1987 issue 3 - the frustration of fallibility - counsel of chalcedon

8/12/2019 1987 Issue 3 - The Frustration of Fallibility - Counsel of Chalcedon

1/4

shown.you n part, we even use the gift

of

logical thinking to try to do away

with the One who gave it to us, gave it

so that we may know him and love

him. But He is so loving that He sent

Jesus Christ, His own eternal Son as an

atoning sacrifice

for

sinners . When we

see Christ's death,

we

see

just

how

hateful our rebellion is in the sight of

God. God wants you to repent, turn

away from pretended autonomy. Satan

has; deceived you and you've been

following his

lie

with pleasure.

God

demands that you look upon his Son,

trust in him, and be baptized. Whoever

believes in Jesus Christ will never

perish, but live eternally

in

God's favor

and presence. could tell you more, but

I'm afraid your milk will get wann."

"TilE MILK

I forgot all about it You

know,

no

.one has ever told

me

about

the Christian faith in this way.

I -

think

I'mbeginning to see that I've

been

very

wrong in my thinking, in my attitude,

in my, uh, in

my

heart, I guess."

The

rustration o allibi}ity

by Hilton P. Terrell, M.D., Ph.D.

....Ye shall be as gods. knowing

tween befng the patient's adviser, edu-

goo nd

evil,

the serpent promised cator and assistant and being his w a r ~

Eve. Mankind wanted godhood and be- . den. "Am I

my

brother's keeper?'' Cain

lieved Satan's half-truth. As eternal exis asked God. Cain's question was wrong

tence without the power to have eternal because it was a devious answer to God .

health is no blessing, so is knowledge Had Abel carelessly or deliberatelY' ,

of

good and evil without the power to injured or killed himself despite Cain 's

enforce the good. Pretenders to God's advice to

the

contrary, Cain's question

throne must have all the divine quali- would indeed have been a defense. We

ties in fuli measure. One of God's attri. . physicians are responsible to .help the .

butes is infallibility. Anyone who helpless within our means but we lack

wants to be God will be pressed toward the power to

be

ultimately .accountable

this unattainable goal and will realize for the illnesses or deaths

of

others un-

only frustration. Medical practice today less we deliberately harm them or

reveals frustration arising

from

a

p r e ~

commit grossly ignorant or careless

tense

of

infallibility. acts. s helpers, we represent a facet of..

Our . nation has progressively dis- God's nature. There is .a difference,

owned God and legitimate human though, between being God'sreprt-:

authorities whom He has appointed. sentative and being God Our pa

Thus, we come under .increasing p r e s ~ tients want us tO be their keeper when.

"And

I

can see that by the grace of God sure to manifest God's powers personal ' ever . heir .own autonomous acts have

your epistemological self-consciousness . ly. Though we want His autonomy, we gotten them into difficulties. They of-

has just been accelerated (Teehee).Why lack the ability and despise the responsi

-'

ten want .us to provide the godlike

n G t c g r n e b a G k a f t e r y e U

d e l i v e r i e s

b i l i t y

w h i e h

g o e s w i t h n escape--

p o w e r s

t h e y

l a c b v h i l e y e r s a f e g u ~ d i n g

and we'll

talk

some more. from our dilemma is to artoint some their autonomy. Christian physicians :

human institution with improper author- must learn to reject this contract.

"Could we? That'd be great. I'll be back ity in order to displace responsibility .Though the medical profession is not

in abOut a half-hour," from ourselves.

But

no sooner has an uniquely a recipient

of

this generation's

"Terrific. See you then. And

God

bless

you."

Uh, God, God bless you, too, Rev."

0

entity been charged with authority thart rebellion against God's authority, the

we rebel. We resent authority whether it physician does provide

a

personal focal

is legitimate or not. Medicine is an in point onto which patients project their

stitutional target for today's rebellion be- frustration with the results

of

their own

cause of its legitimate and illegitimate autonomy . and fallibility, Focussing .

authority. blame away ftom one's self is an an.:

Physicians' actual authority cient practice.2 Ostensibly possessing

over free patients is quite limit great knowledge and the power

of

life,

ed nd is wholly derived from supposedly always available, physicians

our patients' responsibility

for

are increasingly required to be error-free.

themselves. Our duty is to encourage Both the public and physicians often be-

patients' accountability to

God

as it have as though the profession's stan- .

relates to health.

We

should

not

accept dards ought to be omniscience, omnipo-

responsibility for the patient's self- tence and omnipresence. The power of

governance nor can

we

properly be held the state is used by patients to.pressure

by patients to possess God's powers on physicians toward divine infallibility.

their behalf. There is a difference be- Decisions bearing on treatments near

Dr. Hilton P. Terrell

is

a medical

doctor

In

Florence, South Carolina

and is editor of the Jouriud of

Biblical Ethics

in

MediciM.

the end

of

life, for example, were .once

left to patients, their families, elders

and physicians. This arrangement made

for some errors ,even though these are

The Counsel of Chalcedon, March, 1987 _,


2/4


3/4

patient's

autonomous

sins, as

we

have ing their competent patients as objects not

defensible

as the

absolute representa-

the opportunity, we can expect poten- rather than as the architects of heir own tion of nature our patients take them

tial retaliation w h e ~ e v e t il:ie C9nsequen- health.Patients bave l ~ a m e d to be i n a n ~ for.

We

must 'be careful lest we tacitly

ces of u t o n < ~ m y aren't deflected

by us.

cial objects in one generation; physi- concur with our patiepts in this false

What is the purpose of a humanist's cians are not being taught this same conception. "F;acts" in medicine

have

a

god but to give out goodies

c:in

demand

lesson and

finding it painful. short half-life. There is a definite_ lace

and humbly , take

blame

.when the In addiqon to an ,assured

payment

for medical subspecialization

but

too

gQ9dies cause .

trpuble?

physicians must surrender other god- large a representation may

reveal

our

TELL-IT-LIKE-IT lS like perquisites

if

the

infallibility

trap

profession's anxieties about incomplete

MEDICINE is to be escaped. We must alter our kn,owledge more than it believes our

Physicians must correct patients' ex- notions of keeping

up"

with medicine. patients' ills. We need to examine our

pectations that we

can

bear

responsiL

While

we

would not be so

brazen

as to personal motivation for

entering

sub-

,bUity for the consequences of original claim

lcnowledge

of

all

that is .

in

our specialized

medicine.

Frustration with

sin or of their particular sin. We must medical

field,

we like to feel that we incomplete knowledge is a non-durable

ieam to insert tJ1is correctionas a part keep abreast of all that could

be

im-

motive for entering a subspecialty.

of diagnosis Md treatment. We mustbe portant

e

u b ~ r i b e to modified Spec.ial talents, interests and opportun-

wiUing

to say such

thbtgs

as,. you are science for

ourselves. itles

are more enduring reasons.

.anxious

and

depressed because

you:

(1) Consider. The

s e l f ~ s e r v i n g

promotion of medi

are

pursuing the p o s ~ e s s i o n of too that over two . million artiCles cine's potency also needs correction if

. many things, i ) neglecting your wife. related to medicine are pub- we will escape tile shackles of n f a U i ~

(3) holding a grudge against your co- lished anliually.5 If we assume bility. We cannot cure a conunon cold.

workers,

(4)

d i ~ t i n g

your

ttJoughts

that

99%

of

these can .

be

ig

The

uSUal

maximum

life

span

of

toward the calamitous,

(5)

shirking

the

nored because of redundancy, ir

people

. in

developed nations

is little

:preaching of the Word, the sacraments, relevance to our raeld or d i s c e r n ~ differeQt from w h ~ t

it

is in

third

wcirld

prayer and tl_le fellowship of

the

saints; ible inaccuracy, we still have a nations or in our own country three

6)

etc. full-time job masterin1 the re- generations ago.6 The increased ave

These habits may

have

produced a mainder. If

we

could manage r ge life

expectancy

of

developed

.na-

riest of crooked ind1ecules 'sorttewi:iere that task we wopld be ignoring tions would almost disappear if we

inyour brain that has become tbe chem- our work and other priorities. counted

all those

people

conceived

but

.ical expression in your flesb of your We should not cease learning in not allowed birth. Economic advance-

disobedience. i : v . i n g y o u . . a n . a n t i d e p r e s

d e s p a i r o v e t

_:this- limitationc bu t- ..- -ment-of-a natien-eorrel-ates- at-least--as-

sant chemical may , straighten out Ute should recognize that a life or well with

i m p r o v ~ d

life expectancy as

crooked

molecule.$

but .unless we ad- learning will not establish

our does

medical care.7 Wide

variations in

dress the life.patterns

we will

only

eri-

. infallibility. ,

medical practices

arnpng

developed

na-

.courage

you to

believe that

the

c o n s e ~

-.IS SUBSPECIALTY MEDI

tions

do

not

result

in

life

expectancies

quences can all be chemically rtullifieq. CINE AN ANSWER?

equally

(l.ivergent8 .

:Confess these sins and let us get Subspecialization in medicine re-

New treatments

carry new

complica-

a plan reconsu-uct your life according ceives pa1.1 . f its impetus from the tions and prices

whi


4/4

afforded us a window into

the

spirit

of

man. Psychiatrists are llllowed

t

ex

press opinions in

court

as to the

s t t ~

of

an accused felon's mind when a crime

was committed. Lacking even the

buttress of a physical lesion on which

to lean speculations, physicians thus

intrude on authority given by God to

the state.

The

state

is

thereby assisted

in dodging its responsibility

by

such

highly dOubtful advice. Christian

physicians (and judges) should

try

t

remove psychiatric testimony from

special privilege of this kind. Courts

must judge on physical evidence and the

testimony of actual behavior in relation

to

the alleged crime. Interpretations that

track back into the non-material part

of

man are not provable by our medical

arts. The general condition of the heart

of

man is well described in scripture,9

if

the court wishes

to

know. A particular

spirit is opaque

to

science and medical

expertiselO and physicians should re

frain

from being paid spiritual Peeping

Toms.

We have mentioned only a few

of

the

functional manifestations

of i n f l l i b i l ~

ity in medicine.

We

can help our pa

tients and our profession

if

we work t

restore a more limited role for medicine

in these and other areas.

References

Bessinger, C.D., Jr., Humanito

logy

As

a New Specialty

(letter)

NEfM

Vol.

314,

No.

4,

Jan.

1986,

pp.

249-50.

2

Scriptural examples include: Gen.

3:12,13;

16

:1-16;

Num.

16:2,3,41;

2 2 : 3 7 - ~ 4 : 1 1 ;

John 5:

16-18;

Acts

6:8-

14,57-58.

3 Weatherman Loses Suit,

Florence

Moming

News,

Vol. 64,

No.

42,

Monday, April

28, 1986,

p. l-

B

4 Cohen, B.L. and

Lee I.,

A Catalog

of Risks Hea/Jh Physics Vol. 36

(June), 1979. pp.

707-722.

5

Haynes, B R.

et

al., How

to

Keep

Up with the Medical Literature:

1.

Why

to

Try to Keep Up and How

t

Get

Started.

Ann nt Med.

1986;

lOS:

149-153.

6 Yin P. and Shine M., Misinterpre

tations of Increases

in

Life Expectancy

in Gerontology Textbooks.

The

r

,

halcedon

Needs

Teachers

Positions open

for all grade

levels, 1987-88

Applicants must

be

experienced,

Reformed (holding to the system

of doctrine taught in the

Westminster Confession

of

Faith), committed

to

Christ

and

to

Christian education, and

flexible in terms of

the

courses

and activities in which they are

willing

to

participate.

Gerontologist, Vol. 25(1), Feb.

.1985,

pp.

78-82.

--:Brody, J.A., Prospects for an

Ageing Population.

Nature.

Vol.

315,

6

June

1985,

pp.

463466.

-- Weatherby N.L., Nam, C.B. and

Isaac, L.W., Development. Inequality,

:Health Care, and Mortality a t the O lder

Ages: A Cross-National Analysis.

Demography Vol.

20

, No. 1, Feb.

1983,

pp

2743. .

7 Maloney, J.V., Jr.,

he

Limits

of

Medicine. Ann 'oj

Surg

Vol.

194,

No

. 3, Sept.

1981

1

pp.,

250-251.

8 Payer, L., Medicine in Three

Countries: Germany.

MD

Vol. 30,

No.2

Feb.1986,

pp.

95-148.

9

Scriptural references (Romans

1:21,22; 2:15,16;

Jer.

17:9,10)

tor Cor.

2 : 1 0 ~ 1 6

This article is reprinted,

by

permis

sion, from the

Journal

of Biblical

Ethic

in Medicine

Volume I, Number

I, January,

1987.

The Journal

is

pub

lished four times a ear and is available

for $16.00 for four issues. The address

is 1050

Clarendon Avenue, Florence,

sc 29501.

D

Chalcedon Christian

School

P.O. Box 888022

Dunwoody,

GA

30338

. (404) 396-0960

Robert T. Lester,

Administrator

Benefit package

and

better

than ave

r

age

salary for

Christian Scltool teachers.

Continuing the series

of taped sermons on

The

Book

of

ebrews

by

Joseph C. Morecraft.

m

Models ofPersevering Faith V

Models ofPersevering Faith

V

Models

of

Persevering Faith,

VI

(Hebrews

11)

The

Race ofLife

(Hebrews

12)

4.00

each;

14.00

for

set of

four

Order

from:

Multi-Media Ministries

P.O.

Box

28358

Atlanta,

GA 30358

. ~ - -

he Counsel or Chalccdon, March, 1987

1987 issue 3 - the frustration of fallibility - counsel of chalcedon

Documents