Spirituality/Medicine Interface Project

Promethean Medicine: Spirituality, Stem Cells, and Cloning

Authors: Daniel P. Sulmasy, OFM, MD, PHD

Abstract

Every ethos implies a mythos. That is, every ethical system depends upon some fundamental story disclosing its assumptions about human nature, freedom, good and evil, and the workings of the universe. A romanticized version of the myth of Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods and was punished by being chained to a rock and having his liver plucked out by vultures, seems to undergird much of contemporary healthcare. Christianity offers a different view—one in which the universe is not a zero sum game and human beings do not need to steal fire because God has already freely given them all the fire they need in Christ and in his spirit. A critical virtue for physicians, taught by Christianity, is sagacious engagement—the ability to engage the world practically, discerning what can and should be changed and what should be accepted as unchangeable and given. The illusory quest for immortality through the practice of regenerative medicine using stem cells is a gross violation of that virtue.


Key Points


* There is a “spirituality” undergirding every ethical system.


* Contemporary research and practice, particularly stem cell research, appears to be guided by the myth of Prometheus.


* Christianity, by contrast, teaches a virtue of “sagacious engagement.”

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