As technology progresses, pastors and physicians are confronted with increasingly complex ethical dilemmas. Unfortunately, most physicians and pastors are poorly prepared to provide the answers that our increasingly humanistic society needs. The course is designed to prepare you to be able to biblically counsel patients, families and physicians in making medical decisions. The course will provide a framework to prepare you to give biblical answers to ethical issues that the unbeliever can not hope to answer. We will explore what God has to say about medical issues and then apply them to real world case studies.

This unique program will be valuable for pastors, elders, divinity students, counselors, physicians and medical personnel, all of whom are encouraged to attend. The five-day institute, presented by Dr. Del Bailey, will address such questions as:

How can God’s Word possibly be useful in modern problems such as cloning when those things could not have been dreamed of 2,000 years ago?

How do we respond when science has “proven” the Bible to be wrong?

What do you say to patients who say they have faith in God to heal their cancer without having treatment?

Should the elders in a church anoint someone with oil as an aid to resolving their illnesses?

If man’s life is special, how can you justify the death penalty?

How can your church best reach out to those who are ill or who have family members who are hospitalized?

Should families compel patients to have interventions against their wills?

Is it ethical for families to reverse wishes from documents such as living wills?

What is the difference between prolonging life and prolonging death?

When is it appropriate to stop life-sustaining measures?

The 2010 Summer Institute presenter is Dr. Lawrence D. "Del" Bailey, staff physician with the Sullivan Digestive Center in Kingsport, Tennessee, specializing in gastroenterology and internal medicine. He is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine. He is a member of the Tennessee Medical Association and Sullivan County Medical Society. Dr. Bailey is a ruling elder at Westminster Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Kingsport and the coordinator of the Biblical Worldview Student Conference this summer at Milligan College near Johnson City, Tennessee.