Tag Archives: biblical

Alternative Medicine – Important Questions

Over the past 15 to 20 years alternative forms of health care have gone from being on the fringe to being main stream. Years ago when we had sickness, we relied on family remedies that had been passed on from generation to generation and, if these failed, we had conventional Western medicine. Today, in many ways, we are less likely to be satisfied with our age old family remedies, and we are increasingly suspicious of conventional Western medicine. (Our suspicion of traditional Western medicine play a smaller role when we are faced with very severe problems, such as a major car accident) Instead of trusting in traditional Western medicine, we are increasingly looking to alternatives such as:

acupuncture, tai chai, homeopathy, chiropractic, reflexology, cranial sacral therapy, bioenergetics, yoga, therapeutic touch, message therapy, etc., … Read the rest

Personhood – Location of the Mind (and Understanding Dementia)

In the posting titled  Personhood – Which Comes First Death of the Body or Departure of the Soul[1]  I grappled with the question of the mind. Science can show that activities of the mind and physical activities in the brain are connected but science does not prove that the mind is simply a function of physical brain activity. Clearly, for others to know that thoughts are occurring in a person’s mind the person must have a functioning brain to express the thoughts through.… Read the rest

I Believe – Comfort in Life and Death

Where do we find comfort in life and in death?  Is not a search for this comfort at least part of what is involved  in activities like organ donation, invito fertilization, writing a living will and in considering euthanasia?

We often treat dying like an enemy to be avoided and battled against.  If we are told that one of our vital organs is failing and our death will result unless we get a transplant, then it makes sense that we seek comfort in the possibility of a transplant. … Read the rest

IVF – Strength from Weakness or Weakness from Strength?

One aspect of Invitro Fertilization that raises some questions is the process of selecting which eggs and subsequently selecting which growing embryos are given the opportunity to be placed in the mothers uterus so that they might continue to grow.

A biblical precept is that God, in His wisdom chooses to use the weak to confound those who appear strong.  God brings strength out of weakness.  In 1 Corinthians chapter 1, it says,

But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.  

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