PHI 413 What do the four parts of the Christian biblical narrative (i.e., creation, fall, redemption, and restoration) say about the nature of God and of reality in relation to the reality of sickness and disease?

The Christian narrative gives Christians a guide for understanding the world and many of the things they encounter through life. Christians base all of their beliefs on the Bible, which tells the story of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration of humans as God’s most beloved creations.

Christians believe that “creation” is the concept that God is the creator of everything. (Hoehner, 2020) God created everything, but he created humans alone in his image, therefore giving us all value and worth above all other creations. God loves every human uniquely and equally, and we should treat each other as such, loving and helping each other. No human should harm another in any capacity, and human life begins at conception. Humans must honor God by following his word and doing what he tells us to do, which includes the command to “love thy neighbor as thyself” Lev 19:18 (King James Version, 1769/2017)

“The fall” in the Christian narrative refers to when Adam and Eve, the first humans, disobeyed God and caused the seperation between God and humans known as sin. Because of this first sin, disease, sickness, suffering, and death befell all humans. These concepts are spiritual as well as physical, as sin causes the spirit to wither and die, and spiritual death is perhaps the more severe and feared consequence of sin. (Hoehner, 2020)

Christians refer to “redemption” as the salvation from our sins that God provided for us through His son, Jesus. Jesus was born as a human, he faced many of the temptations we do, but he remained pure and sinless. He was crucified even though he did nothing wrong, as a permanent sacrifice to pay for the sins of all humans, and he rose from the dead after three days in a tomb. Christians believe, at a basic level, that all you have to do to be saved and guaranteed eternal life in heaven is repent for your sins and accept Jesus into your heart as your lord and savior. This sacrifice fixed the severed ties between God and humans, repairing the damage sin does to our spirits. God loves us and wants to be with us for eternity, so he gave his son to save us.

“Restoration” in the Christian narrative is the renewal of heaven, earth, and humans to a state of being free from sin, suffering, and death. Christians believe that Jesus will come to Earth again and God will create a new heaven and new earth and call all those who are saved to be with Him for eternity.

Any healthcare worker, but especially a Christian one, should strive to relieve pain and suffering while treating every patient as a valuable, loved human who deserves the best care. We should also empathize with our patients, because even though we may not know exactly what they’re going through, we can listen to, advocate for, and care for them. Christians find hope and comfort in God’s love, and that gives them strength to face many difficult situations.

References:

Hoehner, P. J. (2020). Biomedical ethics in the Christian narrative. In Grand Canyon University [GCU]. Practicing Dignity: An introduction to Christian values and decision making in healthcare. (ch.3). https://lc.gcumedia.com/phi413v/practicing-dignity-an-introduction-to-christian-values-and-decision-making-in-health-care/v1.1/#/chapter/3

King James Bible. (2017). King James Bible Online. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/ (Original work published 1769)

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Creation: God is the creator of everything that exists, and there is a clear distinction between God and His creation. God is involved in every aspect of His creation, directing and guiding all things for his purpose and design. God is not dependent on his creation, nor is creation necessary to God. His creation was intentional; everything exists for a purpose. God gave all human beings dignity and value that must be protected in every stage of life, in health or sickness from the womb to old age.

Fall –Adam and Eve went against God’s command and ate the forbidden fruit creating the original sin. This is the separation from God and his creation, bringing disease, sickness, suffering, and death. This was not part of God’s original design. Gods’ good creation always exists, and humans use science and technology to distort the good gifts that have become false hopes of the ideal human condition.

Redemption: Jesus sent his son to die on the cross for our sins to be forgiven and made right with God again. The brokenness and separation that resulted from the fall are restored. God has power over suffering, illness, and death and provides miraculous healing and recovery.

Restoration: With the death of Jesus on the cross for our sins came the promise of restoration, eternal life, there will no longer be pain, suffering or illness. “The goal of the biblical narrative is a new creation” (Hoehner, 2020). After death, believers await the resurrection of their bodies and eternal life with God.

Reference:

Hoehner, Paul J. (2020). Biomedical Ethics in the Christian Narrative. In Practicing dignity: An introduction to Christian values & decision making in health care (1st ed.), https://lc.gcumedia.com/phi413v/practicing-dignity-an-introduction-to-christian-values-and-decision-making-in-health-care/v1.1/#/chapter/3

The Christian biblical narrative provides a framework and a guide for Christians to understand the concepts of health, disease, life, and death (Hoehner, 2020). The biblical narrative based on the Christian worldview, summarizes the story of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration of human beings.

As Hoehner (2020) explains, creation is the concept that God is the creator of everything. He created every human being in the image of God giving everyone intrinsic value and a purpose; thus, this means that every person is worth the same and for that reason every human being deserves the same love and respect from the moment of conception to their physical death, and beyond. Therefore, no human being has the right to end another human being’s life. Hence, as God’s creation, humankind must honor God by doing his will and reflecting God’s character.

PHI 413 What do the four parts of the Christian biblical narrative

In the fall, Adam and Eve’s disobeying God’s rules was the separation from God bringing upon disease, sickness, suffering, and death. And as Haener (2020) explains, the death caused by sin, is not necessarily physical, but spiritual death.

Redemption is the restoration of the fall through Jesu’s life, death, and resurrection. After a fall, God is always there to heal people’s heart and mind to be more loving, humble, and faithful. Christians learn to view life differently including how to deal with disease, healing, and death (Hoehner, 2020).

Restoration in the biblical narrative, refers to a renewed world, free of sin and suffering. For a Christian health care worker, the goal is to provide relief from pain and suffering as well as love, and empathy.

In the light of illness, or when someone we love is sick or dying, one will find comfort and hope in God’s love. Having faith in God is what gives us the strength to face any difficult situation. As Hoehner (2020) states, Christians need a firm foundation and framework as a guide in life.

References:

The Christin Biblical narrative of the world’s creation portrays God as the protector of all things, including human life. Once He created everything in the universe, God realized that He needed to ensure his creation was taken care of. Consequently, He opted to create man to look after His creation. When He realized how lonely man was, God provided him with a companion. These two actions show his willingness to protect life at all costs. At the time of creation, there was no sickness or form of the disease. He wanted to ensure that all his creations would live healthily with no suffering (Sk, 2018). However, the fall of humankind saw God send sufferings, including diseases and sickness. This depicts that God was willing to uphold kindness until man disobeyed him. Therefore, diseases and sickness were sent as punishment as they did not exist at the beginning of time. From the narrative, Christians believe that any form of illness that falls on man is a form of punishment (Orr, 2015).

For one to receive healing, they would ask for forgiveness to help them regain purity in the eyes of God. One would find comfort and hope with illness in the story of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration by ensuring that they live holy lives. Christians must dedicate their lives to serving God. When Eve and Adam desired the forbidden fruit, it fell over humanity; later, God forgave them with love and mercy and restored their relationship. at the end of ages, God will come to redeem us from all sin and death, keeping his promises of restoration and healing.

References

Orr, R. D. (2015). Incorporating spirituality into patient care. AMA Journal of Ethics, 17(5), 409-415. https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/incorporating-spirituality-patient-care/2015-05

Sk, S. (2018). Evaluating the Authenticity of the Biblical Contents of John Milton’s Paradise Lost: A Critical Study with Particular Reference to Books I and II (Doctoral dissertation, Aligarh Muslim University).

The nature of God and reality in relation to the reality of disease and sickness can be analyzed using the four key components of the Christian Biblical narrative namely restoration, redemption, fall, and creation. For instance, understanding the narrative of redemption has great implications on the Christian understanding of healthcare ethics because it provides a motive for understanding the aspects that give rise to Christian ethics (Hoehner, 2020). While redemption is primarily focused on various spiritual aspects it also has various physical dimensions because the Bible talks of many stories where healing involved both spiritual and physical healing (Hoehner, 2020). On the other hand, the Christian narrative of restoration may be used to explain why injustices, death, pain, and suffering are commonplace in relation to human health. The Biblical narrative of restoration can be used to explain why individuals experience the continuing effects of the fall such as more disease and even physical death (Hoehner, 2020).

Similarly, the Biblical narratives of creation and fall can be used to describe the reality of disease and sickness in relation to the nature of God and the reality that humans face. In terms of the fall narrative, Christians can be able to understand how humans are capable of distorting good gifts given by Jesus for evil purposes through science and technology (Hoehner, 2020). The fall narrative can be used to explain why there have been instances where humans have been inflicted by diseases that have been genetically engineered in the labs. Lastly, the creation narrative can be used to give direction and substance to the numerous medical related ethical issues faced today (Hoehner, 2020).

References

Hoehner, P. (2020). Biomedical Ethics in the Christian Narrative. In G. C. University (Ed.), Practicing Dignity: An Introduction to Christian Values and Decision Making in Healthcare. Grand Canyon University.

An informative post presenting the Christian biblical narrative as you elaborated on its implications, about the nature of God and the reality of sickness and disease while finding comfort and hope in the light of illness through faith in God as expressed in the narrative. I agree as mentioned in your writing that, in redemption, through Jesus Christ, we can reconnect our relationship with God, we are given both physical and spiritual healing and understanding of how we must conduct ourselves in life in God’s character that we all have within us. In terms of religion bringing about healing, I would like to further elaborate on the positive effects on mental illness. These positive effects of religion include the following, therapeutic effects on mental health by means of effective coping skills leading into healthier lifestyle practices, for example, “rest, monogamous sex, moderation in all things”, provides a social support system having the church community and God, helps to deal with life’s difficulties by developing one’s cognitive frameworks, offers an internal locus of control as individuals respond to problems that are taken in a beneficial manner towards their well-being as religious practices such as prayer can help counter damaging tendencies of one’s illness allowing for “reduce tension and anxiety, diminish self-blame, stabilize emotional ups and downs, and improve self-knowledge” and improvements of “panic attacks, generalized anxiety disorder, depression, insomnia, drug use, stress, chronic pain, and other health problems” (Archer, July 28, 2017, para. 6 & 7). The power of our faith can make all the difference in our lives, especially for our overall health and well-being as it serves as guidance when we share a relationship with God by our side. We are never alone in this lifetime, where there is God’s creation of humankind there is the hope of a lovely day to come despite the current tribulations we may face on the way.

Reference

Archer, M. (July 28, 2017). The positive effects of religion on mental illness. Institute for Family Studies. https://ifstudies.org/blog/the-positive-effects-of-religion-on-mental-illness

PHI 413 What do the four parts of the Christian biblical narrative (i.e., creation, fall, redemption, and restoration) say about the nature of God and of reality in relation to the reality of sickness and disease?