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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