Sola Sisters: alternative treatment

Showing posts with label alternative treatment. Show all posts

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Does the Root Word of "Pharmaceutical" (Pharmakeia/φαρμακεία) Mean That Pharmaceutical Drugs Are Rooted In the Occult/Sorcery?

One claim I am seeing more and more among Christians is that pharmaceutical drugs have their roots in the occult, because of the root word (φαρμακεία) from which the words pharmaceutical/pharmacy are derived.

With this in mind, I would like to exhort my brothers and sisters in Christ to think on this prayerfully, with Bible in hand, and with a clear mind. The word pharmakeia (φαρμακεία) in the Bible has to do with practices that God detests in which divination and contact with evil spirits are used (sorcery). That is not how pharmaceutical drugs of today are created. Drugs today are created using the scientific process of formulating an hypothesis, using double-blind randomized tests, engaging in long-term human trials, and mindfully studying the results in order to isolate a healing mechanism. Once a healing mechanism is located, the product is then categorized as a drug of some kind. Please note: this is all done with the brain, and not through the mystical means of obtaining data from the spirit world whereby the brain is bypassed (the biblical understanding of "sorcery").

Source: Bible Hub

Also, the gospel writer Luke was a doctor ("the beloved physician") who practiced medicine. Scripture does not give us any hint that doctors should be avoided, or that medicine is sinful.

Therefore, we know that our pharmaceutical drugs of today are not bad or evil or associated with witchcraft/sorcery. However, with all substances that are taken for physical healing, there is a risk/reward associated with the substance. Because of the scientific testing done on pharmaceuticals, their risks/benefits are more clearly defined. Alternative treatments, on the other hand, including herbs, don't have as much scientific testing/support. They are also unregulated, which means that virtually any claim can be made about them by the seller, without these claims having to have been scientifically evaluated or substantiated.

Because of that, herb manufacturers make all sorts of claims about the miraculous cures their products supposedly produce, and they rake in lots of money, too. Big Pharma is demonized for being a "for profit" industry. Well, guess what? The Alternative Treatments field is also a "for profit" industry (raking in $34 BILLION per year), only they have no oversight or regulatory committees keeping them in check, like the pharmaceutical industry does.

It is true that there have been some drugs that have been through testing and the approval process that ended up being recalled. But on the whole, the pharmaceutical industry is a blessing, not a curse.

Having said all that, I'm not entirely against herbs; I simply think Christians should approach them knowing first that they lack oversight, regulation and scientific evaluation. The biggest problem I see with herbs is that most people think (wrongly) that herbs, because they are "natural" (if you can even say that about a product that has been dried, condensed, and processed into supplement form), can ONLY help and NEVER do harm. This is not true. There are many accounts of herbal supplements being taken in dosages that are harmful to the body in some way and/or interact in a dangerous way with pharmaceutical drugs someone is already taking. Herbs are not automatically 100% benign just because they once had roots and grew in the ground.

A few articles to consider:

Should Christians go to doctors? (Got Questions?)

Alternative Medicine Is a $34 Billion Industry, But Only One-Third of the Treatments Have Been Tested (Smithsonian Magazine)

The Truth About Nutritional Supplements (Fitness Magazine, 10-01-2009)

Safety and Regulation of Dietary Supplements (NPR radio interview, 7-16-2014)

Herbal Supplements Are Often Not What They Seem (The New York Times)

Alternative Medicine Fraud Warnings: Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Beware the Impurities in ‘Natural’ Supplements (Wall Street Journal)

Dietary and Herbal Supplements Could Interfere With Prescription Drugs (Medical News Today)

5 Risky Herbal Supplements: Even though they're natural, some herbal supplements can be dangerous (WebMD)

Severe liver damage from certain dietary aid supplements (The Examiner)

Safety and Regulation of Dietary Supplements (The Diane Rehm Show)

Alternative medicines are popular, but do any of them really work? (The Washington Post)

Apple founder Steve Jobs 'regretted trying to beat cancer with alternative medicine for so long' (The Telegraph, 10-21-11)

Free online book examining the history of Alternative Treatments (Steve Ransom)

Also, please note that I am not completely against a measured, prayerful, mindful use of some herbs. My husband has a chronic, long-term illness, and we use a protocol of meds + herbs. I am against Christians uncritically taking in any and all claims made about herbs (and other alternative treatments) without looking for science based evidence that supports these claims. And I'm talking long-term clinical trials on humans, not just claims made by pseudoscience websites that base their recommendations on limited petri dish trials. Lots of substances kill cancer cells and germs in a petri dish (gasoline, turpentine, acid, etc.) but that doesn't mean we should ingest them. Herbs and oils are not automatically benign: they can be dangerous if misused and/or used in large dosages.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

The Value and Importance of Scientific Studies

The Biblical Worldview Is The Foundation of Modern Science

The Scientific Method and Why It Matters

Cautions About "Natural" and Alternative Treatments

Natural = Better?

A Caution About "Natural" and Alternative Treatments

A Caution About the Growing Essential Oils Trend

The Unregulated Nature of the Alternative Treatment Industry: Does The Label On The Outside Tell The Truth About What's Inside?

Massive Herbal-Supplement Scam Uncovered: Walmart, Target, GNC Accused of Selling Bogus Products (What's In those Supplements?)

Alternative Medicine: A Mind Blowing Magical Mystery Tour (This is a free, online e-book exposing the unsubstantiated claims [both currently and historically] made about many "natural" remedies)

Wellness: The New Age Trojan Horse in Healthcare (Marcia Montenegro)

Herbal Supplements May Not Mix With Heart Medicines (Mayo Clinic)

5 Risky Herbal Supplements: Even Though They're Natural, Some Herbal Supplements Can Be Dangerous (Web MD)

Apple founder Steve Jobs 'regretted trying to beat cancer with alternative medicine for so long' (The Telegraph, 10-21-11)

Radio Programs Warning About Alternative Supplements

Ingrid Schlueter Interviews Marcia Montenegro and Christine Pack (Crosstalk at VCY America 4/26/11) to Discuss our Wellness Article - you may listen here

Are We All Syncretists Now? A Conversation About Evangelical Christianity and Alternative Medicine with Historian Candy Gunther Brown (Dr. Al Mohler)

Warnings About Essential Oils

The Christian and Essential Oils: A Few Thoughts [UPDATED] (Sola Sisters)

Essential Oils Revisited (Sola Sisters)

Aromatherapy: Biblical Path to Healing or Demonic Deception? (Chuck and Julie Cohen)

A Critique of David Stewart's Healing Oils of the Bible (Marcia Montenegro)

The FDA Warns Young Living, doTERRA Essential Oils Companies To Stop Making Unsubstantiated Claims That The Oils Cure Cancer, Protect Against Ebola (Food and Drug Administration, 9-22-2014)

How To Use Essential Oils: A Step-By-Step Guide (satire, warning: some mild language)

Warnings About Homeopathy

Homeopathy, The Occult and Beyond (Marcia Montenegro)

Sola Sisters Facebook wall - January 1, 2014 (discussion on Homeopathy)

A Warning To Christians About Homeopathy (Sola Sisters)

Monday, February 18, 2013

Natural = Better? [UPDATED]

Posted by Sola Sisters

When it comes to food, does "natural" automatically equal "better?" If this is your thinking, I have some food for thought for you. While I do agree that eating food that is less processed is probably more healthy than eating food that is highly processed, we also should remember that Jesus himself declared ALL foods clean:

“Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean.’” After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him ‘unclean’? For it doesn’t go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods “clean.") (Mark 7:15-19, my emphasis)

Another thought: When Adam and Eve sinned and brought about the Fall, ALL of the world was cursed, including the plants.

"To Adam, God said, 'Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, You must not eat from it, Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life." (Gen 3:17)

"We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time." (Rom 8:22)

So going back to nature and revering natural, plant-based food, treatments, etc. as automatically better, or somehow more pure, is faulty thinking. The plants were also subject to the curse.

Some more verses to consider:

"The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer. If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed." (1 Tim 4:1-6, my emphasis)

Obviously, we need to follow biblical principles when it comes to food, and in this area, God's word is not completely silent on the matter: we ought not be gluttonous, we mustn't make food an idol, and we should give thanks for what the Lord has provided. But what I am finding today is that many Christians I run into have the most incredibly strong opinions when it comes to food, often to the point of attaching spiritual significance to their food choices. Now, perhaps I'm ultra-attuned to picking up on this, having once been enslaved myself to legalistic ideas about food that involved, yes, attaching spiritual significance to my food choices. You see, as a New Ager, I had been a militant vegetarian, who only ever ate anything organic, whole grain, and minimally processed. At the time, I don't think I would have said that I viewed my choices as being morally superior to other people's choices, but looking back, it's absolutely clear to me that I did. And then, even as a new Christian, I still held on to some of my (militant) ideas about food, and for a brief season in my early Christian walk accepted the Hebrew Roots teaching about following the Leviticus food laws. I am somewhat embarrassed to admit this, but I was one of those who would chastise, brow-beat and question the intelligence and diligence of anyone who didn't have some arduous Food Plan for themselves and for their families. However, as God began to sanctify me over time, He also was really working in my heart about my food legalism. But it has taken me 10 years to get to the place I am now. Ten years.

Please hear what I'm saying: I am not saying that anyone else is in bondage to food legalism, or that anyone who desires to make healthier food choices is automatically a legalist. What I am doing is sounding the alarm that Christians ought to be on guard against unwittingly taking on worldly concepts about their food choices. I'm saying this because the New Age teaching I was under has gone from being something that only a very small minority of people in this country believed and acted upon to becoming pretty much mainstreamed. This subtle New Age teaching is everywhere in the culture now, and the teaching is this: your food choices have a moral component to them. But this is simply not true, and I think I've biblically made my case about this.

"But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer." (1 Tim 4:1-5)

Please also understand, again, that I am not saying we shouldn't be wise about our food choices, but at the same time, we can take this too far, until it almost becomes an obsession with some. The problem I see is when Christians begin to equate eating processed food with being sinful, OR the inverse: they sometimes seem to equate eating unprocessed food as being somehow more righteous or more virtuous, as if there were some moral/spiritual component to our decisions about food. Having said all that, my personal preference is still to eat a minimally processed diet, lots of fruits and veggies, etc. In fact, I have been teased by some friends that I must be part Amish, because I grind my own wheat for making bread (yes, I really do). But at the same time, I want to be balanced in my thinking, and be able to be like Paul, content in any and every circumstance. What this means for me is that I desire, by God's grace, to be content whether I am eating as I prefer, that is to say, food that is fresh and minimally processed, or, whether I'm eating a Chick-Fil-A sandwich and waffle fries on the fly.

"Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:11-13)

And one last thing: I would also add that it seems that people (even Christians) who go overboard with all of this stuff seem to forget that we all will die one day. We are so easily distracted from eternal things......looking for perfect health and/or long, physical life. Perhaps we should remember that our lives are but a vapor (James 4:14) and focus more on our glorified bodies that only union with Christ will bring (Philippians 3:20-21), though I am somewhat leery of even posting this comment, over concern that fellow Christians will say I am advocating mistreating our bodies, which I most assuredly am not. Fellow Christians, I am simply exhorting that we not make food - mere food - more important than it is. Let's not make food an idol.

For additional teaching on this from God's word, please see Colossians 2:16, Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8, 9 and 10.

(Please note that the post above was made by a former health food idolator and "natural" junkie. Please bear this in mind before the knives come out.....this is not an issue I've thought through carelessly or lightly. In fact, this article has been brewing in my brain for many months now. I have been researching, discussing, thinking about, and basically living out my ideas about food for more than 30 years now, beginning when I was 14 years old and used my own money to begin buying Health magazine. I know that food is a highly charged topic in the time we live in, and with that in mind, may we all endeavor, by God's grace, to always be submitting all of our ideas to the authority of God's Word.)

photo credit: moirabot via photopin cc

Additional Resources

Does the Root Word of "Pharmaceutical" (Pharmakeia/φαρμακεία) Mean That Pharmaceutical Drugs Are Rooted In the Occult/Sorcery? (Sola Sisters)

Alternative Medicine: A Mind Blowing Magical Mystery Tour (Free, online e-book exposing the unsubstantiated claims [both currently and historically] made about many "natural" remedies)

Are We All Syncretists Now? A Conversation About Evangelical Christianity and Alternative Medicine with Historian Candy Gunther Brown (Dr. Al Mohler)

The Debate About GMO Safety is Over (Forbes Magazine)

The Whole Foods Movement and the Developing World

Wellness: The New Age Trojan Horse in Healthcare (Marcia Montenegro)

Update: Ingrid Schlueter Interviews Marcia Montenegro and Christine Pack (Crosstalk at VCY America 4/26/11) to Discuss The Wellness Article - you may listen here

Hospitals: A New Dark Age? (Marcia Montenegro)

Tapping: The Next Big Thing in Alternative Medicine (Sola Sisters)

No Scientific Evidence For "Chi" or "Qi" (NYU Langone Medical Center)

"Universal Energy" the Key to Health? (Marcia Montenegro)

Problems with Alternative Medicine (Marcia Montenegro)

True Spirituality, Health and Science: Where Do We Draw The Lines? (Marcia Montenegro)

What's New With the New Age? Why Christians Need To Remain On Guard Against the New Age Spirituality (Phil Johnson, GTY)

Should A Christian Eat Their Placenta? (Mennoknight)

Evaluating Applied Kinesiology (Mennoknight)

Food Pharisees (Fred Butler, Hip and Thigh)

How Neo-Paganism Deceives The World and the Church (Bob DeWaay, CIC)

The Value and Importance of Scientific Studies

The Biblical Worldview Is The Foundation of Modern Science

The Scientific Method and Why It Matters

Warnings About Homeopathy

Homeopathy, The Occult and Beyond (Marcia Montenegro)

Sola Sisters Facebook wall - January 1, 2014 (discussion on Homeopathy)

A Warning To Christians About Homeopathy (Sola Sisters)

Warnings About Alternative Treatments

Alternative Medicine: A Mind Blowing Magical Mystery Tour (Online e-book exposing the unsubstantiated claims [both currently and historically] made about many "natural" remedies.....I highly recommend this eye-opening, FREE ebook)

The Unregulated Nature of the Alternative Treatment Industry: Does the Label On The Outside Tell The Truth About What's Inside? (Sola Sisters)