WRITER SAYS E-BOLA SURVIVOR’S HELP WAS NOT DIVINE

Our Minneapolis daughter drew our attention to a letter to the Editor of the Minneapolis Tribune. The e-bola survivor, Dr. Kent Brantly, said “God saved my life.” The letter writer said this reinforced “some of the worst of American Christian Theology.”

The writer says being a “white American contributed to his healing far more than God did.” His skin color and place of birth “allowed him to be whisked across the Atlantic…to be given new rare, experimental drugs, and afforded him the best medical care the world has to offer,” says the letter writer.

Regrettably the writer chose to couch his comments in racist terms and he exhibits a rather simple-minded view of God and prayer. Enormous amounts of research (which is a form of prayer) and active prayer by millions of people contributed to the healing process.

And the cutting edge of medical research, development and treatment has taken place predominantly in the United States and the United Kingdom and Europe, all predominantly Caucasian countries.

And medical development is a result not only of the Enlightenment and the scientific revolution, but also of the millions of Christians who in their prayers, researches and ministries contribute to the complex process of healing.

Think of the hospitals in this country arising directly out of the impulse of Jesus’ healing ministry. The names of the hospitals themselves tell part of the story: Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian and Roman Catholic hospitals abound in our country. And they often are staffed by people of religious conviction and prayer to help in the healing and well-being of patients.

Dr. Kent Brantly himself was motivated by his Christian Faith to be in e-bola territory in the first place. And in the second place, it was his Christian Faith that influenced him to return to treat e-bola patients. Faith and prayer and healing are far more complex and deep than the letter writer understands.