The need for ethical practice models is more critical in modern medicine than ever before. Medical practitioners are faced with increasingly complex diagnostic, preventative, and therapeutic procedures. Current issues in medicine that mandate ethical decisions include genetic research, in vitro fertilization, euthanasia, living wills, and abortion. Historically, medical practitioners could rely on the "do no harm" maxim, but advances in modern medicine have blurred the clarity of implementing this recognized standard.
Any study of ethics should include an examination of the philosophical and religious foundations of morality in Western society. For this reason, Bible study is warranted. Biblical ethics help explain what an individual's duties to humanity are. The Bible also helps people to understand their present experience. Biblical text, similar to ethics interpretation, is not passive. As Flatt puts it: "The interpreter should allow the text to modify and to mold his own preunderstandings, prejudices, and presuppositions."
Five commonly used terms in deciphering the meaning of the Bible are exegesis, hermeneutics, interpretation, homiletics, and presuppositions. Exegesis seeks to determine Biblical text within the context and culture of the original writers. Hermeneutics is the principle or theory underlying exegesis. Interpretation is the application of the meaning learned through exegesis to the modern-day lives of individuals. Presuppositions are the set of mental conclusions that the interpreter brings to his or her task. Homiletics is the sermonizing of the knowledge gained through exegesis.
Exegesis requires sufficient historical understanding of the Biblical period to develop an affinity for the feelings, presuppositions, and motives of the testament writers. Knowledge of the original Greek, Hebrew, and Roman languages and grammatical systems is also required. Exegesis is the foundation of Bib...