Tentative observations and thoughts which we may do well to take into account at least hypothetically in the attempt to form an overall understanding of the story of life on this planet and the stridently apparent contradictions to that development, thus finding an answer to the common perspective that God, not Satan, is the author of disease and suffering.
Filtering by Author: Ralph D. Winter
Beyond Unreached Peoples
Why it is that the mounting muscle of the very considerable movement of all those globally who are moved by Jesus Christ has not weighed in either theologically or practically in the area of working to correct distortions of nature and of God’s will by going to the roots of the problem of disease?
Involved or Evolved?
What would Jesus have said to his hearers if they had known what we know about germs?” Would He have warned them against perversions of their DNA by Satan? Would He have encouraged them to fight back and not to assume that destructive forms of life were made that way in the original creation by God?
Group Self Deception
The minimal progress missions have made against the practice of female genital mutilation— many do not even address the subject for fear of losing converts—is mute testimony to the awesome power of what we could call “Group Self Deception,” a type of culturally reinforced delusion.
A Growing Awareness about Disease
The thing that strikes me is the assumption that God, not Satan is the source of disease. Evangelical leaders are not constantly promoting the destruction of Satan’s works in general, much less in the area of disease. The Bible would urge us not to blame God for Satan’s endeavors. Is not God asking us to fight disease in the Name of Christ?
How Should We Deal with the Phenomenon of Disease?
A handful of (mainly secular) people studying the Book of Creation have [essentially] discerned therein that God is not the author of the twisting and distortions of that Creation, but that there is a whole array of intelligent pathogens to be fought and exterminated.
A Blindspot in Western Christianity?: Its Meaning for Mission and the Basis for Two Institutes
There is absolutely no evidence I know of in all the world of any theologically driven interest in combating disease at its origins. I have not found any work of theology, any chapter, any paragraph, nor to my knowledge any sermon urging us to go to battle against eradicable disease pathogens.
Theologizing the Microbiological World: Implications for Mission
If we think of the remaining unreached peoples as enemy occupied territories, rather than merely unenlightened areas, “reaching” them with “a viable, evangelizing, indigenous church movement” could seem to assume the possibility that the problem of unreached peoples is merely the absence of good news.
When God Doesn’t Make Sense
The whole place is an incredible mess. And the police turn angrily to the returning couple. “We got a 911 call that something was wrong in your house. We have been here a half hour and we are overcome with puzzlement and fury. We have never seen a house so poorly kept.” They turn to the wife, “What kind of a housekeeper are you, anyway?”
