1958 Ideals in Medicine

This one is actually a joint effort with two others

Ideals in Medicine, A Christian Approach to medical practice edited by V Edmunds and C G Scorer.

Foreword

Some will no doubt greet this book with a weary sigh and comment that “Here is another treatise on a well-worn theme”. That, however, is exactly what it is not! For, strangely enough, comparatively little has been written about Medical Ethics and associated matters. Further, it is apparent that the subject is growing in complexity with each main advance in scientific Medicine. We feel, therefore, that the production of such a book is particularly valuable at this stage in the evolution of medicine. To any medical student, who may have read thus far and wonders if this concerns him at all, we would put one or to questions. A woman who is dying from a rapidly spreading cancer asks to be told the truth about her condition, but her husband forbids it. What would you do? Would you tell her a lie? Whatever your view of such a case may be, is it ever right to tell patients untruths, or partial truths, or to practice deception in any way?Such questions go to the very heart of one's ethical principles. Again, in some countries, the most the most altruistic and painstaking acts may be grossly misused even by the patient. One of our surgical colleagues, working in a Christian hospital in Asia, excised the patella of a tribesman and made a good job of restoring full function to the knee-joint. As the patient was leaving the hospital, the surgeon enquired why he had so many notches cut on his walking-staff. The proud reply came back that each notch represented a man whom he had killed, and how glad he was to be able to get about again so that he could finish off the blood-feud and add several other victims to his bag! Or the ancient rules which have been inherited from the Babylonian Medicine of 2250 B. C., or from the Greek Medicine of 400 BC? Who, or What, determines our reactions in these matters? It is true, of course, that slowly over the years medical principles have become to some extent standardised. We must, indeed, be grateful for the high standards which have come to be the guiding influence in Medicine at its best and we must all aim to approximate our Practice to the best that we know. Few leading members of the profession have taken in hand to set down exactly what might be recognised as a universally binding code of medical ethics. Even if they had, they could scarcely have met in advance all the problems and dilemmas which come with each scientific advance. We would ask, therefore, if there is not a place for conscience as an arbiter? But if its voice is to have its due place, it needs to be adequately informed. The writers of this book are obviously amongst those convinced that the Christian-trained conscience has been the most valuable arbiter in European civilization and should continue to occupy such a place. It is relevant to enquire how far the high standards achieved in the late nineteenth century by doctors in the English-speaking world were the result of deep Christian influence on their education. Such considerations have a bearing not only upon matters of life and death, but upon the problems of human rights, generally, as well as upon such matters as artificial insemination and euthanasia. To what then must we direct our primary concern? As doctors we are called upon to treat the body. Yet how far can we treat it without taking into consideration the personality as a whole?There is a refreshing story of an earlier Chaplain General of the Forces, who when asked to speak on “Has man a soul?” startled his audience by declaring that the answer was “No!” He went on to explain that “Man has a body, but he is a soul”. We all know now that personality and the interrelation of of soul and body are more complex than earlier scientific Medicine was prepared to allow. The existing wide gaps in our literature on these subjects are felt especially by younger members of the Profession. What they need is not detailed answers to a multitude of potential problems so much as a statement of general principles, with a few typical applications worked out. The writers of this book have given much time and thought in an endeavour to provide these for them. They have produced a book which will arouse interest. We welcome its publication in the hope that it will so stimulate us all to think these things through for ourselves and prove to be the beginning of increasingly informed and accurate writing on the subject.

 

W. M. C. D. M. Ll-J. H. J. O-E.

(W Melville Capper, D Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Hugh J Orr-Ewing)

1958 Whitefield Sermons

SELECT SERMONS BY GEORGE WHITEFIELD

With an account of his life by J C Ryle (Banner of Truth)

 

FOREWORD

It is a privilege to be asked to commend this volume, and to be associated in any way with two such names as George Whitefield and Bishop Ryle.

Nothing has been sadder in the story of the last fifty years in the church, nor more significant, than the way in which George Whitefield has been neglected, and especially as one considers the very considerable attention that has been given to his contemporary, John Wesley. That was certainly not the position two hundred years ago, and it should not be the case now.
Of all the men of the eighteenth century whom God raised up to do that marvellous work called

'the Evangelical Awakening', none was more remarkable than George Whitefield. Of few men can it be said that their preaching was 'apostolic' in character, but it certainly can be said of Whitefield. His whole career from beginning to His whole career from beginning to end was an amazing phenomenon and his Herculean labours both in Great Britain and America can only be explained by the power of the Holy Ghost.
But Whitefield was not only the greatest preacher and orator of the eighteenth century, he was also one of its most saintly characters, if not the saintliest of all. Certainly there was no more humble or lovable man amongst them. What can be more profitable, next to the Bible itself, than to read something of the life of such a man and to read his own words!
This volume provides an excellent introduction. The famous essay by Bishop Ryle is certainly the best short account of Whitefield that has ever been done, and it is good that it should be thus reprinted. At the same time this volume provides samples of the great preacher's sermons which serve to illustrate the points emphasized by the Bishop. It is a judicious and representative selection.
May God grant that, as we read of the man whom God made so mighty, and the things which he taught and preached, we may be led to long for and to pray for such a revival in our day and generation as God gave in His sovereign grace and mercy two hundred years ago.

February 1958
D M LLOYD-JONES
Westminster Chapel London

1968 Fletcher's Christ Manifested

Christ Manifested
by John Fletcher

Foreword

It is most appropriate that the famous letters of the saintly John Fletcher should be re-published in 1968. For this year happens to be the 200th anniversary of the opening of the Countess of Huntingdon's College at Trevecca, for the training of preachers (later known as Cheshunt College). John Fletcher was the first president of the College, which was opened in 1768 by George Whitefield, who preached several sermons on that occasion.
Fletcher was one of that great and remarkable company of men raised up by God in the eighteenth century in connection with The Evangelical Awakening - a company which included George Whitefield, John and Charles Wesley, Daniel Rowlands, Howel Harris and John Cennick.
These men belonged to two main groups, determined chiefly by their views on the subject of Free Will and Sanctification. At times the controversy between them was acute and even bitter but at the first anniversary of the opening of the college at Trevecca in August 1769, the leaders of both parties were present and took part in the worship, the preaching and the partaking of the Lord's Supper at a great Communion Service.
What made this possible was their common experience of the grace of God, their doctrine of assurance, but above all their deep experimental knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what made them the men they were and gave them their evangelistic zeal; and this accounts for the authority which was such a great characteristic of their preaching. This is what brought them together, in spite of their differences.
Nothing is more important than this; and it is the theme of these six letters on The Spiritual Manifestations of the Son of God.
They have been so long out of print, and almost impossible to obtain apart from the rare copies of the Complete Works of John Fletcher. It is particularly good to have them as a separate volume in this way.
I shall never forget my first reading of these letters and the benediction to my soul that they proved to be. They are undoubtedly a spiritual classic.
At a time like this, when many are preoccupied almost exclusively with questions of ecclesiastical organisation and realignment and others are in danger of falling into a Corinthian and fanatical interest in spiritual phenomena and the majority perhaps are just practising formal Christianity, nothing can be more salutary than the message of this book. It points us to the one thing that finally matters, and without which all else is more or less vain. It also points us to the highway to revival - both personal and general.
May God bless it and use it to that end.

D. MARTYN LLOYD-JONES
Westminster

January 1968