Overview of the bioethics site

This article by Father John Breck, an Orthodox theologian teaching at Saint Vladimir's and Saint Sergius seminaries, offers a systematic overview of the main issues in contemporary bioethics viewed from an Orthodox perspective. Adopting both a descriptive and normative approach, the author reviews questions relating to procreation, genetics, the treatment of the dying, and euthanasia. The central idea is that bioethics cannot be treated as a purely technical or sociological discipline: it is fundamentally theological, since the meaning of human life lies in theosis, communion with God. The contribution of the article is to show how Orthodox anthropology — the human person created in the image of God and called to deification — provides stable criteria in the face of prevailing ethical relativism, while opening a space for ecumenical dialogue on moral questions whose answers engage the very conception of the human person.