Q: In Matthew 10:1, Jesus is depicted giving the twelve disciples power "against unclean spirits, and to heal "all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. This seems unscientific and absurd.
A: Inasmuch as Jesus is who He says He is, then this depiction is neither unscientific nor absurd. If Jesus was just some fine upstanding rabbi, or merely a superb moral philosopher, /then/ it would be absurd to depict Him as someone with the authority to confer power on His disciples over demons and diseases. But as the Son of God, Jesus acts with divine authority -- and with the means to act outside the continuum of natural cause and effect.
This is a fitting work of the church even when its members are not operating outside natural laws. To overcome the schemes and temptations of the devil and his demons -- to favor what Lincoln called the better angels of our nature in all our dealings with one another -- to support the healing arts -- to establish hospitals and medical centers -- to train doctors and nurses, paramedics and other personnel who, with under the rule of harmlessness, relieve suffering and promote wholeness and life -- such works befit the disciples of Christ.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
A: Inasmuch as Jesus is who He says He is, then this depiction is neither unscientific nor absurd. If Jesus was just some fine upstanding rabbi, or merely a superb moral philosopher, /then/ it would be absurd to depict Him as someone with the authority to confer power on His disciples over demons and diseases. But as the Son of God, Jesus acts with divine authority -- and with the means to act outside the continuum of natural cause and effect.
This is a fitting work of the church even when its members are not operating outside natural laws. To overcome the schemes and temptations of the devil and his demons -- to favor what Lincoln called the better angels of our nature in all our dealings with one another -- to support the healing arts -- to establish hospitals and medical centers -- to train doctors and nurses, paramedics and other personnel who, with under the rule of harmlessness, relieve suffering and promote wholeness and life -- such works befit the disciples of Christ.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
