On 4/6/07, Michael Roberts <michael.andrea.r@ukonline.co.uk> wrote:
>
> This is very close to my practise too and I have done a funeral of a
> non-church member last week and another in ten days. I say a few things
> about the deceased and then some Christian comment but not say Fred who
> never showed any interest in worship has been let through the pearly
> gates.
> However I do give some Christian proclamation - low key - either
> expounding
> a passage often John 14 or explaining the gospel in the hymns they
> chose..
>
> Terry will tell us we are off-topic. However we must make clear that the
> Gospel can only give solace if it is true.
Michael,
I don't know if I can agree with that last statement. For example, in
medicine, the placebo effect is well-known and well documented. For a new
drug to become accepted in trials, in not only has to be shown to give an
improvement in the patient's condition, but it also has to be shown to do
significantly better than a placebo drug that is administered in a
double-blind trial. The plain fact is that people often get better after
administration of a placebo treatment (which should have no effect at all),
simply because they believe that the treatment they receive is doing them
some good. The same argument could equally be applied to religious beliefs
giving solace. Just because a placebo makes you feel better doesn't prove
that the placebo is genuinely effective. By the same token it could be
argued that religious faith gives you solace, but that in turn doesn't prove
that it's true.
Perhaps it goes against the grain as a Christian to say this, but I've seen
enough papers that show beyond much doubt that the placebo effect is "real".
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Received on Fri Apr 6 18:58:41 2007
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.8 : Fri Apr 06 2007 - 18:58:41 EDT