A Biblical story found in Luke 17:11-19 tells of ten men with leprosy, whom Jesus encountered on his way to Jerusalem from the District of Galilee where he had spent most of his life and ministry.

Jesus was entering an unnamed village on the border with Samaria, when the ten called out from a distance, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us” (NIV v 13). Aware no doubt of His concern for the sick, and reputation as a healer, they were probably motivated more by self-pity than a desire to learn of his novel teachings.

Jesus did nothing, but told them to “Go, show yourselves to the priests” (NIV v 14). It would have been the priests who diagnosed their disease, and required their isolation under Levitical law, to prevent spread to others. Likewise, it was necessary for their improvement to be verified by the priests before they could be considered well enough to return to society. Luke states that as they obeyed His directive, they were ‘cleansed’.

All were healed but only one of them, then thought to go back to Jesus, declare his profound gratitude and praise God. Significantly, he was a Samaritan, an outsider, and one to be looked down upon!

The Samaritans were a mixed-race people, descendants from Israelites in the district between Judea in the south, and Galilee in the north, who had inter-bred with Assyrian invaders after the era of Solomon. Ten of the tribes of Israel had broken away and elected their own leaders who ruled them from the city of Samaria. The Samaritans were seen as having departed from the God of the Israelites and His worship at the magnificent temple Solomon built in Jerusalem. They no longer belonged to the true faith.

But Jesus, by asking where were the other nine who had been healed, was promoting a different kind of religious orthodoxy. No doubt the other nine were also appreciative of being rid of their malady, but they took this miraculous blessing for granted, and in doing so overlooked God’s ability to, in addition, impart a whole new way of life. Jesus commended the sole leper who returned to express heart-felt gratitude, by saying: “Rise and go; your faith has made you well” – NIV v. 19

In this regard, it is relevant what Mark 3:31-35 records Jesus as saying when interrupted while teaching. He had been told that members of his own family were outside, looking for Him.

Jesus took this opportunity to make an important point, by declaring His priority. Of greater importance to Him than seeing His family then, was His wish to continue what He was telling His listeners while He had their undivided attention. Turning to them, He said in v. 34 and 35 (NIV), “Here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does God’s will is My brother and sister and mother”.

Jesus is in essence saying: those to whom I am most closely attached, are not those of any particular church or creed, but those who are willing to listen to God and heed His teachings.

Popstar, my nom de plume, has an affinity for this story after performing numerous reconstructive operations on patients with leprosy over a period of five years, firstly in India, subsequently in Papua-New Guinea, and for a few months in the West African nation of Sierra Leone.

He would like to point out that descriptions of the leprosy of Biblical times found in Leviticus 13 and 14 suggest that it was a generic name for a group of infectious diseases affecting the skin, and not identical with what the medical profession prefers to call Hansen’s Disease today. There could have been outbreaks of several contagious medical conditions threatening the health and well-being of the thousands of itinerant Israelites in their trek to the promised land.

They had no effective means of treatment. They could only control its spread by isolating sufferers from others until the priests deemed that the risk had passed. Hansen’s Disease as we know it today, whilst not highly contagious, is a chronic infection spread from person to person. It is caused by an organism similar to that which causes Tuberculosis.

Hansen’s Disease patients, unlike many of the patients with biblical leprosy, do not recover in a limited time frame. Unfortunately, the isolation imposed on patients with biblical leprosy created a lasting stigma for patients with Hansen’s Disease today. They have been segregated in leprosy colonies for treatment indefinitely, away from family and friends, and their normal environment.

Today, after several decades of effective multi-drug therapy, their lot is much improved. It is no longer the threat it was, but new pestilences causing disastrous epidemics and pandemics, have arisen.

Are we as appreciative as we should be for the miracles of life, and the remedies available to us through advances in medical science?

Apologies for venturing into the controversial realm of religious thought and belief. Alternative viewpoints are welcome!

 The Bible based Christian perspective

Easter is the most significant event in the Christian calendar, commemorating the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ at the time of the Jewish Passover. For two thousand years these two events have inspired the devotion and artistic creativity of believers.

John 3:16 (King James Version)

For God So loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

The Old Rugged Cross

George Bennard, 1913

The Secular Perspective

Bunnies and eggs

The Dawkins Slant

Why Indeed?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dawkins

Clinton Richard Dawkins /ˈdɔːkɨnz/, FRS, FRSL (born 26 March 1941) is an English ethologist, evolutionary biologist,^[2] and writer. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford,^[3] and was the University of Oxford‘s Professor for Public Understanding of Science from 1995 until 2008.^[4]

He has written several popular science books, and makes regular television and radio appearances, predominantly discussing these topics. In his 2006 book The God Delusion, Dawkins contends that a supernatural creator almost certainly does not exist and that religious faith is a delusion—”a fixed false belief”.^[7]:5 As of January 2010, the English-language version had sold more than two million copies and had been translated into 31 languages.^[8] Dawkins founded the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science to promote the teaching of evolution and to counteract those who advocate classroom programs against evolution.

 

The Christian view of the meaning of Easter, a source of inspiration for Christians, is unreasonable to atheist Richard Dawkins. Why would God allow His Son to suffer the pain and indignity of a death on the cross when man’s sins might just have been forgiven? He does not appreciate that God might have sent His Son into the world to show mankind a better way to live, and how to live in harmony with others.

Dawkins belittles Christians for accepting Biblical  stories that he considers just myths. Miracles he dismisses  as trickery and slight of hand. Where is the evidence for Christian belief? Religious experience is a dimension of the human mind  and influenced by our biases and prejudices. It is subjective, but this does not mean that it is unimportant to our well-being, and irrelevant in providing important insights into the nature and meaning of life.

Science on the other hand, is objective, based on the scientific method of observation, and measurement, from which theories can be postulated. But they do need to be verified, and other theories excluded before being accepted as fact. It is a tool of discovery. But is the Cosmos not too vast to yield all its secrets?

Easter symbolizes that life on earth is a continuing cycle of birth, growth, maturity, decline and death.

• There is a cycle of life and death which preserves the species but not the individual. Illness, decay and death are essential for the long-term sustainability of life on Earth. This suggests that the concept of God manipulating history from moment to moment and responsible for all that transpires on Earth is false.   The Sun shines on everyone. There is no favoritism. Dawkins generalizes that the Christian God is a vengeful tyrant, but this is not the belief of Christians. Mankind is free to set for themselves their own ethical standards, but the happiness and welfare of us all is conditional upon the love and respect we have for each other. Beyond this it is not our prerogative, but God’s, to right life’s wrongs. Faith accepts that He will.

• There is an exquisite relationship between form and function in the Universe, providing niche environments for a great diversity of forms of life.  Is the Biblical assertion that God created the earth less credible than the scientific belief that the cosmos with all all its complexities resulted by chance starting with a big bang billions of years ago? Whatever happened at the beginning of time, in space, is simply unknowable.

• Dawkins’ would have it that since God created the world, He is responsible for the ills as much as for the good on Earth.  But when things go wrong, it is not God’s fault, nor is it evidence that there is no God, or Intelligence within the Universe that should be looking after the righteous. Rather it is our own fault.  Most of us have a natural radar to differentiate between right and wrong. We can care for our environments,  look after ourselves and others. The advances of medical science have shown how we can overcome  many of the hazards of our existence.  On the other hand we can wage war, steal what is not ours, and kill those who might oppose us.

Our mind is our crowning attribute. If knowledge is solely the fruit of Science, can we place no value on our what we each experience through our minds? With it we know love and empathy, beauty and joy. We have the capacity to learn, to  communicate and to teach.  We can observe, share knowledge, reason, and shape our own destinies.

I would not wish to denigrate Richard Dawkins but I do not share his views denigrating religious faith, despite lacking objective evidence to prove him wrong.