cubedemon6073 wrote:
I'm just curious about this. Is there anything in humanity's historical record of any person asking God to heal an amputee meaning to regrow a limb? Can anyone show me in any document written in which a person actually asked God for anyone to regrow their limbs besides skeptics?
Couldn't tell ya...
All I know is God does what God wants. If God chose to regrow limbs, limbs would regrow.
My answer to a skeptic is this: It isn't so much the amputation as it is the reasons for amputation. Amputations happen usually due to disease or injury. Diseases and injuries primarily stem from causes within a fallen creation. I believe an unjust god would be one that withholds consequences of living in a fallen world.
Rather than focus on why God doesn't regrow limbs, I think it might be more interesting to consider how many people have been spared the loss of life or limb in the first place due to some divine intercession. I've experienced this personally in my own life.
Another thing to consider is why God WOULD regrow limbs. I'm not a cessationist in the sense that I think the "age of miracles" is over. However, the point of miracles in the Bible is to demonstrate to seekers that the person who comes in God's name really is called of God to deliver God's message. In the case of Jesus, the understanding of the people of the time was such that ONLY the Son of God could do what Jesus did, therefore Jesus must be the Son of God, the promised Messiah. If there are two or more witnesses to something, or even crowds of witnesses, then what Jesus taught is believable. That is important to us as believers now because it provides substantiation for what we believe. We have faith whereas our forebears had none. They didn't have faith because they didn't have a reason to believe. If they had a reason to believe and could begin growing their faith, then we have reason to believe as well. We don't NEED God to regrow limbs to convince us.
Also consider what Jesus said about people who demand miracles. Someone who refuses to believe and still demands miracles reduces God to a parlor magician. Many Israelites wandering in the wilderness during the Exodus had clear signs of the presence of God and STILL refused to believe. No amount of miracles would make them see God when he revealed himself. There is no reason to believe things would be any different today. God could show up and certain skeptics would still be scrambling to find a perfectly naturalistic explanation. Either you have faith that there is a God or you don't. Shaking your fist at God and saying, "If you're out there, grow my limbs back" isn't the way to go. If the experiences of people in the past aren't enough, neither will regrowing limbs be enough in the present day.
However, I do believe that God may provide us the means through which limbs can be regrown. It is already possible in many instances to reattach severed limbs under the right circumstances. We already know how stem cells and other cells can be manipulated to grow body parts. There has already been limited success in repairing damaged spinal nerves--something that's supposed to be impossible. So it isn't like God slammed the door shut on issues like amputations.
I also read the cute little linked article. Jesus said "Whatever you do in my name..." "In my name" refers to the nature and character of Christ. When Jesus prayed, what did He ask for? Who did He perform miracles for, and why? Are these things that we CAN do today? Also consider semitic language features in the time in which Jesus walked the earth. Was Jesus known for use of hyperbole? The faith of the mustard seed, for instance, is indicative of a faith that is always growing. Peter, in walking on water, was at a stage of "little faith" that should have succeeded. Jesus wanted Peter to reflect on why he doubted. And "little faith" ultimately saved Peter in that instance--even after doubting and falling beneath the waves, Peter still called out to Jesus to save him. We have the power to regrow/reattach limbs. We just haven't figured out how to realize that power yet. Blaming God or deluding ourselves into thinking God is only imaginary is as of yet premature. And since Jesus was known to use hyperbole, I think the "mountain moving faith" is meant as a mental/spiritual exercise. God wants us to have the same kind of faith in him that could make more foolish people believe all sorts of wild things. Once a believer understands that nothing is impossible with God, the mountain Jesus might have been pointing to might just as well not exist in the believer's mind. Ultimately whether you have all your limbs or not really isn't what matters. It is, after all, better to enter into heaven without all your limbs than to burn in Gehenna whole.
There are pseudo-Christian groups that exploit the idea of faith-healing and prosperity gospel by twisting scripture. Take Gloria Copeland, for instance. She teaches a so-called "Healing School." But in order to read from the Bible, she has to put on her reading glasses... Justin Peters has a lot to say about faith healing and those who promote it. He should. He's spent the greater part of his life living with a disability. Sad as it is, I like what he said in his blog:
http://justinpeters.org/2011/09/update/Quote:
I never cease to be amazed how the thousands in attendance don’t seem to notice the obvious disconnects between Word-Faith theology and its everyday application – or lack thereof. Every person who entered the convention in a wheelchair, with a sick child, blind, etc. left in the same wheelchair, with the same sick child, with the same blindness.
06 Jun 2013, 10:00 pm
