Christian Medicine

I've been asked about my support of natural and homeopathic medicines. Specifically I've been accused of hypocrisy in supporting such medicine in the face of my statement that illness is, by and large divinely caused for our punishment and correction.

In the past I specifically mentioned treating a broken bone as permissible. There are numerous Bible references to binding up and healing woulds and injury, and the book of Job shows us that sometimes adversity will be visited upon us for our own testing and ultimate benefit. Job, being a righteous man, did not use any forbidden treatments, so his handling of boils is useful in learning what is and is not permitted.

To clarify my stance on homeopathy, homeopathic remedies are nothing more than a form of preparation. The nature of it's composition dictates it's permissibility more than the method in which it is prepared. It's clear that all medicine is by default forbidden and useless:

Jeremiah:
46:11 Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of
Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be
cured.

Certain remedies are however permitted as outlined in scripture:

The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel

47:11 But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof shall not
be healed; they shall be given to salt.

47:12 And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that
side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade,
neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new
fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of
the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf
thereof for medicine.

Here we see that only healthy, productive plants are to be used for food and medicine. Specifically, we're granted permission to use all the plants for their healing powers. Notice that the Bible's numerous warnings against drunkenness apply to the mental states produced by plants as well as alcohol, so this is NOT a blanked permission to smoke marijuana.

Verse 11 tells us not to use salt marsh plants for medicine or food. If you've ever walked past a salt marsh in the fall or spoken to someone who lives downwind of one you'll know why such a putrid, unhealthy place would be barred as a source of medicine.

There are other references to the permitted uses of herbs in treatment. The purity laws for example give directions for making soap and incense for ceremonial use. These agents have been shown by modern researchers to posses healing and antibacterial powers well beyond what anyone at the time knew of.

Hygiene is also permissible, having been ordained in Jewish law as recorded in the Bible. The extent of that hygiene was the extreme edge of what was possible at the time. Therefore we know that hygiene is permissible to the extent possible in our time.

All of this is just the tip of the iceberg. A close reading of books such as Leviticus would be needed to better understand the specifics of what is and is not permitted by God, but I hope this introduction will be enough to set to rest the claims that I'm being contradictory by saying illness is from God but some medicines are still permissible. God may send us illness to test or correct us, but he also gives us a limited range of medicine and treatment which we are allowed to use.