\//a//s 0f J3R1CH0 杰里科城墙 [Walls of Jericho]

As with some recent posts on technology, I see my participation on the world platform as something unique. It presents me with some interesting technological, theological and ethical situations. Social media/Internet have made the world extremely small. I now have better connections via web-chat software to China through Chinese State funded platforms than I do to a vendor in Pennsylvania 30 miles away through Skype.

As a need to keep proper communication with my Chinese counterparts near Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Zhengzhou and Xi'an I’ve needed to download WeChat to my phone. It is the Chinese equivalent of Messenger, Skype, PayPal and Facebook combined. There are over 1 billion registered users, mostly within China. Some like me are outside it. 

WeChat operates from China under Chinese law which includes censorship and interception protocols. WeChat can access and reveal texts, contact books, and location histories of its users. This is a known fact in international circles. Due to WeChat's intrusive ubiquitous use the Chinese government does data scouring to conduct mass surveillance on its people.

WeChat is owned by Tencent. In 2016 Tencent was given a 0 out of 100 score by an Amnesty International who ranked technology companies on the way they implement encryption to protect the human rights of users. The report placed Tencent last out of a total of 11 companies, including Facebook, Apple, and Google, for the lack of privacy protections. Which is to say they don't protect users at all. The report found that Tencent did not make use of end-to-end encryption, which is a system that allows only the communicating users to read the messages. It is no surprise Tencent has close ties with Chinese government.

It also found that Tencent did not recognize online threats to human rights, did not disclose foreign government requests for data, and did not publish specific data about its encryption. This is one of the reasons Google and Facebook are not allowed there. They will not give up the key to their encryption. Hence WeChat’s popularity there. Chinese people have no choice. When you live in a  company town with company stores…you get stuck buying company goods with company money.

In a September 2017 update to the platform's privacy policy detailed that log data collected by WeChat included search terms, profiles visited, and content that had been viewed within the app. Additionally, metadata related to the communications between WeChat users—including call time, duration, and location information is collected. The Chinese will know exactly what I’m doing. When I’m doing it and, with a little profiling which a state would most certainly do…they’ll extrapolate my intent and patterns in and out of country.

All this to say, to be able to use this app to do my job in China I need to relinquish all my private data here in the states by consent (as a right to do business) to the Chinese government on the other side of the world. 

Ironically, I don’t see this as an issue to me because much of my 'personal' life is already on Facebook and Instagram here. Whether we like it or not all social media platform corporations are no better. Big Tech and government are in bed with one another. Once governments become associated, by default truth and privacy becomes irrelevant. I assume they’re tracking my every move already in the US and China. Assuming...I'm important enough to be tracked.

Censorship

Starting in 2013 reports arose that Chinese language searches even outside China were being filtered and/or blocked. This occurred both on incoming traffic to China from foreign countries but also exclusively between foreign parties outside of China. China admitted it: If you use our tools, you use our rules.

There is one thing that China will not let users do within their app: Discuss political and politically sensitive topics. They will also not allow organized religious groups that can cause political dissension. While users try to send out political sensitive words, the system will automatically block keywords deemed hostile.

Censorship proliferation worldwide is where my reservations lie with this technology. Specifically, the Chinese capitalistic model is spreading to nations like the US as a cost of doing business with them. The borders of Rome are becoming more porous so-to-speak and the risk of incursion is now greatly amplified, mostly towards America. It is an erosion of sovereignty from within. In truth the borders have already been broached (as we learned with the Chinese chip incident and Apple in 2018). The irony is that I don’t’ care that they know about my life. I have nothing to hide that I’m aware of. I care that aspects of it will be censored going the other way. Walls can fall in or out as we learned by Jericho. It may prevent me from fulfilling the Great Commission. The State will not tolerate a stick in the eye. Any readers of George Orwell’s 1984 realize this.

Censorship Systems & The Gospel

But then I realize one person means little to them. Groups that are a threat to government...those groups get shutdown.The only time an individual becomes a problem is when they are overtly public in media. In other words Tiananmen Square. The good news is that I as an individual Christian...I don’t identify with an ‘organized’ religion per se. Frankly, I don't care what China does and their ideology. 

How should this affect my behavior? Well, all this surveillance means I’ll always be watched. I’ll always have a captive audience like Apostle Paul did with the Praetorian Guard. What’s a Christian to do when they know they’re under observation by the world? We’re to be exemplary examples of the One we represent. There's a tremendous opportunity here for me to be a good Christian deep in the heart of China and show how a Christian behaves over a long period of time as I’ll be making many trips over time. Time...the true test of a person’s character. Character that can be seen no matter what culture or nation I belong. I am in reality a member of the Kingdom, not of any nation on Earth. I’m just passing through here. Just like I will be in China. I should leave signposts to the Kingdom in my wake. I can go to people rarely touched by the Gospel. Factories with dirt floors. Illiterate Chinese peoples mostly seen as downtrodden. 

Just like Rome had Roman roads to carry the Gospel into the frontiers of the empire, the Internet and global social media platforms offer me the same on a more vast scale in the 21st century. Roads are usually two-way streets. I can turn swords to plowshares and behavior to witness. How? I have the advantage of meeting a lot of these people half a world away firsthand...face-to-face and directly affecting their lives for good.

How these people will be treated by their state system will be regulated by the Quality System I help implement in their plants. I can prevent overwork by direct wiring of American dollars to their accounts. I see an opportunity presented to me that is rarely presented in the Church. I understand now why I was given a leadership position in a multinational endeavor. I understand why my ministry took so long and looked the way it did. Multinational, like the Gospel. I am a singular packet of data in the system. I am the trumpet/rams horn (a symbol of power) at Jericho. By going back to the old ways...walls become gates. The old has become new again. Just like conversion by the Gospel. I love the irony and am thankful for it.

Reference:
(1) https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2019/03/28/commentary/world-commentary/worried-huawei-take-closer-look-tencent/#.XY9ZZ0ZKhPY
(2) https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/04/chinese-spy-chips-are-said-to-be-found-in-hardware-used-by-apple-amazon-apple-denies-the-bloomberg-businessweek-report.html

#firewall #jericho #church #ministry #gospel #wechat #censorship #orwell #1984 #china #tencent #socialmedia #internet

Paradigm Shift

Since the beginnings of this blog I have only written and posted theology and philosophy. I will begin to change that because in truth theology and philosophy pervades all aspects of my life. Lately, many have been going through trials related to everyday life and don’t know how to apply the truths of Scriptures to their lives.

Yet...innately, something in them knows that the answers lie within them.

Theology crisscrosses and overlaps everything we’re exposed to in life. I will be dealing with all topics from a greater to lesser extent now because of this fact. Hoping that perhaps I can offer answers, solace or advice form that source. I will note that each post moving forward regardless of topic will be filtered through a Scriptural lens. Why? Because I filter everything through a Scriptural lens anyway as the way I live my life anyway. That is because Scriptural tells me to:

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:6

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17

The Great Physician VIII: The Exception of Capital Punishment

 

Well, in a way, taking a person’s life amounts to a termination of said life and can technically be considered medical in nature. Because it is death prescribed by Biblical law as punishment it should not be viewed as murder or even killing but willful termination (by the state/priesthood) of a life through prescribed means as recompense of a divine legal infraction. Why capital punishment if it is not looking to preserve or improve a life? Because usually someone knowledgeable about body and life would need to ascertain whether or not that body or life ceased. That usually required a physician or priest. Even today it is usually a physician that declares time of death in executions.

 

There appear to be generally (5) five types of offences codified by Levitical Law and punishable by death. These are further broken down into explicit sins and infractions of the law.

 

1.Offences against persons.

2.Offences involving property

3.Defiance of authority

4.Religious offences

5.Procedural requirements

 

Category 1 (and to a lesser extent category 4) concerns imposition of the capital punishment or כרת kareth (which is Hebrew for cutting-off [one’s life]) for infractions of the purity laws.  There is biblical justification for the death penalty in murder (Exodus 21:12; Leviticus 24:17); manslaughter (Numbers 35;16-18); kidnapping (Deuteronomy 24:7); causing death by negligence or neglect (Exodus 21:29–31); sorcery (Exodus 22:17);77 rape, (Deuteronomy 22:23–27); Adultery79 — both parties to be executed, (Leviticus 20:10, Deuteronomy 22:22); harlotry, in the singular case where the offender is the daughter of a priest (Leviticus 21:9); incest (Leviticus 18:6, generally, and with one’s father’s wife 20:11,80); homosexuality (Leviticus 20:13)  and bestiality (Leviticus 20:15–16). The last two being abominations to God.

 

It is particularly difficult to draw generalizations from all of this other than to say that the death penalty is reserved by God in the Law for exceptionally heinous sins in terms of either infractions towards God or infractions to other people.

//{RESURRECTION}// Reboot Sequence Complete/ [ID]: I AM/

So...continuing from my previous post. What does this 'Internet of Things' mean for the Gospel?

I (AM) <Immediacy_of_Gospel>

The Internet is a world of immediacy where technology is instantly jettisoning what I write here off to multiple platforms simultaneously. Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, people's phones, people's smart pads, etc. In a moment’s notice I can share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with anyone, anywhere and anytime. My intent would be to bring the hearer to faith in Christ on the spot. The ultimate intent would be to instantly deliver instructional resources like this blog as point and click information. Heck, I even used a click-bait title to suck people in to reading this. As I’ve gotten to know my readership and my social interactions in realtime I’ve learned to personalize for the individuals. I know my audience.  

I (AM) <Imminence_of_Gospel>

As with the previous description of immediacy so too imminence. It is here now and right within reach. It’s just around the corner for Internet surfers. One needs only search and click. It is amazing how many times I’ll start YouTube surfing and end up on Facebook for something totally not Gospel related and somehow end up in the realm of theology and the Gospel anyway. We have a transcendent God with a transcendent message. The Gospel. A message that can reach you no matter where you are at. The Internet has made this ‘serendipitous’ connection much more common.

You no longer need to stay up until the wee hours of Sunday night as a strung out junkie in a skanky hotel room watching an altar call on a Jimmy Swaggart rerun to have a 'God moment'  or an encounter with salvation peddled by charlatans (like I did). Its there. Now. The Kingdom is imminent. It is the Kingdom in digital. It makes The Message much more ubiquitous and attainable. Because it is so readily available it is also a pathway to help others with the hard parts of the Gospel that are either too hard for beginners to understand or too hard to accept because of one’s sin. Which leads me to the next idea...

I (AM) <Interpretation_of_Gospel>

Just as software companies provide online support for their products, new and maturing converts will need help in understanding and interpreting the Bible. These new believers would be motivated to test any and all claims about who Jesus was, the life he lived, the death he died, and the reality of His relationship to the church in this present age. Digital teachers could lead these people to the Scripture and to the answers in Scripture. Help with application in their lives.

The Internet can help create social networks, self-organized by people using the new smart systems. Yes, even on Facebook. Especially on Facebook. Now you know one of the reasons I started this blog nearly 10 years ago. Once I realized we would have pocket-sized computers with touchscreens that would have access to what is essentially a neural network (smartphones) anywhere on the globe…. I could see the future and where it was leading me. It is the reason I have returned. The future beckons once again. The Gospel beckons…always.

I (AM) <Illustration_of_Gospel>

What happens if what I write can be projected anywhere, anytime and anyplace? I have the ability to weave a tapestry of truth in the fabric of people’s lives. A tapestry that is in reality an illustration of the Good Message. In so doing I intertwine my life into other people’s lives. Like a network of vines.

I (AM) <Illumination_of_Gospel>

The readily available nature of the Gospel on the Internet will shine light in what has always been a dark world controlled by the prince of the power of the air. That dark prince will not be able to do much to prevent access to a network that is virtually ubiquitous. Instead of seeing the pervasiveness of technology as a threat we should engage it with both hands on the wheel, white-knuckled. Waving it with reckless abandon. If we don’t the darkness of this world will. It can shine light in a person’s life that is a train wreck after the lost of a friend, a spouse, a child, a job. Darkness cannot stop light but light can certainly stop darkness. Light a match in a dark place and it will light the entire room and be seen from a mile away. Try to create a shadow in the sun and it will be engulfed by the light and be overlooked while staring right at it.

<//IMPORTANCE_OF_GOSPEL//>

The reality of the spiritual state in the world is pretty disgusting. But there is nothing more original, more trustworthy and more needed in the world today than the Gospel of Christ. Will it be immediately available, rightly interpreted, and creatively illustrated in the Internet of Things? I suppose that’s up to you and I and how we see it. How we approach it.

There are a million chances to reach the lost. There are a million potential books to be written about the Gospel. A million new songs to be sung, millions of applications, millions of everything on this ‘Internet of Things’. Do we not see it for what it is and see it’s potential reach? Or to we ignore it so that the enemy can use it against us?

The irony of it all? Once you’re on the Internet of Things…that information and illustration…its free. Just like the gift of the Gospel. You need only accept it. New vehicle…same message.

<Command Line> Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.> Ephesians 5:16

<Command Line> Go_Make_D1s1pl3s


<Command Line> Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command> <John 15:12-14>

<Command Line> ...therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.> Matthew 28:19-20

Persisting with old communication modes instead of using the new to reach people living in the 'now' or the 'Internet of Things' world is like planning for obsolescence in a critical hour of opportunity. Doing this I believe we greatly relinquish the Great Commission. We need to either become distinct or we will become extinct. Tomorrow is here. The future is now. The time has come reboot the system and start anew with the intent to reach the world using the Gospel as the OS (operating system). Just as Christ rebooted the human race with atonement. A chance to wipe clean the corruption in the hard drive and reformat.

<ARE YOU SURE YOU WISH TO RESTART?>

#internetofthings #christ #atonement #smartphone #touchscreen #gospel #transcendentweb #christian #dystopia 

The ‘Internet of Things’ & The Gospel

The Internet at its core is about people and communication. It speeds these things up. It perverts them. Sometimes it silences them depending on who is in control as we see with China. The ‘Internet of Things’ is vastly expanding that capability right within your home, work and...well, your pocket. You have access to it all on your phones no matter where you are. It is also strangling your privacy to death. As a Christian how should I feel about this? The real question one should ask is, as a Christian, am I entitled to my privacy? As a Christian…should my life be an open book? For many, living transparently is hard…because they’re hiding things as sinful people will.

Truthfully, the fact that things will be all interconnected sounds specifically like an Orwellian dystopia and really weirds some people out. The ubiquitous and omnipresent Big Brother that we’re inviting right into our homes in the name of convenience. But I see that weirdness feeling for what it is. Fear. Fear of exposing the true self warts and all. We're usually only comfortable projecting images of ourselves that have the 'beauty' filter on. In reality, that isn't us. It is a manufactured entity. A fake us. I personally believe that my life as a Christian teacher/leader should be marked by transparency and openness to all who would want to observe it. I have little or no fear of this as I have nothing to hide. What I do at night is what I do in the light. What I do behind a closed door is the same I do outside of it. If I do everything to the glory of God, what do I have to fear?

So, if in truth I live my life in Christ there will be those that will find that life appealing either through me or by my teaching of Scripture (in and outside the Internet). Living it in such a way that it brings others to the Faith by what they see in my life. The Christian life properly lived is visible and should be visible to the outside world. Like an apple that wants of eating or a flower that desires to be smelled. We will manifest the Fruits of the Spirit and it should entice people to holiness. It is ironic that this interconnectedness is already reflected in the 1^st Century Christianity by Jesus.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5

A new tomorrow is starting to emerge. There is a new creation being called the “Internet of Things”, "Web 3.0", or the "Transcendent Web". What we are beginning to see is almost every object you can see around you carries the possibility of being connected to the Internet. Most of your new cars already are. Your phone. Your television. Your lights. Stove. Heater. Security system. Air Conditioner. The reach is becoming like vines into every aspect of life. Books are digital. Music is digital. Pictures are digital. Pixels. Bytes. Data. All the aforementioned appliances and luxuries can all become valid IP (internet protocol) addresses as nodes of communication. All remote controlled by your phone. If they can be connected, they can be communicated with. Secrecy and privacy become obsolete. 

Should I care?

I personally believe not. Much of what’s uploaded to the internet I’ve put there myself. Facebook. Google Chrome. Clouds. My medical records. My blog. Traveling destinations. My buying habits all profiled down to what underwear I prefer. My life in pictures and sometimes video. Encapsulations of my life preserved in digital data.

The network of things or nodes will quickly outnumber the connections of people-to-people...if they haven't already. I suppose this comes with its negatives but frankly I see many positives. I personally have lived my life like an open book because of the One I represent. But what of other Christians? For me it boils down simply to one thing. The same thing that drives/guides my behavior and actions now. What does this 'Internet of Things' mean for the Gospel? My next post lays this out for everyone, everywhere at any time. 


<$MESSAGE://YOU NEED ONLY ACCESS IT....DOWNLOAD SEQUENCE...BEGIN.../>

<REBOOT>
<REBOOT>
<REBOOT>
<REBOOT>


#internetofthings #christ #gospel #transcendentweb #christian #dystopia 

Termination

Robot Priests More Acceptable To Protestants and Catholics, Says Professor

Can AI create better priests? Are we prepared to worship via machines rather than fallible humans? A Villanova University professor believes a post-human priesthood has its advantages.

[Read Article Here]

Wow. We're really pushing the envelope here. It is really forcing me to understand and define what roles, rituals, rites and relationships are. Rarely do I repost articles unless it strikes a theological chord. This one struck many and warrants posting today especially on a Lord's day. This has some sadly real implications and none of them are good. This reeks of idolatry, syncretism and blurring of lines. We should all ponder this one deeply and its philosophical implications. Who programs the AI? What and whose theology does it use? When does the worshiper stop worshiping the God the AI points you to and begin to start worshiping the creation? Sadly, the woman in the above article isn't even original in her suggestions. These spiritual AI already exist in other religions in other nations.

This is modern day Isaiah 44.

The Folly of Idolatry (Isaiah 44)

All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together. The iron smith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also, he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also, he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!” They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”

This is nearly pure unadulterated idolatry. Metal robots or wood, what’s the difference? Blurred lines. Further diluting until the distinguishing features and solid demarcations are gone. Do I think Christians are gullible to fall into this? Absolutely. It is Ilia Delio a self-professed ‘theologian’ at Villanova that made these statements mentioned in this article. She's just another ‘expert’ in academia that people will follow because the modern secular world’s new religion is technology and education.

When the alternatives are worse in the media's propagandist eye like pedophile priests and sexually abusive Protestant pastors, why wouldn’t people gravitate towards what appears to be sinless automaton AI? What could possibly be less offensive to everyone in a PC world? Non-judgmental. Genderless (not unlike the gender neutral spirit). Sexless. Emotionless. Indestructible (at least gives off an appearance of immortality). Unbiased at least on the surface (never mind the bias programmed into it). If you think this is impossible and far-flung realize this…it has already happened in Buddhism in Japan. 

A new priest named Mindar holds services at Kodaiji, a 400-year-old Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan. Like other clergy members, this priest can deliver sermons and gesticulate to interface with worshipers. But Mindar isn’t your typical priest. It has a body made of aluminum and silicone. Mindar is a robot AI. Designed to look like Kannon, the Buddhist deity of mercy. The $1 million machine is an attempt to reignite people’s passion for their faith in a country where religious affiliation is on the decline. Japanese worshipers who visit Mindar are reportedly not too bothered by questions about the risks of siliconizing spirituality. That makes sense given that robots are already so commonplace in the country, including in the religious domain.

For years now, people who can’t afford to pay a human priest to perform a funeral have had the option to pay a robot named Pepper to do it at a much cheaper rate. And in China, at Beijing’s Longquan Monastery, an android monk named Xian’er recites Buddhist mantras and offers guidance on matters of faith. What’s more, Buddhism’s non-dualistic metaphysical notion that everything has inherent “Buddha nature” — that all beings have the potential to become enlightened — may predispose some of the less mentally agile of its adherents to be receptive to spiritual guidance that comes from technology.

Robots are changing other religions, too. In 2017 the Indians rolled out a robot that performs the Hindu Aarti ritual, which involves moving a light round and round in front of a deity. That same year, in honor of the Protestant Reformation’s 500th anniversary, Germany’s ‘Protestant’ Church created a robot called BlessU-2. It gave pre-programmed blessings to over 10,000 people.

Western nations are understandably weirded out by this and Christianity and Judaism are slightly insulated from these types of idolatry. Why? They tend to be more metaphysically dualistic — there’s the sacred and then there’s the profane. And they have more misgivings than Buddhism about visually depicting divinity, so they may take issue with non-Divine imagery and iconography. They also have different ideas about what makes a religious practice effective. 

For example, Christianity places a strong emphasis on intentionality, purpose and souls which are things machines don’t possess. When a worshiper prays, what matters is not just that their mouth forms the right words — it’s also very important that they have the right intention. It is literally the old adage, "They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." It also requires a relationship with God and communal relationships with other sentient beings. Machines are not sentient nor will they be ever. But those with religions that cause one to turn inward and/or of ritualistic behavior….oh boy….

“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Matthew 6:7

But…like everything else, normalization and preaching of lies eventually can become truths in people’s minds. At some point people become okay with their sins. Just look at the Israelites fresh out of Egyptian bondage. Look how many things of the past in humanity at one time were abhorrent only to become socially acceptable via spiritual attrition. 

When does this begin to jump to all the religions? At what point do these spiritless benevolent AI become our spiritual terminators or at least act as harbingers and signs of impending spiritual death? The fact that this is even being entertained in churches, temples, synagogues and halls of 'worship' shows the spiritual termination of some people's soul already. Where is that line when faith becomes moribund? The spirutal event horizon where one can no longer turn back? When is it terminal?

All of this says more about the spiritual state of the modern world than ever before. We are turning away from the religion of our fathers for want of a proper guide. We perish for want of the knowledge of God and turn to idols instead. We are using advances in technology to spiritually go backwards. 

#bible #christ #gospel #christian #idols #kannon #idolatry #terminator #AI #dualistic #trans-humanism #transhuman #genderless #sexless

The Great Physician VII: Homeostasis

In the Old Testament there are two main verb roots, with related nouns and adjectives, used to convey the concept of disease, sickness, and illness: namely, the Hebrew verb וַיֶּחֱלֶ֣א ‘chala’ “to be or become sick, diseased” (2 Chronicles 16:12) and the verb חָלָ֖ה ‘chalah’ “to be diseased, weak, sick” (1 Kings 15:23). If “to be sick” in the Old Testament was intrinsically “to be weak”, then “to be healthy” was “to be whole” or ‘salem’, an adjective related to the noun ‘salom’ (more popularly shalom a noun meaning “soundness, completeness, welfare, or well-being”). Between sickness and health, of course, there lies the divider healing. The main Hebrew verb in the Old Testament utilized for physical healing is ‘rapa’ “to heal” (Genesis 20:17; Zechariah 11:16). This verb also has numerous cognates or variations.

Although the ancient Israelites were likely not fully aware of the connection between inward bodily functions or dysfunctions and the role of their interacting harmoniously with their environment, all functioning life was considered under the care and direction of God, the Great Physician. All kept under His watchful eye. God the sustainer of all life (Hebrews 1:1-3). Not only the omniscient Judge but also the all-merciful Healer (Exodus 15:26; Psalms 103:3). God not only sent health and longevity of life to humanity as an act of grace/gift but also sickness and hardship as retribution for disobedience. Illness and malady were also for the testing of faith as any reading of Job or James will readily reveal.

In the final analysis illness, healing, resuscitation and restoration were bound up with the dynamics of the divine/human relationship. Indeed, to consult some earthly “physician” devoid of the knowledge of God or some “other god”, constituted a grave insult upon God Himself. That isn’t to say visiting a doctor is sinful. Visiting a doctor thinking he can help you and God can’t is the insult. Going to a physician with the idea that God led you and that God can work through said physician…essentially means you realize God is working through said physician. It is always an issue of the heart’s intent. (2 Chronicles 16:12; 2 Kings 1:2-17).

Apart from a few popular remedies like Jeremiah 8:22, there remains extant no outline for the treatment or care of a specific disease in the Old Testament. However, far too often healthcare in the ancient past has been portrayed in a negative, minimalist fashion akin to butchery (amputations, bleeding, etc). Although it is true these methods were used by ancient ‘physicians’ the Bible sought to avoid disease outright seeking “wholeness” of body and soul. A healthy person was described as one who lives “righteously” or “wholesomely” in varied relationships that were constituted by balance, wholeness and harmony.

The idea of righteousness and wholeness can be epitomized in three words. The three epitomizing words that come to mind are “self”, “sabbath”, and “salom” (or shalom). Modern medicine/science attempts to over-simplify them all with one word: Homeostasis or Stasis. In doing so it removes the spirituality and makes wholeness cold and clinical. I prefer to deal with the three Judaic ideas as a spiritual homeostasis. I will do so individually. I will deal with the 'self' first and then cover the latter two in the next posts.