Author: David Ellis

Don: The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. — F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Crack-Up (1936) Science and faith appear to be opposed ideas. Each lays claim to honesty, integrity, and “the truth.”  Science bases…

Don: It seems from our discussion so far that science and religion can only be reconciled if we accept that god underwrites both; that he wrote both the bible and the so-called Book of Nature, as the first verse of Psalm 19 implies: The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse…

Don: For much of the history of man, things of the spirit and things of the flesh—things of nature and things of god—were combined and overlapped. Until the 19th century the term “science” did not even exist: The term used was “natural philosophy.” Its students were not scientists but “natural philosophers.” Their interest was to…

Don: We have been discussing the relationship between things of the body, which I will call science, and things of the spirit, which I will call faith or religion. In linking forgiveness (a thing of the spirit) with healing (a thing of the body), Jesus is simply recognizing the worldview of the time. Illness had…

Don: We have discussed forgiveness as a key element of community, and saw that Jesus made clear there should be no limits on it. He also, in the Lord’s Prayer, made clear that we must forgive others before god will forgive us. Scripture links forgiveness to confession, yet on several occasions— most notably and sweepingly,…

Don: Even today, the concept that illness may be a result of sinful behavior is somewhat prevalent. Patients diagnosed with cancer often tell me they have led relatively blameless lives and have done nothing to deserve it. Jesus developed the relationship between healing and forgiveness extensively in his ministry. There are more than three dozen…

Don: Last week we read from Isaiah 43:25 that god forgives and forgets our sins for his own sake. Psalm 23 says “He leads me through the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” The notion that god does some of what he does for his own sake is common in both the Old and…

Don: I am dwelling on forgiveness in part because as a physician, I understand the pathology of forgiveness–or, to put it another way, the pathophysiology of unforgiveness. Guilt, bitterness, anger, resentment… all tend to have very disabling effects. We see it in patients on almost a daily basis. The effects have been studied. Adenergic hormones…

Don: Last week we determined that forgiveness may be one of the core pillars of community. We discussed the relationship between forgiveness and the “unpardonable sin,” the “blaspheming against the holy spirit” that Jesus talked about in Matthew 12. That question arises because after giving the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6, and again at the…