George and Jon,
I used the present tense and I am wondering more about "miraculous healing"
in this day and age. We read often about healing of (to us) terminal
diseases such as cancer. Far be in for me to cast doubt on these cases and,
if they are in fact real, to God be the glory. What prompted my question was
an essay written in one of the courses I teach (as an adjunct professor when
I'm not dealing with nuclear waste management issues). The student, a
mature student, wrote and essay on miracles. He had lost a leg in a
motorcycle accident and this made his essay on miracles more poignant. We
discussed "faith healing" and miraculous recoveries and then he mentioned
the results of his accident. He's clearly come to grips with it and I don't
have the faintest doubt about his faith. The question was not so much, "why
did God not heal restore his leg?" but, "are there instances where external
body parts have miraculously been regenerated?" If not, does God limit his
miraculous healing to internal medicine? George, your comment about Jesus
reattaching the severed ear is to the point (and I had not thought of that
event). Thanks.
Chuck
Chuck
-----Original Message-----
From: george murphy [mailto:gmurphy@raex.com]
Sent: Saturday May 26, 2001 7:40 PM
To: Vandergraaf, Chuck
Cc: asa@calvin.edu
Subject: Re: miraculous healing [was: RE: [Fwd: [Fwd: Griffin #2]]]
"Vandergraaf, Chuck" wrote:
> George Murphy wrote,
>
> "Whether we believe that miracles happen or not, we have no business
> _demanding_ that God heal (or whatever) by miraculous means. It isn't our
> place
> to tell God how to do God's job. God can perform a miracle if God wants
to,
> but
> both our experience of the world and belief in God's granting of integrity
> to
> creation should lead us to _expect_ that in the vast majority of cases
God's
> work of healing will take place through the course of natural processes
(in
> which I include the technological application of those processes by
medical
> art
> & science). & in fact that is the best way of understanding the
traditional
> practice of anointing the sick with oil together with prayer for healing:
> Olive
> oil in biblical times was considered a medicine & today it serves as a
> symbol of
> all medicines."
>
> I find it interesting that "miraculous healing" appears to occur only in
> "internal" parts of the body: a cancer is cured, vision or hearing is
> restored, etc. Can anybody cite a case where external body parts were
> restored? For example are there cases where a severed limb was regrown?
> Not reattached, but regrown? If not, do we apply the term "miraculous
> healing" to healing processes that are not understood?
One might look through some of the voluminous (& often credulous)
old
"lives of the saints" for such stories. But for a start, note Lk.22:50-51.
Shalom,
George
George L. Murphy
http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
"The Science-Theology Interface"
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