A Glass Darkly ― Medicine and Theology in Further Dialogue

This book is a sequel to the first volume of New International Studies in Applied Ethics and includes essays from some of the same contributors. Like the previous volume, the book explores the interface between medicine and theology. The essays demonstrate the complementarity evident between the two and examine how those coming from different theological traditions are able to provide helpful insights. Points of disagreement, and their crucial role in contributing to an understanding of the complexities of the debate, are acknowledged.
Much of the discussion focuses on use of the Bible. The contributors show an awareness of the pastoral necessity of providing access to new medical technologies for those in need. Out of this emerges a positive view of some of the human benefits of modern medicine and the ways in which Christian theology can engage with it constructively. The discussion throughout is related to the wider literature in the field.

The Editors: D. Gareth Jones is a neuroscientist and bioethicist. He is Director of the Bioethics Centre and Professor of Anatomy and Structural Biology at the University of Otago, New Zealand, where he served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor over the years 2005-9. Recent books include Designers of the Future (2005), Medical Ethics (4th edition, 2005), Bioethics (2007) and Speaking for the Dead: The Human Body in Biology and Medicine (2nd edition, 2009).
R. John Elford is Visiting Professor of Ethics at Leeds Metropolitan University. Recent publications include The Pastoral Nature of Theology (1999) and The Ethics of Uncertainty (2000).