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Carrying on the Healing Mission of Christ: Medical Ethics in the Christian Tradition

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Neurosurgery and Medical Ethics

Part of the book series: Acta Neurochirurgica Supplements ((NEUROCHIRURGICA,volume 74))

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Abstract

Speaking of the traditional Christian approach of medical ethics, we should be aware of the fact that, though Christianity has existed for nearly two millennia, medical ethics as a distinct discipline dates from the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Antoninus of Florence (archbishop of Florence, 1389–1459) was the first theologian devoting a separate chapter to the various obligations of physicians in his Repertoriumtotius Summae [1]. The first books exclusively dealing with medical ethical judicial (and juridical) questions were De Christiana ac tuta medendi ratione of Baptista Codronchi (physician at Imola, 1547–1628) [2], Quaestionum Medico-Legalium Opus absolutissimum of Paolo Zacchia, (1584–1659, physician general of the Vatican State) [3], and Ventilabrum medicotheologicum of the physician and theologian Michael Boudewyns [4]. Among Protestants, medical ethics became a special branch of theological ethics with the Anglican situation ethicist Joseph Fletcher [5] and the more traditional Methodist Paul Ramsey [6].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Theology, Via Nassa 66, CH-6900, Lugano, Switzerland

    Willem Jacobus Eijk M.D., Ph.D. (Priest, Professor of Moral Theology)

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  1. Willem Jacobus Eijk M.D., Ph.D.
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Academisch Ziekenhuis Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    H. August van Alphen M.D., Ph.D.

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© 1999 Springer-Verlag Wien

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Eijk, W.J. (1999). Carrying on the Healing Mission of Christ: Medical Ethics in the Christian Tradition. In: van Alphen, H.A. (eds) Neurosurgery and Medical Ethics. Acta Neurochirurgica Supplements, vol 74. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-6387-0_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-6387-0_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Vienna

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-7091-7310-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-7091-6387-0

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