God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)
1. Sickness helps to remind men of death.
2. Sickness helps to make men think seriously of God, and their souls, and the world to come.
3. Sickness helps to soften men’s hearts, and teach them wisdom.
4. Sickness helps to level and humble us.
5. Sickness helps to try men’s religion, of what sort it is.
Arguments Opposing Euthanasia:
1. The Sanctity of Life – Human life, because created in the image of God, is sacred. No measure is too extreme, no cost too high, to preserve what God has made.
2. Biblical prohibition vs. life-taking – Killing the innocent is condemned in both the OT and NT.
3. Hope – Medical history is filled with examples of people thought to have incurable/terminal diseases who were later healed when medical knowledge increased.
4. The value of suffering – The Bible says that people grow and mature and deepen in their understanding of and trust in God when they endure suffering. In other words, there is a sanctifying effect in physical suffering.
5. The biblical perspective on death – Death is the final indignity, no matter what form it takes. Death is the last enemy, to be resisted, not embraced.
6. Divine healing
7. The Slippery Slope – “Euthanasia will not be restricted to the terminally ill. Rather, it will be extended to people with varying quality of life circumstances. Opponents [of active euthanasia] fear that candidates for euthanasia will include the nonterminally ill, such as people with Alzheimer's disease or other degenerative brain diseases, the severely mentally retarded, and handicapped newborns” (Rae, 173).
