Toward a Common Grace Christian Bioethics: A Reformed Protestant Engagement with H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr

Abstract

This article should be thought to be more of an engagement with the Christian bioethics approach of Engelhardt as opposed to a response. There is much in Engelhardt’s critique of secular bioethics and his proposal for Christian bioethics that is right-headed and insightful. We exposit an approach to Christian bioethics from the perspective of Reformed Protestantism. First, we outline Engelhardt’s critique of secular bioethics, his concept of moral strangers, and his understanding of what constitutes Christian bioethics. Second, in contrast to Engelhardt’s method, we appeal to a Reformed doctrine of common grace as groundwork for developing our distinct approach. Third, we identify what we take to be the public significance of common grace for Christians involved in bioethics.