"This is what a luke warm church sounds like...sad to see a Church of God promoting the end time pharmakiea that deceives the nation's and makes the merchants of the world rich.
Revelation is being fulfilled befor your eyes and you praise the beast that is rising.
GOD help you when the False prophet and Lawless one arise."
CGI’s Civil War Continues!
The Church of God International recently posted another article by Jeff Reed about his personal experiences with Covid-19 on their website and on their Facebook homepage. In the article, Mr. Reed wrote: “I’ve been in isolation since testing positive for Covid last week. I am blessed to be vaccinated, so my symptoms were very mild. My God-given immune system had a blueprint for defeating this pathogen quickly. It felt like a head cold except less of an inconvenience. Head colds usually stay with me for up to two weeks, and this infection was gone in a day and a half. I continually praise God for His guidance and protection in my life. Understanding His Word can help us avoid and mitigate a lot of problems we face in life.”
He went on to share his reasoning for self-isolating: “I’m in isolation because it has been confirmed that a small percentage of vaccinated individuals can get mildly infected with the Delta variant and be contagious to others. I am one of those individuals, and I want to do all I can to protect those vulnerable to sickness and death. In the past few weeks, Covid has hit many hard in the Church of God. Many CGI congregations have also been affected.”
Readers will recall that Pastor Bill Watson’s Medina, Ohio congregation was hit particularly hard by the virus and has been at the center of the storm over Covid-19 within the church. In fact, the reaction to Mr. Reed’s last article was so negative from that direction (Ohio) that the elder decided to take a much softer and more humorous stance in this post.
He continued: “As an elder in the Church, I have no expertise or business giving anyone medical advice. We believe the choice to receive medical care or vaccination is solely left up to the individual. I did speak to a Church elder who is a medical professional, and his warning to the Church of God is to take this Delta variant seriously. It is very contagious and is spreading quickly among the unvaccinated population of our country.” This comment was followed by a retelling of the joke about the man in the house in the midst of a flood who refused the help of a jeep, boat and helicopter that God had sent to rescue him (all the time professing his faith that God would save him).
However, even with this softer voice and a touch of humor, the rancor from the other side was not restrained. The most virulent comments appeared on Facebook. One commentator wrote: “I am out, I have been following the Church of God International for over 25 years … God I pray for the Christ followers all over the world, to See what is happening. God bless” Another wrote: “Amen, I am not taking their shot!! I am almost 65 years old, praise God, If more would trust in god and put their faith and trust in him and his hands!! There would be no sicknesses or diseases!! Praise the Lord, he is the only truth, way and light in this dark world! He is the true life, unto man!! We are only passing through. With his blood covering us!! I praise you JESUS!! And I thank you for your protection!! Amen!!”
And, if those comments weren’t bad enough, there were many more in the thread that were even more egregious! One man wrote: “This is what a lukewarm church sounds like...sad to see a Church of God promoting the end time pharmakiea that deceives the nation's and makes the merchants of the world rich. Revelation is being fulfilled before your eyes and you praise the beast that is rising. GOD help you when the False prophet and Lawless one arise.” Another lady observed: “Read Psalm 91. God is our healer. One has no idea how they would have dealt with covid without the vaccine. Doctors have told me all my life there is nothing you can do for a virus but let it run its course. The vaccine is NOT stopping people from getting covid any more than mask wearing is.” And this one was priceless: “I THOUGHT THE SABBATH KEEPING CHURCHS OF GOD WERE INSTRUCTING BREATHEREN NOT TO TAKE MURDERED, WEE ABORTED BABYS TISSUES, /// VACINES INTO THERE BODYS.......” (Many of the spelling and grammatical errors were retained to demonstrate the level of the discourse on the topic).
Poor Jeff! My own thoughts and comments were a little different from the ones quoted above. The comments which I posted on CGI’s website were as follows:
“May God speed your complete recovery from the infection, and may He bless you for your care and concern for those around you. I very much enjoyed that joke you related - it has been around in various forms for many years, and the spiritual lesson is sound. Our faith must allow for whatever means God chooses to address our needs, and we must be willing to admit that God's help may not always arrive in the way that we expected it to appear. God's thinking is superior to ours, and we must not fall into the trap of trying to make/imagine Him in our own image (we are a reflection of Him, not vice versa).
Opinions are great - everybody has them, but truth is supreme! God expects Christians to be humble and care for each other. Moreover, as long as the laws and demands of human government do not contradict God's laws and will, the New Testament makes plain (Christ and Paul) that God expects His people to respect and follow those dictates. God also makes clear in Scripture that He expects His people to take care of themselves and exhibit proper care and concern for those around them.
Public health measures (vaccines, masks, distancing, cleaning) are designed to mitigate the impact of disease - not to curtail rights or freedoms. Moreover, our failure to follow that guidance may be symptomatic of attitudes that are inappropriate in a Christian (willfulness, rebellion, haughtiness). There are numerous things that governments do to protect their citizens from harm (like requiring them to stop, yield or wear seat belts when riding in a car). We can refuse to follow those directives, but a number of very negative consequences may follow (like citations, crashes, injury, or death).
You are to be commended for the good example which you have set in this matter - an example that is consistent with sound Christian theology and teachings. Likewise, Mr. Vance Stinson is to be commended for giving voice to your perspective. I hope and pray that ALL of our brothers and sisters in Christ will take note of these examples and follow them. May God continue to bless us and help us through this current scourge.”
At any rate, let’s hope that the common sense and Christian love exhibited by Mr. Reed and Mr. Stinson prevails in CGI. The physical and spiritual lives of their membership may depend on it!
Lonnie Hendrix
33 comments:
This is what happens when a church turns its back on God's protection.
Miller:
I have always regarded the Armstrongist attitude towards faith healing to be inconsistent and illogical. My views may be dated. I am not sure what they believe nowadays. I have no direct and useful dialogue with any Armstrongist now.
Armstrongists seemed to always declare the fact that they were trusting in God for healing. But in behavior they did quite something else. They were using foods to treat maladies. They were using supplements to treat maladies. They were going to chiropractors to treat maladies. Somehow all of this was acceptable. But in the equation of faith it was no different from relyling on antibiotics or drugs. It involved looking to something else besides God for healing. It could be something synthesized in a laboratory or something grown in a garden. Its role in the process is the same.
I know a little girl in the WCG who had a cyst that could have been easily treated by a general practitioner. The little girl suffered at length because the cyst affected her appearance. But her WCG mother took her to a chiropracter instead. And after many expensive visits there was no improvement. Her "unconverted" father finally took her to a regular MD and the problem was immediately resolved. By some rationalization the mother believed that going to a chiropractor was within the bounds of faith but going to a doctor was not. That fact that both approaches relied on something other than God did not register.
With Armstrongists the issue was never about faith in God if you think about it for a moment. It was about maintaining a prejudice against the medical profession as a credential for being a bona fide Armstrongist. I have been told that Herman Hoeh believed in eating cheeses that contained pennicillin mold. This he thought cleaned out the system. What is the difference between pennicillin from mold or out of a bottle in pill form. I do not know if this anecdote is true but it illustrates the point.
This irrationality afflicts the USA now in great measure. You have evangelical "Christians" who stand squarely against abortion but are willing to send their kids into the raging reservoir of infection known as the public school system that will put their lives at risk. Some of them will die. In principle, just like an aborted fetus.
I found your post thought provoking at a time when thought needs to be provoked.
******* Click on my icon for Disclaimer
Most of the membership of the COG has never been balanced in the area of health. The majority of the ministers refuse to speak on it today, due to mistakes made in the past.
I know long-time members of the COG, who eventually went back into their old ways of thinking. The only thing they seem to remember was the dietary laws, and an unbalanced approach
to what we should eat (clean or unclean).
@Anonymous 7:08 - This is what happens when a church panders to the least common denominator of society through embracing false histories, conspiracy theories, and impotent rage.
NEO,
Thank you for your remarks. Yes, many Armstrongites views about faith healing are illogical and inconsistent, and your observations about their use of homeopathic medicine was spot on. By their own standard of exclusively relying on God for healing, they are condemned! Moreover, the argument that those means are natural and therefore derived from God does not hold water either. If God is really the Creator, then he is also the source of the human brain and all of the materials which doctors and scientists use to treat diseases! After all, aspirin was originally derived from the bark of Willow trees.
The theological deficiency in these views is also apparent in their attitudes toward faith more generally. Like many other Fundamentalist sects, some of these Armstrongites regard faith as a negative exercise. In other words, their faith is demonstrated by what they DON'T do. By refusing a vaccine or a mask, they are demonstrating their faith in the fact that God will protect them. They don't see that it is the equivalent of intentionally throwing oneself off of the pinnacle of the temple!
It also contradicts the message of the very epistle they often quote as a prooftext for their views on faith healing. James wrote: "What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, 'Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." James 2:14-17, NIV Faith is demonstrated by action, NOT inaction (like calling for the elders and having them anoint and pray over you).
The example that James used about a brother or sister in need is also applicable to our current circumstances with Covid-19. Some of these Armstrongites are effectively telling their brethren "Be happy and well, but we won't wear a mask to help reduce the chances that we might give you this infection!" Mr. Armstrong used to love to return to the "trunk of the tree" back in Genesis - How about this one: Are we our brother's keeper or not?
When Paul healed a man in Lystra, the crowd in Acts 14:11 believed that Paul and Barnabas were gods in human form.
A huge pile of dead bodies shows that God doesn't always heal. But if ordinary Christians believe that God does always heal, ministers will be looked up to as gods. They will be venerated like today's rock stars and movie stars. Which is why power hungry ministers worldwide keep teaching the fallacy of God always healing.
Or, people could do what HWA allegedly did. Get the best medical care possible while telling others that it shows a lack of faith. One set of rules for the top people, another for the rest of the members. That's how it was with Rod Meredith when he had a detached retina and had it surgically repaired. HWA argued in support of it because if was repair surgery. Is there any other kind of surgery? Is there "recreational surgery?" "Hey Bob, what are you doing this weekend for recreation? Are you going to go water skiing?" "No, I'm going in for recreational surgery." If God can heal someone of cancer can't he fix a retina? R.W. Schambach was a faith healer who had coronary by pass surgery. Guess God doesn't specialize in cardiology.
Is using ViAGARA a lack of faith??
The same shareholders control both Big Pharma and the Media and the CDC. The CDC is not really a government organization because they get a pile of money from private sources. The same goes for the WHO. So all these organizations operate like separate departments of the same mega-corporation since they are all working for the same network of private foundations and big corporations and super-rich people. So they all tell the same covid narrative, which is all about selling vaccines. The super rich (e.g. Rockefellers, Bill Gates, Rothchilds) control the government, the media, and Big Pharma. This is a fact, not a theory.
Case in point. Isn't MSNBC is a merger of Microsoft and Big Media? So doesn't Bill Gates control both? He is also into Big Pharma. Big Tech has merged with Big Media and Big Pharma and Big Government (e.g. the CDC). The government censors and big tech censors work together to stifle opposition views which they mislabel as deadly "misinformation."
The PCR test is a hoax. It can't tell the difference between covid and a common cold. It can't tell one so-called variant from another. The vaccine is not a vaccine, it's gene "therapy."
Covid is not a new virus. Patents were taken out on the computer simulation gene sequences as early as 20 years ago.
All this will come out in the court cases that are in progress. But why wait to find out? Why get the poison "vaccine" and end up like the many other victims?
NEO and Miller:
Your condemnation of Armstrongism is valid but that in no way gets Big medicine and pharma off the hook! Cults are cults and the medical cult parallels Armstrongism in so many ways. In fact, before Covid, the third leading cause of death in the USA (250-400m annually) was attributed to medical screw ups (CNBC.com, Feb.22,2018) and without much outrage I might add! I'm not saying traditional medicine can't fix bones and remove cysts, but when it comes to internal medicine and the treatment of disease, their track record is contradictory, confusing, and terrible, let alone expensive! Thankfully there are alternative natural methods available to this "one size fits all" approach that dominates society today.
Here is a recent astonishing admission by the benefactor of modern medicine concerning one of those alternatives: "Poor quality diets ARE the leading cause of rising health care costs, yet the health care system places little or no emphasis on nutrition. One of Covid 19's legacies should be that it was the moment Americans realized the need to treat nutritious food as part of health care, both for its role in prevention and the treatment of disease" ("Reset the Table", page 10, The Rockefeller Foundation).
The truth is, the "diet" concept has been around forever and has always played a leading role in the holistic natural approach! Physical health, like the "spiritual", should be our personal choice and not legislated by the Church or Government!! So choose what you have faith in: natural methods or man made synthetic counterfeits of the natural. Like all choices we will reap what we sow.
Do any of the clowns on here even have a clue that doctors are being censored? The regulators are acting like information control cults. You leave a religious cult and before you know it, you are in a medical cult.
If the infection statistics in the COGs are about the same as in the general populace, which they seem to be, then one is really hard-pressed to see any presumed protection by "God" for those in the COGs.
This is no time to be hanging your hopes on the ethereal - mask up, get your vaccine, try to avoid close contact, and let's do our best to minimize this together.
Well I think the Important thing to point is the differences between the immune-compromised who really never really got a good response to begin with so for them it's more of getting them up to what they hopefully had gotten the first time around but we know because of their immune compromise they don't that's different than the durability of response which means taking a person being an elderly healthy person or a not elderly a young healthy person and just continue to very very carefully follow them and if the level of their protection goes below a certain level then be ready and have a plan ready to go to get them their boost No vaccine at least not within this category is going to have an indefinite amount of protection.
so we need to take our vaccines and trust the doctors who know best.
Tonto: "Is using ViAGARA a lack of faith??"
it depends how firm your faith is.
Can it pass a stiff test.
Wow!
Congratulations big time folks, you have accomplished the remarkable.
Not one of the posts so far even comes close to understanding what the RCG, before WCG, taught and practiced when it comes to health and healing. You have turned a workable and wonderful system into pure biased total nonsense, distortion, lies, and rumored heresay garbage. Well done. The really sad part is people reading this stuff will think you know what you are talking about.
My friends, you have been misled by many people, many of whom I knew.
Does anybody here know when and why healings in the WCG began to diminish, and how? Most probably not. The criticisms here don’t hold water, because they are based on lies.
A change in 1960-61 enforced on Ambassador College by the State of California lead to a dramatic drop in healings within the student body, and membership. And, the ignorant here have no clue what happened, but they do “know” one thing, it’s all Herbie’s fault, no matter what.
Sorry, but the real truth will win out.
Anybody want to know what caused today’s distorted mess? Nah, the lies are more fun, right?
Well, Bob, some things never change with you. You are just as condescending here as you were on our previous blogs. No one knows as much as you do or has seen as much as you. Get over yourself, you are not special!
Just CA laws to protect students did not cause a drop in healings. More magical god nonsense. No student who sought medical attention was lacking in faith. That's just plain doctrinal stupidity and dangerous!
No one trusts you with the truth any more than they did with Stan Rader (that you brag about standing beside) as he lied to the church and blustered in the face of CA officials.
Your so-called truth did not win out. That's why we have all of the splinter cults of Armstrongism today, each one telling a different version of the same lie. That's why none of them are growing or doing any work.
12:16
Your response is as expected. And, it shows your lack of knowledge about what happened. Your comment about CA protecting the students is a typical diversion. Always jumping to assumptions vs the facts.
You said: Just CA laws to protect students did not cause a drop in healings. More magical god nonsense. No student who sought medical attention was lacking in faith. That's just plain doctrinal stupidity and dangerous!
What a total distortion of what I said, and more importantly of what I didn’t say. Talk about stupidity, look in the mirror. Your comment doesn’t even come close to what I would like to explain.
Now, getting past your ignorance of the situation and your distortion, it was NOT what CA did after that that was the problem, it’s what others did that caused the drop in healings. Of course, you don’t know a thing about that, do you?
Like Paul said: Let the ignorant be ignorant.
Hmm, there used to be a big guy sitting at his desk, looking very dark on the second floor.
If your response reflects everyone here, there is no way to learn the truth here.
The truth will win out, in-spite of your snide remarks.
12:16 also said:
No one trusts you with the truth any more than they did with Stan Rader (that you brag about standing beside) as he lied to the church and blustered in the face of CA officials.
—————————
Now, who’s telling a lie?
Your statement is a total one. I did not brag about standing beside Stan Rader as he lied to church and blustered in the face of CA officials. You made that up, that’s called a lie. Now, who should be trusted here.? For your information when that CA stuff was going on my wife and I were living in Maryland, and had left working for Ambassador. Another perfect example of showing the Scriptures are accurate and prove once again the bible is true. Thanks!
By the way, at least you know about my past posts elsewhere which you so distort.
Ok, let me present what changed the healings at Ambassador and the RCG at the time. And it went downhill from there.
When I went to Ambassador I arrived in July, 1959, at 17. Turned 18 the following month.
During the first few months there I learned more about anointing for healing. Then over the next months I took advantage of that and received the results I expected. Other students did too. I met members at services and heard about their results. Plus, I met and became friends with Howard Clark, a veteran who became a paraplegic while serving in the military. He was anointed, prayed for and was healed. I got to discuss the whole thing with him more than once.
Now, this was before the change in 1960/61, that I mentioned. The change that dramatically changed the number of healings in both the college and church.
At that time the college dispensary was run by church members who were nurses. There was no doctor on staff. Well, the State stepped in with a new rule for all colleges and universities in California. All must have a medical doctor in charge of the infirmary.
Ok, no choice, so Ambassador found a man who had been in charge of 5 big hospitals. New regulation was in force.
Remember, before this time healings were a normal thing. But, something happened. Dr. Owen began a new regimen for students, faculty, ministry, and even for members when they could visit. Everyone’s faith was high… till………
The good doctor got a contract with Lee labs to sell their supplements. Sound familiar.
Ok, now the fall began…
The good doctor insisted everybody must take a physical so he could test them and advise them on what supplements they should subscribe for. So, he advised all he saw to subscribe to Lee for their vitamins. Of course he got his cut.
How did he get them to take the vitamins and subscribe? Ah, watch this one folks. “Your analysis came back and it recommends you take these vitamins which are geared to improve and strengthen your HEART. For the tests show you have the heart of an 80, or 93 year old. etc. Beginning to see? I remember the day he told me that nonsense.
He did this with everyone he could, under the guise of keeping everyone healthy. Over time, from this subtle change, faith started dropping fast. It was after this change that Rod Meredith got his eye operation. And, oh, you’ll never guess what started to become a big health problem among the people. Can you spell heart attacks?
This simple event helped bring down the original health teachings and practice of the church till we arrive at the chhildish distortions we see on this blog and this topic.
Pure COG mythological bunk that God started withholding healing when a doctor arrived n campus. The magical god of Armstrongism apparently picks and chooses who it wants to bless. Thank goodness that creature is as impotent as today's COG leaders are. No doctor on campus brought down the original health teachings of the church. What utter stupidity! This has to be the laugh of the day.
3:42 said:
Anonymous said...
Pure COG mythological bunk that God started withholding healing when a doctor arrived n campus. The magical god of Armstrongism apparently picks and chooses who it wants to bless. Thank goodness that creature is as impotent as today's COG leaders are. No doctor on campus brought down the original health teachings of the church. What utter stupidity! This has to be the laugh of the day.
_————————————-
Pure mythological atheistic fact less bunk response.
The spaghetti skygod monster of atheism has helped darken another mind, just as Yahweh ordered in Romans 1.
There is no such thing as Armstrongism that picks and chooses anything. That comment is simply made up by you because you have no valid response. Thank goodness this atheistic creature is as uninformed as ever. Typical stupidity of another atheistic mind trying to destroy what he can’t answer with fact, just with his fixed, darkened heart, and stupified mind’s fantasies, hoping others won’t see through them. What absolute real stupidity! This IS the Court Jester’s joke and laugh of thee decade.
Now, wasn’t that fun?
Thanks sincerely once again for demonstrating how fixed you are, proving the Bible true.
Try again with some class, please.
Mat 9:27 And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us.
Mat 9:28 And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.
Mat 9:29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.
According to YOUR faith is what caused the drop in healings, NOT because a doctor showed up. The faith of the people started weakening, but you knew that, right?
"According to YOUR faith is what caused the drop in healings, NOT because a doctor showed up. The faith of the people started weakening, but you knew that, right?"
More unadulterated COG mythology. Just because a person goes to a doctor does not mean they lack faith or are weak in the faith. Just because a person uses the discernment given by the Holy Spirit and chooses to go to a doctor does not mean they have no faith. Again, this is nothing more than COG mythology meant to frighten people. Pure bunk.
"The spaghetti skygod monster of atheism has helped darken another mind"
The only spaghetti skygod that I know is the one that Armstrongist leaders have created in their own minds. The god of Pack, Flurry, Thiel, Weinland bears no resemblance to God of Scripture and certainly not of Jesus Christ who they all deny.
I am far from being an atheist, so very far! This accusation is what bitter Armstrongites throw out against anyone who doesn't believe in the magical sky god they think they believe in.
I was around Pasadena during the time you talk about and people were just as sick before the doctor arrived on campus as they were afterward. Just more bunk.
Jeff,
Thank you for joining the conversation here. The internal conflict within the CGI over this topic is a microcosm of what's currently going on in American society. It's NOT what you wrote - it's the nature of the opposition to what you wrote that underscores the real battle raging within CGI at present. Hopefully, the opposition camp is much weaker than the camp which is supportive of public health measures. I'm encouraged by the fact that your post has drawn 70 "likes" on Facebook as of the posting of this comment. It is apparent to me that you haven't sought or encouraged this division - your motivation for writing these posts was obviously care and concern for your flock. Unfortunately, you cannot control what other folks do - some folks are determined to get their hackles up and go to war.
6:02 PM
You don’t even get what I’m saying.
And, you do not know what you are talking about.
I am not an “Armstrongite” and I am not bitter. Quit making up nonsense to try and excuse your silliness.
But, I am against biased lies from pretend concerned people.
You were “around” Pasadena at that time. Then prove it. You’ve already messed up more than once on your “knowledge”. I suspect you are one of those working to bring down things but pretending to be one of them.
The attitude is obviously hostile.
Anonymous said...
"According to YOUR faith is what caused the drop in healings, NOT because a doctor showed up. The faith of the people started weakening, but you knew that, right?"
More unadulterated COG mythology. Just because a person goes to a doctor does not mean they lack faith or are weak in the faith. Just because a person uses the discernment given by the Holy Spirit and chooses to go to a doctor does not mean they have no faith. Again, this is nothing more than COG mythology meant to frighten people. Pure bunk.
——————————-
Give us some real facts Mr. mythology ranter. And, stop twisting my words. I never said what you wrote. I never said a thing about going to a doctor means no faith.
I said it was what the doctor was pushing at them, 80, 90+, year old heart in a young body, etc. Oh, I get it, you can’t read, you can’t tell the truth, and you hide your identy, etc. So prove you were there “around” Pasadena. What part of Pasadena? Give us a photo on campus with someone to prove you even know where the infirmary. Stop hiding so you can continue to present fibs. That shouldn’t be too difficult for an honest person.
Thanks, looking forward to a modern revelation. :))
"Give us a photo on campus with someone to prove you even know where the infirmary is." ROTFLMAO!
I don't have to prove anything to you, but the infirmary was behind the landscape office next to Del Mar Gardens and opposite the SOG apartment garages. It has now been obliterated and is a driveway for the condos built on the site. I have pictures of it along with the black and white photos of the first students of the college standing on the steps of the lower gardens in front of the library. Apparently, your magical spaghetti monster god was unable to stop the destruction of the once sacred campus.
9:24
That’s really funny!!! “I don’t have to prove anything to you.” And, then you throw all the “proof” you’ve got at me. That’s a Court Jester riot. Best stand up routine I’ve seen in a long time! Thanks, I needed that.
Now, saying people were just as sick before and after the doctor showed wasn’t/isn’t even the question. The question was, did HEALINGS begin to decrease, or not. The answer is… yes, they did decrease and caused confusion, or there wouldn’t even be a discussion here on Banned about healing.
Please stick to the subject under discussion and stop trying to deflect from it by deceptively implying I said something else. Atheist or not, that is an atheist technique. And, if you truly believe you wouldn’t call Scripture myth.
I enjoy your deflective deceptive methods. All can learn by them how not to debate if one is converted and honest.
Thanks so much for your kind and thoughtful brotherly love. That’s just what we need in today’s cold hearted world.
BP8,
My corrected comments to you follow: I agree with you that our current medical system is imperfect. I agree with you that there should be a greater emphasis on prevention - especially through diet. Moreover, I agree with you that homeopathic medicine has a role to play in the treatment of human ailments - nothing that I said should be interpreted to disparage that. My point (and I think this applies to NEO's comments as well) was that an Armstrongite's reliance on that kind of medicine may contradict their own faith statement (about complete reliance on Divine intervention) and is NOT in any way spiritually superior to mainstream medicine.
pharmakiea "The root meaning of this group of Greek words is 'druggist' 'poisoner' or, 'giver of potions'. These particular 'sorcerers' were persons able to prepare and dispense potions. But why did they dispense these potions? Was it in order to give relief from illness?
Absolutely not! It was in order to stimulate hallucinations or visions! We must understand that it was long part of pagan religious practice to administer potions, or drugs, which would encourage hallucinations! There is, of course, a direct parallel here to modern illicit drug taking. But these original 'pharmacists' were involved in the black arts and in demonology; the basic idea was that taking certain potions could bring one into contact with the spirit world, and that this was to be desired. Sorcery in the Bible, Pharmakeia and Modern Medicine" Get your facts right people. Luke the "beloved Physician". Get your facts straight. Today's science and biology is not sorcery!
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