Orthodox Christian Bioethics

“The Orthodox perspective on bioethics set forth in this book reclaims the oft-invoked ‘phronema of the church’—a term too often spray-painted as golden veneer over sectarian distortions of theology and spirituality—and rejects the temptation to indulge in self-congratulatory exceptionalism and isolationism. By mining tradition for insights about the dignity and vulnerability of all humans, and the centrality of hospitality, Fr. Toumi makes a fruitful Orthodox contribution to global bioethics.”


—Bogdan G. Bucur, Duquesne University





“This book by Rabee Toumi on Orthodox Christian Bioethics is an important contribution to the broad field of bioethics and places Orthodox thinking into the context of questions about human dignity and vulnerability. Toumi’s connection of dignity, vulnerability, and hospitality to questions of bioethics is enlightening and can be applied to many Christian ethical situations. This book is excellent for courses in Christian bioethics.”


—Gayle E. Woloschak, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University





“Dr. Toumi engages an elusive topic in a clear and practical manner. He insightfully explains how the Orthodox Christian mindset can nurture common ground with other value systems, religious or secular. The goal is to build a caring consensus in global bioethics discourse. His extensive training in medicine and theology provides an extraordinary interdisciplinary expertise to explore the human condition respectfully and imaginatively. His astute analysis will have a widespread and much-needed impact.”


—Gerard Magill, Duquesne University