Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

November 30, 2012

I'm pleased that Dr Megan Best's book 'Fearfully and Wonderfully Made' has been released by Matthias Media. Like many people, I have been awaiting this book for some years. I was excited when I had the privilege of reading an advance copy. Megan Best is a bioethicist and palliative care doctor who lives and works in Sydney. She will be well known to many readers of this blog and to CASE associates. She has written for CASE many times, presented papers at our conferences and has been an associate and faculty member since the inception of the Centre in 2002. Some of us have also been sent briefing papers prior to government decisions on new legislation, and received passionate emails calling us to action. Dr Best has been one of the most effective Christian voices in this country on the ethics of life's beginning and end. As a result, many of us have also encouraged her to write this book on the ethics of the beginning of life (and we hope to see one on the 'end' of life in time).

It is a remarkable book written by a remarkable person. Megan Best has committed a large part of her life to understanding the beginnings of life and the moral and ethical issues that we face in relation to conception, birth, abortion, miscarriage, pregnancy, and reproductive technologies of all kinds. I doubt that there is another person who could have written this book, certainly not as well.

For those of us who want to understand the ethical and moral issues concerning the beginning of life, we have difficulty keeping up with the medical and technological changes, not to mention the many voices commenting on them. In the rapidly changing field of reproductive medicine, we need accurate and well-informed information. We also need to consider how this can be interpreted ethically within a sound biblical framework.

Dr Megan Best provides what is lacking in both of these vital areas. Built on extensive historical, biblical and medical research, 'Fearfully and Wonderfully Made' is the comprehensive, accurate, biblically based ethical handbook that many of us have been waiting for.

Dr Best has set out to write a book that will inform Christian and non-Christian’s seeking answers to the many issues and questions that face us concerning the beginning of life. She weaves together the best secular knowledge, ethical, moral and historical writings, medical research, public policy, law, personal experience and biblical wisdom. This incredible synthesis is done with a great sense of compassion and without judgement. This is a book that is written with humility, grace and understanding of the varied circumstances of the lives of those who face dilemmas and decisions to be made prior to conception, after conception and at time of birth. The facts and the pain of many are at times confronting. Few people will be able to read the chapters on abortion, miscarriage and infertility without tears.

This is a timely book that fills a great gap. It will inform, challenge, offer hope and give answers to the many people who struggle with the complex range of issues that face us, as we seek to understand and make decisions about the beginning of life. I commend it to you.

You can read all our previous posts on medical ethics HERE.

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