Evening star., 1921-04-09
BY REV. HUGH T. STEVENSON.

BY REV. HUGH T. STEVENSON.
Jesus has been recognized as the
great, physician. His ministry of
His spiritual messages. In doing
good the Master recognized the rela-
tion that exists between the health
Of the body and the strength Of the
soul. This sis seen by His combina-
ton of preaching the gospel of the
kingdom with ''the healing of all
manner of disease and all manner of
sickness" It appears in His direc-
ton to the apostles when He sent
"Hes-ralled the twelve together and
g4vAthefn power and authority over
all demons and to cure disease. And
HeS Rnt them forth to preach the
kingdom of GOD and to heal the sick"
Failure upon the part Of Christians
exists between health and religion in
the past calls for men to study and
reafffrm "the eternal truth that the
human spirit is not only affected by
it's bodily environment but that it
also has a determinative influence in
shaping. the ENVIRONMENT. Not only
does a healthy body favor healthy
soul buA a healthy soul favors a
healthy body" No system Of public
health would reject the sanitary
regulations of Moses. The success,
strength and supremacy Of the Jews
over their pagan neighbors in re-
sisting the: plaques of the. middle
their observanoes of the teachings
Of Moses While the Bible is not
book Of medicine, but of religion, it
contains much that is of value for the
promotion Of the physical body and
the welfare Of the public.
according to Gods plan. Disease,
like sin. is a result of breaking the
Heavenly Fathers program for ALL
Not all who are sick have brought
it upon themselves. for in many cases
it. is an inheritance. The Creator of
this world planned that it should
be ruled by law and order. When
introduced disease. which produces
death, that is the wages Of sin. then
the grace OF God proclaimed the COM
ing OF One w ho would destroy Satan's
power. During all His life among
men Jesus. the Prince Of Life. faced
massed all his forces against the
Lord upon the cross. There the
prince of the power of the air suf-
fered defeat and met his doom.
The success Of. Christ in. healing
men encouraged his disciples to try
and heal men through faith in His
name The curing of disease was one
of the grand evidences of Christ and
the apostles. The proof of His mis-
sion were sound bodies. The prophet
had proclaimed, For L will restore
health unto thee. and I will heal thee
of thy wounds. saith the Lord" Christ
pointed to the deaf hearing. the dumb
speaking. the blind seeing and the
paralytic walking and leaping, as evil
dence that He was the Messiah. The
apostles. in His name, wrought WON
ders similar to those performed by
the Lord Jesus even handkerchiefs
which St Paul touched conveyed heal
ing power to those. who, in faith, re-
ceived them. No matter how one ex-
plains these cures. the fact remains
that the apostles were transmitters of
divine power and promoters Of health.
While there has been an unbroken
line of.believers that faith could con-
tinue to perform the wonderful cures
of the apostolic age. yet, with the de-
velopment Of, medical science and the
increased responsibility placed upon
the ministry. there has been a grow
ing tendency to leave the work Of heal
ing to the physicians to whom God
had revealed. by science. how to use
the healing power that He had bestow-
ed upon some herb or mineral. In all
the work of the physicians and medi-
cine the Healer has been the Lord.
who "healeth the broken in heart, and
bindeth up their wounds" The de-
mands Of the hour are calling for a
remarriage OF the minister and the
physician. whose healing ministry has
been divorced in time past. The great
development of nervous disorders has,
in the judgment of one Of the worlds
leading physicians. sounded the call
for reunion. He recognizes that in
the fundamental Christian truths
there is healing power.
Hugh Mcmillan has well said that
"the gifts of healing which the early
church enjoyed are perpetuated not
in a miraculous but in natural way;
not in faith cures practiced by ig-
norant and credulous pietists. but in
the more real and satisfactory cures
Of science: in wonders of healing .ef-
fectd in our hospitals. which a quar-
tar of century ago would have been
deemed impossible: in the more ac-
curate knowledge acquired by better
methods Of study. and in the tender
ministries of the more favored classes
to the poor. helpless victims Of dis
ease. And. just as Christ did not win
His triumphs over disease and death
by the mere exercise OF a mere NOM
inal faith costing Him nothing. so we
cannot triumph over our modern dis
win sAy a mere presumptuous effort
gained by earnsst thought and bard