Bibliology Session 7-Supernatural Knowledge of Medicine

Defending Inspiration The Supernatural Nature of the Bible Defending Inspiration We are going to defend the idea of inspiration by using two main angles… 1. The Historic Nature of the Bible 2. The Supernatural Nature of the Bible Supernatural Nature of the Bible If the Bible is truly sourced in God, then it is a supernatural book. If the Bible is a supernatural book, then it will not only be historically accurate, but it will also exhibit other characteristics that it is of Divine origin. Evidence of the Supernatural Many elements about the Bible evidence that it is not merely a human book, but that it is of divine origin. 1. Advanced Knowledge of Medicine 2. Advanced Knowledge of Science 3. Advanced Knowledge of History (a.k.a. Prophecy) 4. Advanced Intricacy of Design in the Original Texts. 5. Evidence from Personal Testimonies. Advanced Knowledge in the Bible The Bible records statements that evidence extremely advanced knowledge in several areas that date centuries, and in some cases millennia, before other sources. 1. Biology 5.Medicine 2. Astronomy 6. Psychology 3. Earth Science 7. History (a.k.a. 4. Sanitation Prophecy) Resource Recommendation “Life is in the Blood” - Written about 1445 B.C., Lev. 17:11 states, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood.” - This statement is made in the context of sacrifice, when blood of the sacrificial animal is caught and sprinkled on the altar. - The symbolism is the substitution of an innocent life in the place of the life of a sinner. “Life is in the Blood” - Beginning in Ancient Greece people practiced ‘blood letting’ (letting “bad” blood out). This practice prevailed for nearly 2,000 years, and was not discarded until the 20th century. - George Washington was a victim of the practice of bleeding sick patients. On December 12, 1799 he traveled by horseback for several hours through cold and snow. Doctors treated the resulting severe case of laryngitis by bleeding him. After four heavy bleedings, Washington died on December 14. “Life is in the Blood” • William Harvey discovered the circulation of blood in 1628, and began experimenting with transfusions. • Successful transfusions between dogs occurred by 1665. • The first successful human transfusion occurred in 1818. • The three basic blood groups were discovered in 1901. • In the 1940’s the U.S. founded the 1st blood collection program. “Life is in the Blood” The World Health Organization reported that on “World Blood Donor Day” in 2017, 112.5 million blood donations were made around the globe. Biblical Understanding of Sanitation • The Torah (a.k.a. The Books of Moses) was written during the 1400s B.C., yet contains a remarkably advanced understanding of sanitation, which drastically contrasts the world of its day. 1. Quarantine 2. Hand washing 3. Sewage Treatment 4. Circumcision 5. Behaviors Damaging to one’s Health Ancient Egypt Here is a picture of Papyrus Ebers, currently housed in Leipzig, Germany. The papyrus was written in about 1500 BC, but it is believed to have been copied from earlier texts. The Ebers Papyrus is a 110-page scroll, which is about 20 meters long. Ancient Egypt was considered an authority in medicine in the ancient near east. Ancient Egypt Here are some health suggestions from ancient Egypt… - To Cure baldness apply “a mixture of six fats… the horse, the hippo, the crocodile, the cat, the snake, and the wild goat.” - To Cure pink eye apply the urine of a faithful wife. - A splinter must be treated with a salve made from worm blood & donkey dung. Contrast the Torah - Yet even until the late 1800s, most doctors thought pus promoted healing. Thus doctors infected wounds to get them to produce pus. They agreed with Ebers Papyrus, which said, “it is good for a wound to rot a little… therefore put something in the wound that will make it produce pus.” - Note that Moses was raised in Egypt while they were practicing these “medical procedures.” Acts 7:22 says that Moses “was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.” Yet the medical understanding of the Torah not only starkly contradicts ancient standards, but also was millennia before any other known source. Contrast the Torah - According to another Egyptian source, the Smith Papyrus, which also dates to around the time of Moses, an epidemic was to be overcome by waving two vulture feathers over a person, and chanting… “O Flame in His Face! O Nekhbet, lifting the earth to the sky for her father, come thou, bind the two feathers around me, around me, that I may live and flourish…” - Contrast Lev. 13:46, “as long as he has leprosy… he must live alone outside the camp.” Concept of Quarantine You and I take for granted certain rules of cleanliness, which have actually a relatively recent application in history, yet the Bible demonstrated a knowledge of these procedures hundreds, and even thousands of years ahead of its day. We may laugh at ancient Egyptian practices, but the Biblical concept of quarantine was misunderstood even in Europe as late as the 1800s. - In the ignorance of the late 1700s and early 1800s Norway experienced a crippling leprosy epidemic. The people were so desperate that they finally listened to their pastors and carefully followed the biblical rules of quarantine. The epidemic subsided. So the populace believed the epidemic had run its course and they relaxed the biblical precautions. They did not know that leprosy could be passed from person to person. As soon as the epidemic faded, Lepers were now longer isolated, and they even specialized in door-to-door sales! Once again the epidemic flared out of control. - In 1873, however, Dr Armauer Hansen looked through a microscope at a slide from a leprosy patient. The tiny red dots that he saw were leprosy bacteria. Finally people realized leprosy was a bacteria and could be transferred from person to person. Finally after 3,500 years, science discovered what Moses wrote to be the best treatment for the epidemic. - Norway enacted the Norwegian Leprosy Act, requiring strict enforcement of biblical precautions. Norway eventually wiped out leprosy. Hand Washing Numbers 19 has a fascinating set of instructions for the “cleansing” of someone who touches a corpse, or human remains. These instructions include… 1. Clean water taken from a moving water source. 2. Hyssop, which contains the naturally occurring antiseptic thymol, which is the active ingredient in Listerine. 3. Several washings between plenty of time to dry… Modern History of Hand Washing - In 1847 an Austrian physician in Vienna came to a startling discovery when he began to study why 1 out of 6 women that came into the hospital to deliver a baby ended up on the autopsy table. The reason… the doctors and medical students were inspecting the corpses of women, then going to tend to the pregnant women without washing their hands. - Doctor Semmelweis theorized the spreading sickness had to do with unwashed hands. He began requiring his students to wash in chlorinated water. - In just 3 months the death rate dropped from 18% to 1%. Dr. Semmelweis had found the cause! You would think that Vienna would rejoice! But no… His colleagues mocked Dr. Semmelweis as a eccentric hand washer! He was demoted within his hospital, and finally fired. His successor threw out the washbasins and the death rate immediately shot back up. Modern History of Hand Washing - Dr. Semmelweis relocated to Budapest and took a job in a local hospital. The same thing happened! He instituted a rigid handwashing regiment, the death rates dropped, yet the regiment was resisted, and he was fired again! Dr. Semmelweis wrote a 543 page book that no one would read. He had a nervous breakdown and was placed in an insane asylum. Ironically, at the age of 47 he himself caught blood poisoning and died of the very disease he had labored to prevent! - The practices proposed by Dr. Semmelweis took nearly 100 years to be adopted. Yet today it is standard practice! Sewage Treatment In Deut. 23 we read… 12 “Also you shall have a place outside the camp, where you may go out; 13 and you shall have an implement among your equipment, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and turn and cover your refuse.” Edwin Chadwick, London - In 1847 in London England, the English were facing a high death rate, and low life expectancy. The rich were living to 43 on average, while the poor would make it to 22. The Parliament turned to Edwin Chadwick, who had been studying disease for over a decade, and asked for answers. - Chadwick explained the filth in London. Underneath the streets ran massive sewer tunnels that were never flushed by water, and they were opened only every 5-10 years, and mucked out. This waste would then be taken to fertilize crops, which were then brought back into the city to eat. Edwin Chadwick, London - The poor in London would drink from contaminated water sources, and soon die. This brought on a huge orphan population, and the cycle continued (see Oliver Twist). - Chadwick proposed a major upgrade in the sewage system of London, but this was resisted as too expensive, and the poor not worth it. One news paper reported the public outrage with the words, “The English people would prefer to take the chance of cholera rather than be bullied into health!” Edwin Chadwick, London Eventually his reforms were accepted and the English life expectancy increased. Chadwick is remembered at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine where his name appears among the names of 23 pioneers of public health and tropical medicine chosen to be honored when the School was built in 1929. Modern 3rd World This picture is of modern day Sierra Leone Africa, where basic principles of sanitation are neither practiced nor enforced. The result is a very low life expectancy. Recall the Label Family, missionaries to Sierra Leone. In my personal conversations with Mr. Label he confirmed these conditions. Circumcision In Genesis 17:12-13 we read “He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.” Modern Understanding God told Moses 3,500 years ago to circumcise baby boys when they were 8 days old. Yet it was not until the early 1900s that scientists discovered that Vitamin K & Prothrombin are two clotting agents naturally produced by the body. Scientists then discovered that infants do not start producing Vitamin K until they are 5 days old. In addition to this, an infants Prothrombin levels drop at 3 days old to 30% below normal rate, and then spike to 110% normal rate on the 8th day before leveling out. Thus by modern scientific standards, the 8th day after birth is the absolute best day to circumcise an infant boy. Psychosomatic Illness Proverbs 17:22 “A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.” Proverbs 18:14 “The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity, but a wounded spirit who can bear?” Psychosomatic Illness Psycho (Greek word for “soul”) somatic (Greek word for “body”) is a physical illness or condition that is aggravated by a mental factor or internal conflict such as stress or guilt. 1993 American Academy of Family Physicians estimated that 2/3 of all doctor visits are stress-related conditions. Psychosomatic Illness The concept of “stress” did not exist until the 1930s. Hans Selye was a young scientist you kept dropping and chasing his lab rats around the lab. His rats kept getting ulcers and hormone imbalances. The stress of being chased and raced was making the rats sick. He borrowed a term from engineering, and the idea of stress was born! He went on to found the International Institute of Stress. Psychosomatic Illness Abnormal brain chemistry alters body chemistry. This can release stress hormones that keep one awake and alert too much. Hormones like adrenaline, cortisone, & insulin will keep the body at high alert constantly & lead to fatigue. New England Journal of Medicine in August of 1991 showed test results that stress makes one more susceptible to the common cold. Psychosomatic Illness Spiritual & Emotional unrest affects the body in 3 ways; 1. Blood Flow: blushing… 2. Secretions: cotton mouth… 3. Muscle Spasm: twitch or chronic pain… Unrest in the spirit can trigger or at least aggravate ulcers, migraines, heart attacks, diarrhea, vomiting, digestive problems, strokes, infertility, asthma, or strep throat. Mortify the Deeds of the Flesh Colossians 3:5 “Mortify the deeds of the flesh…” is a spiritual principle that science & psychology is beginning to catch up to. The Bible has long noted that a lifestyle of “sin,” diminishes not merely the quality of life, but also the quantity of life. In other words mortify the deeds of the flesh before they mortify you! Mortify the Deeds of the Flesh Proverbs 3:8 It shall be health to thy navel, And marrow to thy bones. Proverbs 14:30 A sound heart is the life of the flesh: But envy the rottenness of the bones. Proverbs 16:24 Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, Sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. Why Laughing Is Good for Your Health Here is a quote from an article put out by Huffington Post in 2014… An old Yiddish proverb says, “What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul.” Everyone knows that laughter makes you feel good and puts you in high spirits, but did you also know that laughter actually causes physiological responses that protect the body from disease and help your vital organs repair themselves?A good laugh can be compared to a mild workout, as it exercises the muscles, gets the blood flowing, decreases blood pressure and stress hormones, improves sleep patterns and boosts the immune system. Furthermore, a study by the John Hopkins University Medical School showed that humor and laughter can also improve memory and mental performance. Yet despite the fact that laughter has so many benefits, far too many of us forget to even crack a smile every once in a while, let alone laugh. Mortify the Deeds of the Flesh Modern Science & Psychology is finally catching up to the Bible after 3.5 millennia. Numerous studies now show that behaviors that the Bible calls “sin,” can actually be damaging to your health! 1. Uncontrolled Rage 2. Ungodly Ambition 3. Illicit Sexual Relationships Danger of Rage A study conducted in 1981 among 255 medical students. This was one of the 1st studies that found convincing evidence that long-term anger problems lead to a shorter life. It was discovered that men with regular bursts of anger had more hypertension and 5 times more heart attacks. Danger of Rage “Anger places every cell in your entire body on red alert. Your stomach churns out acid. Your skin hairs stand upright. Your adrenal glands pour out adrenaline and steroids. Your pupils dilate. Your blood pressure shoots up. Your pulse races…” • McMillen, M.D. Freud versus Proverbs Freud made popular the theory of “ventilation.” He pictured the human spirit like a teapot that builds pressure. The only way to relieve that pressure is to release it, i.e. vent your anger by screaming, yelling, kicking, punching, howling, or any other outburst that is not illegal. However, Prov. 29:11 states, “A fool utters all his mind: But a wise man keeps it in till afterwards.” So which is right? Freud versus Proverbs Doctor David E Stern states, “Many studies suggest that ventilation doesn’t work…” After conducting a study on 100 engineers who lost their job, it was concluded, “the men became much angrier after ventilating their anger. On the other hand, those who had not ventilated anger, were less angry.” Dr. Stern concluded, “hashing and rehashing anger does not release anger; it rekindles it, reinforces it, and reaffirms it.” Ungodly Ambition Proverbs 17:19 “he loves transgression that loves strife; and he that exalts his gate seeks destruction.” Proverbs 25:7 “Better it is that it be said unto you, Com up hither; than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince whom you eyes have seen.” Matthew 23:12 “Whoever shall exalt himself shall be abased…” Ungodly Ambition Dr. Alfred Adler once taught that most Psychological disorders arise from striving for power. Dr. McMillen tells a story of a young, ambitious law-school student who became so stressed she forgot how to read. She went to the doctor and was diagnosed with “Somatic Conversion Disorder,” which is a fancy way of saying that she was so emotionally stressed that her mind couldn’t read. Ungodly Ambition The amount of stress hormones that flood the body underneath the stress of a “deflated ego,” or unreasonable ambition are known to tax the body to the point of exhaustion. Left unchecked, this nearly always leads to a lower quality of health, and a shortened lifespan. Danger of Illicit Sex Hebrews 13:4 “Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.” Proverbs 5:15, 17-18 “Drink waters out of thine own cistern, And running waters out of thine own well… Let them be only thine own, And not strangers’ with thee. Let thy fountain be blessed: And rejoice with the wife of thy youth.” Danger of Illicit Sex Median age for first intercourse for American boys is 15 1/2. Median age for American girls is 16. Nearly 80% of High School seniors have had sex outside of marriage. 40% of sexually active teens will have 4 or more partners before 17. 57% of college males admit to having more than 6 sexual partners. 25% of sexually active teens will catch an STD, which result in pelvic inflammatory disease, painful warts, infertility, or death. The Bible Truth James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. The “Good Life” is not to indulge in sin! But to live for the glory of God, and enjoy His perfect gifts!