The Hippocratic Oath

Taken from 'Creation' Magazine Vol. 29 No. 3 June-Aug 2007

'I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody if asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly, I will not give a woman an abortive remedy' The Hippocratic Oath, as translated by Ludwig Edelstein.

These words, penned approximately four centuries before Christ, still hold immense relevance today. Their writer was Hippocrates, a philosopher and physician of Ancient Greece who is often considered to be 'the father of medicine'. Hippocrates' 'Oath' encapsulated the idea prevalent ion Greek philosophy that suicide was a social evil akin to killing another human person, but for the first time placed it in a code of practice for doctors.

Medical students in many western countries are sill required to take the above 'Hippocratic oath'. The anti-abortion clause, however, at least in my country of Australia, has been conveniently ( and tragically) removed, a reflection of the secularization of our revolutionised culture. Modern medicine has all but abandoned the principle of the sanctity of human life that Hippocrates enunciated, and which is also found in the Genesis account of man being made in God's image. For example, today abortion is considered by many to be a 'pregnancy choice' rather than the destruction of another human being. Medical treatments are withdrawn from patients on the basis that they lack 'quality of life', rather than considering whether the treatment will help the person get better or preserve their life until the natural end.

The belief that we have evolved from simpler creatures if often used to justify the rejection of God as Creator.... Without God, life becomes purposeless...... The truth is that people have lost their sense of what it means to be human. Life, instead of being a precious gift, become evaluated according to its 'quality'. A person whilst Young, active and productive has a high 'quality of life', yet once this person becomes old, disabled or dependent, the quality is reduced, and his or her life may no longer be considered to be worth living or protecting......

The decline of respect for life in western culture is one more symptom of the tragic foundational shift away from biblical worldview to one based on evolutionary humanism.

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