There was a recent story in the news about a couple in PA whose 8-month old child died from medical complications. It’s always tragic in and of itself whenever parents lose a child. However, in this instance it’s even more complicated and heart-wrenching. The parents are members of a fundamentalist Christian church that believes in faith healing only. That is, they believe it is a definite sin to trust in medical help and pills. A quote from a sermon from that church’s website:
“Many profess faith in Christ, but do not act in faith on His Atonement Blood for healing, protection, provisions, and other life issues.”
They believe the Bible does not specifically permit Christians to use doctors or other modern medicine. They quote a number of Bible passages where doctors are referenced as being utterly useless or unable to cure sickness and interpret that in part as justification to reject medical treatment.
The infant died after a week of diarrhea and breathing complications. What’s even more shocking is that the parents were already on probation for involuntary manslaughter for allowing another one of their toddler children to die under similar circumstances 4 years prior. Both children died from minor medical complications that modern medicine could’ve easily cured. The parents instead chose fervent prayer which did not result in their children’s healing but in their deaths. It’s tragic those children never had any input as to the choices their parents made in this way on their behalf. Their 7 other remaining children have since been placed in foster care as a result of this tragedy.
One is tempted to be outraged at the perceived extreme neglect of the parents in this case. But to be fair, the parents were considered loving, caring and otherwise responsible parents. It was just that their religious convictions ran so deep in that they were taught to believe in Christ’s healing alone to save their children. The news article describes them as being deeply distraught over what is now the second loss of a child.
We’re confronted by two issues here: faithfully interpreting Scripture and also reconciling modern science with that same Scripture which was written over two thousand years ago. Most doctrines of biblical interpretation include the principles of historical context and common sense. For example, slavery existed in first century culture but we don’t tolerate it now. When Apostle Paul wrote about slavery in Ephesians he was not condoning slavery but attempting to emphasize the obedience a slave has towards his master as being similar to the obedience we should have towards Christ Jesus. Similarly, to interpret select Bible passages literally might mean that we are permitted to take an eye for an eye, or that we should all gouge out our eyes or cut off our hands if they cause us to sin.
The portrayal of physicians in Scripture as being useless or unable to cure sickness should not be interpreted as an outright rejection of medical treatment. In our 21st century culture we have the benefit of modern internal medicine that did not exist then. Doctors are capable of more than resorting to 1st century ritual and folk lore home remedies. To disregard life-saving medical treatment today is tantamount to a person refusing to eat because they’re relying on the Lord to provide physical sustenance. There was another case recently where a child died because the child was choking on a piece of banana but suffocated while the mother was gathering people around the child to pray.
These parents also disregarded state laws protecting our children from harm. They chose to disregard the Bible passages in Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 that require us to obey the government and laws of the land. The parents’ disregard of the law will likely result in prison time not only for the violation of their current probation but also for the new offense. And the remaining 7 surviving children will be without parents and won’t likely be raised together in foster care. If an adult chooses to live his or her life according to such so-called fundamental beliefs then so be it. But I refuse to believe God intended for us to interpret Scripture in a way that results in tragic consequences to our children.
From Pastor Mark’s Heart
May 5, 2013