant responsibility. Using the rabbinic model of PaRDeS, I return to an essay written as a student rabbi, before I stepped into congregational practice, imagining the work ahead and the aims and objectives of pastoral care. After years in the role, I reflect upon my initial article to see whether my imaginings still apply and how the challenges of congregational work affect pastoral encounters. Through this reflective dialogue, pastoral care can be seen as not only interconnected moments of compassion between two individuals and a connection to something greater than ourselves, but vital justice work in an unjust world.

This article discusses reproductive history and recent developments in reproductive rights and freedoms in Ireland.

This symposium includes twelve personal narratives from individuals who have had a near-death experience (NDE) in medical or surgical settings. It also includes three commentaries on these narratives by experts in NDEs, healthcare ethics, spiritual counseling, and chaplaincy. The stories and commentaries highlight how healthcare workers' reactions to NDEs may have long-term positive or negative effects on patients and their families. The symposium identifies gaps in care and provides a road map for nonjudgmental and supportive responses to NDEs.

The concept of \"reframing\" lies at the heart of the pastoral psychology of Donald Capps. In previous articles I have argued that the process of reframing follows a circular hermeneutics. An excavation of Capps' hermeneutics reveals foundations in the fields of philosophy and psychology. This article focuses on the legacy of Johann Gottfried von Herder, Friedrich Schleiermacher, William James and Paul Ricoeur. It explores the differences and commonalities between William James and Friedrich Schleiermacher's understanding of religious experience as well as Paul Ricoeur's understanding of narrativity and traces these strains to Capps' pastoral psychology. As illustration of his pastoral approach to healing and wholeness the problem of \"the depleted self,\" so prevalent in \"our narcissistic age,\" encounters the healing narrative of Jesus that appeals to \"the will to believe.\"