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At
my side is an impressive little volume with the above title, written
by a physician back in 1963, but since then it has gone through at
least 15 printings. Dr. S. I. McMillen states in the preface that he
is persuaded that “the reader will be intrigued to discover
that the Bible’s directives can save him from certain
infectious diseases, from many lethal cancers, and from a long
gauntlet of psychosomatic diseases that are increasing in spite of
all efforts of modern medicine.”
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Hardly
any idea deserves a place in one’s world view more than that
of a
life
free of diseases.
It
would be unrealistic, of course, to suppose one could live in this
world without any illness at all, but surely we can hope for a
world, even in our time, where the most dreaded diseases will be
virtually eliminated. To be sure, it matters little how lofty one’s
view of life might be or what potential he might have to live that
life if he is stricken with a malady that causes him to despair of
life itself. Good health in both mind and body is not only to be
part of our philosophy, but principles that promote such health are
to be part of our thinking. It is most basic to think and live in
terms of “none of these diseases” as does Dr. McMillen.
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The
title for
None
of These Diseases
comes
from a single line back in the Old Testament: “If you will
diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that
which is right in his eyes, and give heed to his commandments and
keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon you
which I put upon the Egyptians” (Ex. 15:26). It is noteworthy
that a physician would be so impressed with this promise that he
would write a book about it, persuaded as he is that this promise if
for all humanity and that our most debilitating diseases can be
avoided by obeying the commandments of God.
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In
fact Dr. McMillen speaks with an uncommon assurance for a scientist:
“God guaranteed a freedom from disease that modern medicine
cannot duplicate.” Referring to the promise God gave to
Israel, he adds: “Was the divine pledge a hollow assurance?
Were the Israelites miraculously freed from these diseases? Would
the same regulations save us today?” He concludes that a large
part of the problem of disease is old-fashioned sin, and that if we
want to be healthful we are to honor God in the way we live. It does
not follow that if one is afflicted with cancer or a heart condition
it is because that person is guilty of some terrible sin. It is
rather that with the fallenness of man has come disease as well as
death, and that
generally
we
live free of disease as we accept God’s promise of “none
of these diseases” by honoring his commandments, just as we
receive the redemption of our souls by accepting other of his
promises.
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We
all know that the mind has great influence over the body and that
most of our maladies are either triggered by or aggravated by what
C. S. Lewis calls “the spiritual sins,” some of which he
says come right out of hell itself, but which McMillen calls “sins
of the mind,” whether pride, jealousy, hatred, anger, envy,
resentment, worry, or revenge. These sins actually make us sick and
over the years they cause such diseases as toxic goiter, strokes of
apoplexy, heart attacks, ulcers, colitis, and even cancer. It is a
scientific fact.
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Dr.
McMillen talks about the high cost of getting even. He notes that
man is not always as wise as the grizzly bear, who tolerates the
skunk who insists on foraging alongside him, not that the bear is
not capable of getting rid of the intruder but that he realizes the
high cost of getting even!
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Booker
T. Washington, who achieved in spite of prejudice against his color
and frequent insults, is an example of one who knew the high cost of
getting even. He said, “I will not let any man reduce my soul
to the level of hatred.” This book lays bare what hatred does
to our heart, blood vessels, and glands, causing high blood
pressure. A heated argument can blow a cerebral fuse and emotional
turmoil can lead to surgery. We might be able in life’s frog
ponds, the doctor advises us, to out-croak our fellows, but it might
be truthfully written on thousands of death certificates that the
victims died of “grudgitis.” He warns us that when we
resolve to get even “if it is the last thing I ever do”
the chances are it
will
be
the last thing we ever do!
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The
doctor has a special word for those Christians who are too righteous
to “get even” in the more combative ways, so they get
even by talking about the offender. He insists that this also has a
high price tag in terms of illnesses. Verbal expressions of
animosity toward others calls forth an excess of hormones from
various glands that is very disturbing to the body. To hate someone
is to become his slave, Dr. McMillen warns, and the one we hate will
hound us wherever we go and will even disturb our sleep.
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While
the temptation to “get even” is an understandable one,
especially when we are so obviously maltreated, we must submit to
God’s wisdom and realize that when we hurl back the stones we
only compound the evil. Stephen, the first Christian martyr,
could
have
thrown back the stones (or at least wanted to), but he not only kept
his cool but prayed for the forgiveness of those who were killing
him, as our Lord did.
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We
may not have to be reminded of the carnage caused by drunk drivers
on our highways, with casualties now numbering 25,000 a year, but we
may not realize an even larger dimension to the problem of alcohol
that was once described by the
Journal
of the American Medical Association
as
“Robber of Five Million Brains.” The article that first
appeared in 1958 said: “Drink has taken five million men and
women in the United States, taken them as a master takes slaves, and
new acquisitions are going on at the rate of 200,000 a year.”
Updated statistics would add millions to those figures. Think of it,
millions
of
our people taken as slaves, “robbed by a drug” as Dr.
McMillen puts it!
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One
physician is quoted as saying, “No drug known to man is more
widely used nor more frequently responsible for deaths, injuries, or
crimes than is ethyl alcohol.” Alcoholism as a disease not
only takes its toll in killing, maiming, and waste of time, money
and talent, but it deprives its victims of the superlatives of life,
such as recreation, music, art, eating, sex, sight, and
conversation.
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This
little book
None
of These Diseases
concludes
that the tragedy of alcoholism is so unnecessary and that the answer
to the problem is within our reach: “This colossal waste of
life and money is preventable by obedience to the Book of books, and
‘none of these diseases’ is the promise to those who
heed the many Scriptural injunctions against drunkenness.” Dr.
McMillen is impressed with how the Bible warns those who would
“linger over the bottle” that in the end the habit will
“bite like any snake and sting like an adder” (Pro. 23).
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While
recently viewing a TV documentary on the current spread of AIDS and
herpes, which in some communities is approaching epidemic
proportion, I observed that no such analysis of the reason for such
diseases as that given by Dr. McMillen was even suggested,
that
man suffers these terrible maladies because he has ignored the
commandments of God.
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AIDS
is a fearful and dreaded disease because science knows neither its
cause nor its cure, though it is known to prevail almost exclusively
in the homosexual community. While no one says it so plainly, it is
evident that AIDS is caused in some way by the practice of sodomy,
which is clearly named in Scripture as an abomination before God. It
is noteworthy that when 1 Tim. 1:10 names sodomy among the things
that are “lawless and disobedient,” it goes on to
include “whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in
accordance with the glorious gospel of the blessed God.” The
term “sound doctrine” means
healthful
teaching,
indicating the obedient response to the glorious gospel of God will
give one
health,
mental,
spiritual and physical.
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While
I am sympathetic with those who are caught up in this “alternate
lifestyle,” to use an overworked if not an insipid euphemism,
I deplore their efforts to neutralize what the Scriptures say on
this matter.
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When
the Scriptures refer to homosexuality, it is a poor translation,
they tell us, and when Paul writes so pointedly that “Their
women exchanged the normal practices of sexual intercourse for
something which is abnormal and unnatural. Similarly the men,
turning from natural intercourse with women, were swept into lustful
passions with one another. Men with men performed these shameful
horrors, receiving, of course, in their own personalities the
consequences of sexual perversity” (Rom. 1:26-27, Phillips),
we are told that has no relevance to gay practices today.
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There
is no mystery as to what constitutes sodomy. A simple desk
dictionary will tell you plainly that sodomy is “anal
intercourse between two male persons.” If we need further
clarification, the explicit law in Lev. 18:22 should be adequate:
“You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an
abomination.” There is no need to equivocate about
definitions, whether sodomy or homosexuality. The law of God is
disturbingly clear:
it
is an abomination for a man to lie with another man as he would with
a woman.
How
can we be asked to accept as a way of life that which is an
abomination to God?
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If
one has difficulty seeing how “man with man” or “woman
with woman” sex is all that inappropriate, the very next law
in Leviticus states that “You shall not lie with any beast,”
and it adds, “it is a perversion.” In successive verses,
with one law following the other, the Bible gives us examples of
sexual
perversion.
If
we can see how “man with beast” sex would be disgusting
to the God of heaven, we should be able to see how “man with
man” sex would be a perversion and an abomination. While the
Bible puts them in the same category, no group in our society has
yet asked that “man with beast” sex be accepted as an
“alternate lifestyle.”
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Those
who choose this lifestyle receive in their own persons “the
consequences of sexual perversity,” Paul says in Rom. 1:27.
There are
consequences
when
we choose to do what God has forbidden. Would these consequences not
include diseases? Would this have any relevance to the prevalence of
such a disease as AIDS in our modern society, a society that often
behaves as if there is no God in heaven who reveals his will to us?
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The
God who created us and loves us does not impose laws upon us
arbitrarily, but because he knows what is best for us. He created us
so that we might know him and enjoy him forever, as the old
Westminster divines put it. He intends that life be joyous and
meaningful for us, and so each command he gives us is given in love
and for our good. The promise of “none of these diseases”
is for real. We will be happier, wealthier, and healthier —
now and forever — if we accept his promises and live by the
principles he has given us in the holy Scriptures. —the
Editor