In what ways are followers of Jesus demonstrating God's loving character through caring for the sick, preventing disease, and even attempting to eradicate some diseases?
Photo credit: Sanofi Pasteur - Flickr
by Thu Ha Chow, WCIU student
As this momentous year comes to a close, I cannot help but reflect on how a virus with such a small beginning could cause so much suffering and devastation. Its path is altering the lives of every human being on this planet. It is a reminder that we should not overlook the evil which we fight, and yet we must also see that where evil prevails, grace is even greater.
Read Moreby Brian Lowther and Beth Snodderly
People are being wounded physically, psychologically, and spiritually by activities instigated by the adversary, the devil, the sniper, that “ancient foe” that seeks “to work us woe.” In this cosmic battle with the prince of darkness, health care workers need affirmation and support from the body of Christ so they do not grow “weary in doing good” (Gal. 6:9).
Read Moreby Dan Poenaru, M.D.
“I have a dream…” The iconic words, spoken by Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1963 resonate in the ears of all those who, like me, would like to see true transformational development be born and flourish through the church of Jesus Christ in global communities bound by poverty, sickness, injustice, and apathy. This is the dream which has led me to a more than decade-long health care career in Africa, and the dream which made me join, in 2000, BethanyKids, a small faith-based organization whose motto is “healing children in Africa, transforming lives.”
Read Moreby Ralph D. Winter and Greg Boyd
What if all disease pathogens as well as all violent forms of life are the work of Satan? What would Jesus have said about fighting germs in the name of Christ had the people of his time know about germs? How would that amplify and refocus our global mission? Christ has called us to be salt and light in a world of evil, corruption, and disease. We have a mandate to restore the glory of God among all peoples by more adequately representing His character. We misrepresent him if we talk only about getting to heaven. We must also reveal by our actions his concern for the conquest of evil and evil disease.
Read Moreby Beth Snodderly
God is not the author of disease and suffering although he certainly uses it to bring about good things in this fallen world where humans and angels make free choices that result in the evil and suffering.
Read Moreby Beth Snodderly
“What are viruses? Where do viruses come from?”
“In what ways do you think viruses could be a result of the Fall?”
“In what ways can Christians participate in redemptive work involving viruses?”
by Beth Snodderly
Spoiler Alert: The answer is “both.” In this Reflection I compare comments by Ralph Winter in his article, “The Story of Our Planet,” with comments by philanthropist Bill Gates and psychologist Steven Pinker.
Read Moreby Beth Snodderly
Recently I read a Florida State University dissertation, “Shalom and its relationship to health/healing in the Hebrew Scriptures.”* A society that is healthy and experiencing shalom, is one that is in right relationship with God’s cosmic order. In a sick society, the righteous suffer at the hands of deceitful and untruthful people. That sounds familiar. Bribery is a way of life in much of the under-developed world. This dissertation gives a biblical explanation for that under-development.
Read Moreby Beth Snodderly
One way to describe the overarching goal Ralph Winter had in mind for the Roberta Winter Institute (RWI) was “to prompt the theological world to begin working on a ‘theology of disease.’” He reflected on the types of inadequate responses to disease that are prevalent in the evangelical world and concluded that this was an obstacle to the spread of the gospel among thinking people in major unreached blocs of the world’s peoples.
Read Moreby Brian Lowther
The Roberta Winter Institute responds to the problem of evil and the hard questions of why disease can exist and destroy.
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