God and health

[James_Lai]

Hello.

I think without any doubt, today health is the number one concern of people. Or one of the biggest concerns. We hear health advice of all kind on the Internet, on TV and radio, in books and magazines, from doctors and nutritioners. Today I read an article at cbc.ca about alcohol being one of top three preventable carcinogens. When I go buy groceries, there’s organic shelves and all kinds of information on food or “no preservatives, no sugar, no artificial colours” on labels.

There’s gyms and yoga studios and recreation centres and swimming pools and ice arenas etc and drug stores at every street corner with medicines and supplements .

When I read the Bible, health doesn’t seem to be too great of a concern to Elohim/YHVH in the OT or Jesus and the Holy Spirit in the NT. Jesus and Holy Spirit heal illnesses or even resurrect the dead, but it seems it was mainly to establish the Messianic status or divinity of Jesus of Nazareth or to facilitate furthering of God’s message.

When Jesus’ followers didn’t wash their hands before eating and got criticized by devout Jews for that, Jesus replied that it’s not a sin as the actual sin is your words, thoughts and actions. Super good and true answer. He didn’t comment though, “hand-washing with clean running water is a good health habit anyway so do it it’s a great advise not to spread cholera and flu around”… No, He just said it’s not a sin… The health aspect of this simple hygiene measure was not even in the picture.

In the NT it says that spiritual exercises are more beneficial than physical ones. Though it does say caring for your body, the earthly temporary temple of God, is a good thing.

Do you think today’s obsession with health and longevity is overrated? Is God trying to tell us health isn’t as important to us as we think it is?

Aren’t health and longevity a RELIGION of the 21st century? A person might skip church or a prayer meeting, but never their morning jog, vitamin pill or gym visit (when not in lockdown). Is well-being of our body replacing God?

 

[eleos1954]

Hello.

I think without any doubt, today health is the number one concern of people. Or one of the biggest concerns. We hear health advice of all kind on the Internet, on TV and radio, in books and magazines, from doctors and nutritioners. Today I read an article at cbc.ca about alcohol being one of top three preventable carcinogens. When I go buy groceries, there’s organic shelves and all kinds of information on food or “no preservatives, no sugar, no artificial colours” on labels.

There’s gyms and yoga studios and recreation centres and swimming pools and ice arenas etc and drug stores at every street corner with medicines and supplements .

When I read the Bible, health doesn’t seem to be too great of a concern to Elohim/YHVH in the OT or Jesus and the Holy Spirit in the NT. Jesus and Holy Spirit heal illnesses or even resurrect the dead, but it seems it was mainly to establish the Messianic status or divinity of Jesus of Nazareth or to facilitate furthering of God’s message.

When Jesus’ followers didn’t wash their hands before eating and got criticized by devout Jews for that, Jesus replied that it’s not a sin as the actual sin is your words, thoughts and actions. Super good and true answer. He didn’t comment though, “hand-washing with clean running water is a good health habit anyway so do it it’s a great advise not to spread cholera and flu around”… No, He just said it’s not a sin… The health benefit aspect of this simple hygiene measure was not even in the picture.

In the NT it says that spiritual exercises are more beneficial than physical ones. Though it does say caring for your body, the earthly temporary temple of God, is a good thing.

Do you think today’s obsession with health and longevity is overrated? Is God trying to tell us health isn’t as important to us as we think it is?

Aren’t health and longevity a RELIGION of the 21st century? A person might skip church or a prayer meeting, but never their morning jog, vitamin pill or gym visit (when not in lockdown). Is well-being of our body replaced God?

Do you think today’s obsession with health and longevity is overrated?

I think it's highly commercialized.

 

[trophy33]

Everything is commercialized. But its better to put your time and money into your health and longevity than into cars, exotic vacations, useless mansions, alcohol, junk food, mobile phones or doctors.

While we are in this body we want it to work well.

 

[Albion]

Do you think today’s obsession with health and longevity is overrated? Is God trying to tell us health isn’t as important to us as we think it is?

Aren’t health and longevity a RELIGION of the 21st century? A person might skip church or a prayer meeting, but never their morning jog, vitamin pill or gym visit (when not in lockdown). Is well-being of our body replaced God?

Some people can indeed make a case for God in the Bible advising us about health, but be that as it may, the bigger reason people are bothered in the way you describe is because they think of Jesus as God in a human body when in reality he had two complete natures.

He was a human of that culture and that time period, not like someone who travels back in time in the fashion of some movie plots and takes with him everything he knew as a figure from modern times.

 

[ViaCrucis]

Hello.

I think without any doubt, today health is the number one concern of people. Or one of the biggest concerns. We hear health advice of all kind on the Internet, on TV and radio, in books and magazines, from doctors and nutritioners. Today I read an article at cbc.ca about alcohol being one of top three preventable carcinogens. When I go buy groceries, there’s organic shelves and all kinds of information on food or “no preservatives, no sugar, no artificial colours” on labels.

There’s gyms and yoga studios and recreation centres and swimming pools and ice arenas etc and drug stores at every street corner with medicines and supplements .

When I read the Bible, health doesn’t seem to be too great of a concern to Elohim/YHVH in the OT or Jesus and the Holy Spirit in the NT. Jesus and Holy Spirit heal illnesses or even resurrect the dead, but it seems it was mainly to establish the Messianic status or divinity of Jesus of Nazareth or to facilitate furthering of God’s message.

When Jesus’ followers didn’t wash their hands before eating and got criticized by devout Jews for that, Jesus replied that it’s not a sin as the actual sin is your words, thoughts and actions. Super good and true answer. He didn’t comment though, “hand-washing with clean running water is a good health habit anyway so do it it’s a great advise not to spread cholera and flu around”… No, He just said it’s not a sin… The health aspect of this simple hygiene measure was not even in the picture.

In the NT it says that spiritual exercises are more beneficial than physical ones. Though it does say caring for your body, the earthly temporary temple of God, is a good thing.

Do you think today’s obsession with health and longevity is overrated? Is God trying to tell us health isn’t as important to us as we think it is?

Aren’t health and longevity a RELIGION of the 21st century? A person might skip church or a prayer meeting, but never their morning jog, vitamin pill or gym visit (when not in lockdown). Is well-being of our body replaced God?

I think that our concept of "health" today is simply different than how people thought about health then. Of course hygiene was important, but there was no knowledge of germ theory. And your right, the Bible isn't really all that concerned with giving instruction on hygiene or general bodily health. The writers of the Bible would have assumed people were already putting into practice whatever was common health and hygienic practices.

Health isn't a spiritual issue, as though good bodily health in any way translates to healthy spirituality. In this way the Bible demonstrates far more concern for spiritual health, because the malady it diagnoses is the malady of our sin. For bodily sickness we have physicians and medical experts who should be respected and honored and their education about medicine shouldn't be ignored, as we read in the Deuterocanonical (so its Canonical status is debated between Catholics/Orthodox on the one hand, and Protestants on the other) book of Sirach (Sirach 38:1-8).

In this sense it's like financial advice, the Bible isn't to help us budget our finances or help get us out of debt. Neither is the Bible a science book to give us lessons in astronomy, geology, biology, or physics.

If you want to medical knowledge, seek medical experts. If you want to eat healthy, speak with a certified dietician. If you want financial advice, speak with an accountant. If you want to understand the history of the rocks around here, talk to a geologist. If you want to understand the complexities of biological evolution, speak with a biologist. Etc.

To quote Galileo, "la Scrittura non ci insegna come vada il Cielo, ma come si vada in Cielo", "Scripture does not teach us how the heavens go, but how to go to heaven." Galileo was saying something entirely NOT radical, not even at odds with contemporary Christian sentiment. But he was merely, but boldly, saying that the point of the Scriptures isn't to say that the earth is literally the center of the universe and that the stars, sun, and planets orbit the earth. Instead that the Bible is written for us to understand salvation, to understand God's saving work in Jesus, that which brings us life with God both now and in the future. Again, this wasn't a radical idea, he's not saying anything less or more than what what the ancient Fathers of the Church themselves said and believed.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[James_Lai]

I think it's highly commercialized.

Because it’s a popular theme?

 

[disciple Clint]

Hello.

I think without any doubt, today health is the number one concern of people. Or one of the biggest concerns. We hear health advice of all kind on the Internet, on TV and radio, in books and magazines, from doctors and nutritioners. Today I read an article at cbc.ca about alcohol being one of top three preventable carcinogens. When I go buy groceries, there’s organic shelves and all kinds of information on food or “no preservatives, no sugar, no artificial colours” on labels.

There’s gyms and yoga studios and recreation centres and swimming pools and ice arenas etc and drug stores at every street corner with medicines and supplements .

When I read the Bible, health doesn’t seem to be too great of a concern to Elohim/YHVH in the OT or Jesus and the Holy Spirit in the NT. Jesus and Holy Spirit heal illnesses or even resurrect the dead, but it seems it was mainly to establish the Messianic status or divinity of Jesus of Nazareth or to facilitate furthering of God’s message.

When Jesus’ followers didn’t wash their hands before eating and got criticized by devout Jews for that, Jesus replied that it’s not a sin as the actual sin is your words, thoughts and actions. Super good and true answer. He didn’t comment though, “hand-washing with clean running water is a good health habit anyway so do it it’s a great advise not to spread cholera and flu around”… No, He just said it’s not a sin… The health aspect of this simple hygiene measure was not even in the picture.

In the NT it says that spiritual exercises are more beneficial than physical ones. Though it does say caring for your body, the earthly temporary temple of God, is a good thing.

Do you think today’s obsession with health and longevity is overrated? Is God trying to tell us health isn’t as important to us as we think it is?

Aren’t health and longevity a RELIGION of the 21st century? A person might skip church or a prayer meeting, but never their morning jog, vitamin pill or gym visit (when not in lockdown). Is well-being of our body replaced God?

"The Bible is not a textbook about health or nutrition. Yet, in the Scriptures, God provides fundamental principles to guide our personal choices in ways that promote health and prevent disease. "
Bible Principles of Health

 

[topher694]

Hello.

I think without any doubt, today health is the number one concern of people. Or one of the biggest concerns. We hear health advice of all kind on the Internet, on TV and radio, in books and magazines, from doctors and nutritioners. Today I read an article at cbc.ca about alcohol being one of top three preventable carcinogens. When I go buy groceries, there’s organic shelves and all kinds of information on food or “no preservatives, no sugar, no artificial colours” on labels.

There’s gyms and yoga studios and recreation centres and swimming pools and ice arenas etc and drug stores at every street corner with medicines and supplements .

When I read the Bible, health doesn’t seem to be too great of a concern to Elohim/YHVH in the OT or Jesus and the Holy Spirit in the NT. Jesus and Holy Spirit heal illnesses or even resurrect the dead, but it seems it was mainly to establish the Messianic status or divinity of Jesus of Nazareth or to facilitate furthering of God’s message.

When Jesus’ followers didn’t wash their hands before eating and got criticized by devout Jews for that, Jesus replied that it’s not a sin as the actual sin is your words, thoughts and actions. Super good and true answer. He didn’t comment though, “hand-washing with clean running water is a good health habit anyway so do it it’s a great advise not to spread cholera and flu around”… No, He just said it’s not a sin… The health aspect of this simple hygiene measure was not even in the picture.

In the NT it says that spiritual exercises are more beneficial than physical ones. Though it does say caring for your body, the earthly temporary temple of God, is a good thing.

Do you think today’s obsession with health and longevity is overrated? Is God trying to tell us health isn’t as important to us as we think it is?

Aren’t health and longevity a RELIGION of the 21st century? A person might skip church or a prayer meeting, but never their morning jog, vitamin pill or gym visit (when not in lockdown). Is well-being of our body replaced God?

Being healthy is not a bad thing. Making it an idol is.

 

[bèlla]

Good health is a privilege.
A healthy diet is a privilege.
As is clean water, safe neighborhoods, good healthcare, a low stress life, and so on.

The degree one possesses differs. Few would trade it for the opposite.

~bella

 

[disciple Clint]

Good health is a privilege.
A healthy diet is a privilege.
As is clean water, safe neighborhoods, good healthcare, a low stress life, and so on.

The degree one possesses differs. Few would trade it for the opposite.

~bella

Just a thought, does God see those things you listed as privileges or did He intend for all of us to have those things and the lack of those things is do to the fall? If so then having the things that God desired us to have is not a privilege is it?

 

[bèlla]

Just a thought, does God see those things you listed as privileges or did He intend for all of us to have those things and the lack of those things is do to the fall? If so then having the things that God desired us to have is not a privilege is it?

Tell that to the blind man, the one lacking shelter, or food for his belly.

 

[disciple Clint]

Tell that to the blind man, the one lacking shelter, or food for his belly.

So did God intend for them to be in that condition or was their condition a result of the fall?

 

[bèlla]

So did God intend for them to be in that condition or was their condition a result of the fall?

If He willed it otherwise it would be so.

 

[disciple Clint]

If He willed it otherwise it would be so.

Does that make God responsible for everything and every condition, is man free from any blame because after all things are the way God willed it?

 

[bèlla]

SOP…

This forum is for non-believers seeking to know more about Christianity. This forum is NOT for Apologetics or debates.

 

[disciple Clint]

SOP…

This forum is for non-believers seeking to know more about Christianity. This forum is NOT for Apologetics or debates.

Sorry did not intend to offend, I felt that our discussion was providing much in the way of information for a non-believer to contemplate and perhaps was answering many of their questions. No harm intended.

 

[dqhall]

Hello.

I think without any doubt, today health is the number one concern of people. Or one of the biggest concerns. We hear health advice of all kind on the Internet, on TV and radio, in books and magazines, from doctors and nutritioners. Today I read an article at cbc.ca about alcohol being one of top three preventable carcinogens. When I go buy groceries, there’s organic shelves and all kinds of information on food or “no preservatives, no sugar, no artificial colours” on labels.

There’s gyms and yoga studios and recreation centres and swimming pools and ice arenas etc and drug stores at every street corner with medicines and supplements .

When I read the Bible, health doesn’t seem to be too great of a concern to Elohim/YHVH in the OT or Jesus and the Holy Spirit in the NT. Jesus and Holy Spirit heal illnesses or even resurrect the dead, but it seems it was mainly to establish the Messianic status or divinity of Jesus of Nazareth or to facilitate furthering of God’s message.

When Jesus’ followers didn’t wash their hands before eating and got criticized by devout Jews for that, Jesus replied that it’s not a sin as the actual sin is your words, thoughts and actions. Super good and true answer. He didn’t comment though, “hand-washing with clean running water is a good health habit anyway so do it it’s a great advise not to spread cholera and flu around”… No, He just said it’s not a sin… The health aspect of this simple hygiene measure was not even in the picture.

In the NT it says that spiritual exercises are more beneficial than physical ones. Though it does say caring for your body, the earthly temporary temple of God, is a good thing.

Do you think today’s obsession with health and longevity is overrated? Is God trying to tell us health isn’t as important to us as we think it is?

Aren’t health and longevity a RELIGION of the 21st century? A person might skip church or a prayer meeting, but never their morning jog, vitamin pill or gym visit (when not in lockdown). Is well-being of our body replacing God?

In Jesus’ day they did not have chlorinated water. They had mikvehs; stagnant pools with steps going down into them to wash in. The Talmud Mikvaot regulated their use. In Magdala on the NW shore of the Sea of Galilee there was a mikveh near the synagogue. I visited the site when they were excavating it. Even though the lakeshore was nearby, they were supposed to use the mikveh. The pool may have been a means of transmission of water transmitted disease such as hepatitis A, cholera, giardia, typhoid fever, polio, etc. The Roman era people did not know how to pasteurize milk or proper sanitation. To wash hands with unclean water is useless. They chided Jesus for not washing his hands while ordering people to bathe in these small communal pools. A doctor who lived in Tiberias during the 19th century traced a cholera epidemic to women washing their clothes at the same lakeshore location so they could talk to each other. He advised them to separate for their health.

Photo of a mikveh.

 

[Thera]

Hello.

I think without any doubt, today health is the number one concern of people. Or one of the biggest concerns. We hear health advice of all kind on the Internet, on TV and radio, in books and magazines, from doctors and nutritioners. Today I read an article at cbc.ca about alcohol being one of top three preventable carcinogens. When I go buy groceries, there’s organic shelves and all kinds of information on food or “no preservatives, no sugar, no artificial colours” on labels.

There’s gyms and yoga studios and recreation centres and swimming pools and ice arenas etc and drug stores at every street corner with medicines and supplements .

When I read the Bible, health doesn’t seem to be too great of a concern to Elohim/YHVH in the OT or Jesus and the Holy Spirit in the NT. Jesus and Holy Spirit heal illnesses or even resurrect the dead, but it seems it was mainly to establish the Messianic status or divinity of Jesus of Nazareth or to facilitate furthering of God’s message.

When Jesus’ followers didn’t wash their hands before eating and got criticized by devout Jews for that, Jesus replied that it’s not a sin as the actual sin is your words, thoughts and actions. Super good and true answer. He didn’t comment though, “hand-washing with clean running water is a good health habit anyway so do it it’s a great advise not to spread cholera and flu around”… No, He just said it’s not a sin… The health aspect of this simple hygiene measure was not even in the picture.

In the NT it says that spiritual exercises are more beneficial than physical ones. Though it does say caring for your body, the earthly temporary temple of God, is a good thing.

Do you think today’s obsession with health and longevity is overrated? Is God trying to tell us health isn’t as important to us as we think it is?

Aren’t health and longevity a RELIGION of the 21st century? A person might skip church or a prayer meeting, but never their morning jog, vitamin pill or gym visit (when not in lockdown). Is well-being of our body replacing God?

I think many of the laws in the Old Testament had some benefit for health/hygiene. From things as simple as circumcision and washing, to the prevention of dangerous molds in the home, disease diagnosis and quarantine rules.

In the New Testament, the focus is on the spiritual rather than the natural. But if we get the spiritual things right, I believe the natural benefits flow on from these. Health should not become an idol. But if we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, all these things (including health) will be added unto us aswel.

 

[James_Lai]

In Jesus’ day they did not have chlorinated water. They had mikvehs; stagnant pools with steps going down into them to wash in. The Talmud Mikvaot regulated their use. In Magdala on the NW shore of the Sea of Galilee there was a mikveh near the synagogue. I visited the site when they were excavating it. Even though the lakeshore was nearby, they were supposed to use the mikveh. The pool may have been a means of transmission of water transmitted disease such as hepatitis A, cholera, giardia, typhoid fever, polio, etc. The Roman era people did not know how to pasteurize milk or proper sanitation. To wash hands with unclean water is useless. They chided Jesus for not washing his hands while ordering people to bathe in these small communal pools. A doctor who lived in Tiberias during the 19th century traced a cholera epidemic to women washing their clothes at the same lakeshore location so they could talk to each other. He advised them to separate for their health.
View attachment 310778
Photo of a mikveh.

I know about it, that’s why I mentioned clean running water. Jesus didn’t say any of the facts you mentioned, we learn it from science and experience.

The point of the OP is God not really valuing health and longevity, but we do

 

[dqhall]

I know about it, that’s why I mentioned clean running water. Jesus didn’t say any of the facts you mentioned, we learn it from science and experience.

The point of the OP is God not really valuing health and longevity, but we do

I do not believe you. Jesus healed many sick. They did not know using community baths could make them sick. People drew water from shallow wells and cisterns. Wells and cisterns might contain bacteria. Many did not have access to running water. It rained in the winter and was dry in the summer. In the summer fields were brown. In the winter they turned green again.