Last update:
29-Sep-2025

The Christian ethic differs from the secular ethic and the ethic of various philosophers or philosophical movements. The Christian ethic is related to the connection of the individual Christian with the God-Man and, by extension, the doctrinal teaching of the Church. The ethos of the Orthodox Christian faith sees Christ himself in the person of the other person, and the person who is governed by it does what is right, not out of fear but out of unlimited love for the Triune God and the incarnate Christ. The ethos in Christ can be applied to every aspect of human life. Orthodox Ethics is not opposed to the science of medicine nor to its achievements. It is enough, of course, that medicine and every achievement of doctors and scientists associated with medicine be taken into account. The science in which the application of Christian ethics bears great fruit is medicine. The case of Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol and Crimea, is typical. This scientist not only excelled in the science of medicine, but by combining medicine with Christian ethics, he treated man holistically and as an image of God, without caring whether he was rich or poor, Christian or atheist, educated or uneducated, lawful or unlawful; the Christian contribution to medical ethics was enormous and edifying. This paper shows that central to Luke, Archbishop of Crimea's application of medical science, is his Christian belief in the intrinsic value of human life, for the respect of which we are accountable to God. Christianity still deserves its place "in the public sphere" and, in particular, in the medical ethical discourse, something that is emphatically noted within the life and work of the Archbishop of Simferopol and Crimea, the physician Valentin Felixovich Voyno-Yasenetsky.

Key words: Αnatomy, Luke the physician, Stalin prize, Valentin Felixovich Voyno-Yasenetsky.