discuss: faith healing
This article talks about the world of faith healing, as another person has died because he refused treatment, choosing instead to trust in the Lord for healing.
Such an article is sad, especially when they said that the condition was fully treatable. I believe in God’s healing power, as I have seen friends be healed of things, but I don’t think that medicine is the enemy. Is my father working against God because he spent most of his professional life treating cancer patients? Did God not give us medicine as a miracle of its own? I mean, it said that a catheter would have healed the boy. Isn’t it amazing that God gave us the ability to create something like a catheter? In the medieval period, the kid wouldn’t even have been diagnosed properly!
I’ve heard stories like this before. Another one was where parents refused to give their diabetic kid insulin because they had faith that God would cure his diabetes. The kid died. Stories like this saddens me because I think that medicine is a gift, not a curse.
The question(s):
Do you believe in God’s ability to heal? If yes, How do you feel about medicine? Where do you draw the line between asking for healing and taking the medicine?
June 24th, 2008 at 10:49 am
Yes, I believe that God can heal. However, I also believe that God does not do anything supernatural when an “ordinary” alternative (i.e. proper medicine) is available.
For example, the star stops moving (or disappears, it’s vague about that of course) for the wise men in Matthew 2:1-11 when they arrive in Jerusalem, so they ask Herod about the location of Jesus. Of course, they could have just followed the star all the way to Bethlehem, but that was not to be. God basically forced them to ask Herod, and the chief priests and scribes easily provided an answer. Then the star continued moving as they approached Bethlehem. When other options were exhausted, the star began to move again.
Or, I believe that this can be compared to Satan’s temptation of Jesus to throw himself off the top of the temple with the faith that God’s angels would catch Him in Matthew 4:6-7. But it is also written that “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” It was unnecessary to jump off the temple, and I believe it unnecessary to forgo medicine.
So I believe that God does not provide miracles when alternate solutions are just as easily available. Of course, if a disease does not have a cure, then faith in God can cure people if they have enough faith (but also with prayer and fasting in some occurences).
June 24th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
I do believe in God’s ability to heal. I also believe that we are permitted to use medicine because God has given us wisdom to treat negative circumstances with natural remedies. Admittedly so, I am pretty subjective in regards to when to treat situations with medicine and when to pray and trust God for healing. Yet, in numerous circumstances I have seen God remove pain in bodies that had been plagued with pain for years, so I favor trusting in Jesus for healing.
Those that know me know that I lean towards being anti-medicine on a daily basis. I have an earnest skepticism of the majority of drug manufacturers and am not comfortable using drugs stronger than an Ibuprofen because these high-power drugs have potentially detrimental side-effects.
More importantly, my reasoning for trusting in God for healing is not based on paranoia of drugs. It’s the fact that God has all power and He desires that we would ask Him for help! God wants someone to trust in Him and His authority to change a situation because it shows our faith in Him. He wants us to exercise faith in Him that He can heal because He is glorified in that situation.
Also, in response to PCEevee’s quote: “So I believe that God does not provide miracles when alternate solutions are just as easily available.” Perhaps, but my experiences make me to differ with your belief. In the past I have had friends pray for my headache or I’ve prayed for someone’s eyes that are in pain or someone’s sore wrist and God removes that pain instantly! That is a situation where an alternate solution is easily available and most likely not harmful to one’s body, but yet God provides healing. Have you had any of these experiences or have you seen healing on a grand scale alone?
Finally, all of this must be balanced with wisdom. If one has an apparent stroke or heart attack then I feel it is best to go to the hospital and be treated, even if that involves medicine. I would attempt to choose wisely what medicines I would take - no to Vicodin but yes to Ibuprofen.
June 24th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
In response to your question, yes. I’ve seen it during both a short-term missions trip and your Bible study last semester. Though I will add that, praise God, I currently do not need nor have ever needed to take medicine for more than a few days.
First, I think we need to be on the same page with regard to the definition of medicine. I believe that the question posed is referring the second one of the Dictionary.com one, which is “the art or science of restoring or preserving health or due physical condition, as by means of drugs, surgical operations or appliances, or manipulations.” I believe that because the article referred to a surgical operation that was ignored by somebody choosing to trust in God instead, not a drug.
I will agree that it is preferable to trust in God for healing when the alternative (i.e. pharmaceutical drug) comes with a 2% risk (or some number like that) of a negative side effect. Obviously, the two are not equal. But when it comes to surgical operations, I would say it is preferable to utilize what has been revealed to humanity and put it to good use. Though I will also add the qualifier that medicine could make people think that they don’t need God, which is always a risk when we get more knowledge.
June 25th, 2008 at 2:55 am
The question of drugs is an interesting and difficult one. It’s easy for me to hate on anti-depressants and painkillers because I’m not depressed and I have a high(ish) threshold for pain. Matt knows me well enough to know that I’m not even comfortable with too much caffeine because I don’t want to be addicted to anything.
But what would it then mean if a Christian is on some kind of drug, even though it’s legal in the eyes of the government? Are they in error or are they merely lacking faith?
It’s a sticky question; that’s why it’s here for discussion!