Christianity

Christianity

  • Submitted By: milowery
  • Date Submitted: 04/16/2016 11:34 AM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 2863
  • Page: 12

Within a short time span, hospitals and medical care have greatly changed. In fact, today a man of seventy can justly claim that more medical progress has been made in his lifetime than in all previous history. The new possibilities in medical science force us to cope with issues our forefathers never faced. The constant development in current medical technology has transformed medical practice from caring to curing. According to this philosophy, when someone is faced with a medical problem, everything that can be done ought to be done.


Healthcare in Bible Times


The medical profession is an old one. Physicians were unquestionably a visible part of society in Bible times. Scripture refers to the medical practice both favourably and disdainfully. Charlatans, magicians, and witchdoctors were to be driven from society and avoided at all costs (Lev. 19:31; Deut. 18:10). However, doctors like Luke (the author of Luke and Acts) were respected men (Col. 4:14). Job referred to his comforters as "worthless physicians" (Job 13:4).


In the New Testament, Jesus is the Great Physician. He was concerned not only with humanity's spiritual condition but also with its physical state. He did not teach that we should accept suffering stoically. He saw it as an enemy, which must be fought. He was involved in the lives of people who were in a situation of distress. All four Gospels reveal that, along with His teaching, He healed many. He showed compassion to the multitudes (Mark 8:2). He healed the sick, opened the eyes of the blind, made the lame walk, and the deaf to hear. When Jesus healed a woman on the Sabbath, His reply to the criticism was: "Should this woman... not be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?" (Luke 13:16). Jesus expected His disciples, along with their teaching to heal. "He sent them [the twelve disciples] out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick" (Luke 9:2). He told His disciples when you look after the sick, you look after...

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