“This day I call the heavens and the earth against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life so that you and your children may live…For the LORD is your life” (Deut 30:19–20). This appeal concludes Deuteronomy’s explication of the Torah—God’s expectations for God’s people. In this paper, it will be argued that the expectations laid out in Deuteronomy’s laws (chs. 12–26) have life as both its foundation and its telos. To pursue this argument, the concept of life within Deuteronomy will be explored, as well as its uses within the book. Further, sections of Deuteronomy will be addressed that seem to contradict this thesis, such as punishments within the law that require death to the offending party (e.g., Deut 13). Deuteronomy identifies itself as a community formation document not only for its original readers, but for any who would submit to living in the community where YHWH lives (e.g., Sonnet). This claim provides a foundation from which a paradigm for Christian bioethics can be proposed based upon the text itself (e.g., Martens, Wenham, and Wright). This methodological turn illustrates the inadequacy of prooftexts and requires a robust understanding of the overall argument and rhetoric of Deuteronomy as a community formation document that aims to effect change in behavior. This paper will bring these ideas together. In short, it does not suffice to say that these ancient theologians were engaging bioethics, per se, but they were engaging in lifeethics. By exploring Deuteronomy in this way, contemporary Christians can train ourselves to walk the same paths of “life” while answering different questions about life and death (e.g., O’Dowd).