‘Euthanasia’ in the Seventeenth Century: Ars Moriendi in Dutch Reformed Perspective

Abstract

Euthanasia, in the 17th and 18th century, Reformed authors do not, as present day readers in the 21th century might expect, address primarily the medical-ethical issues involved. After a short glimpse at the medieval roots of the ars moriendi, the art of dying well, and on the way Luther and Calvin approached the dying, attention is given to two representatives of the Dutch Further Reformation, to wit Spranckhuysen and Saldenus. Though Spranckhuysen's spiritual and pastoral approach shows certain Platonic influences, his instructions nevertheless appear to be thoroughly catholic in content and are clearly directed to practical piety. In the view of Saldenus the desire for heaven is a constitutive feature of piety and a distinguishing mark of Christian life. A fair reappraisal of the classical ars moriendi hopefully provides a salutary counterbalance against the one-sided attention to life here and now in this world which passes away. Keywords: Ars Moriendi ; Calvin; Euthanasia; Luther; Spranckhuysen