Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 14
January 11, 1983
NUMBER 38, PAGE 1,12-13a

Heaven's Physician Vs. Earth's Quacks

Robert H. Farish

Primarily, "quack" is applied to a fake doctor. The character who would assume the role of a medical doctor without the necessary study and training to function in such a vital role is a quack. Webster gives "quack" as a synonym of "empiric" which was the term applied to an ancient sect of physicians who disregarded all; theoretical study and based their knowledge and practice on experience alone.

In contrast to the attitude and actions of quacks the legitimate physician refuses to experiment on his patients. His knowledge and practice is based not only upon his own personal experience, but on the sum of all the knowledge gained by men in the medical field through the ages.

The Great Physician

Even the legitimate physicians of the earth are limited to the wisdom of the world and thus are fallible. Not so with heaven's physician, His knowledge is the unlimited knowledge of God. Being infallible, he makes no mistakes. New discoveries by men call for new procedures in medicine, but not so with the Great Physician to whom all "new discoveries" are matters of eternal knowledge.

Christ is heaven's perfectly qualified physician for man's soul sickness. The Holy Spirit declared him to be "the Son of God....by the resurrection from the dead." And God requires that his Son be heard by all men in all things that he speaks. (Acts 4:22,23; Heb. 2:1-4, etc.)

Christ knows man perfectly. He is fully aware of man's faculties, spiritual, mental, and physical, and of their vital relation and inter-dependence. While he does not prescribe in the purely physical and mental areas of man's being, yet his perfect general knowledge of the whole of man's being guarantees that in no case will his prescription for the spirit adversely affect body or mind. Rather than adversely affecting either body or mind, the soul therapy prescribed by the Son of God complements true physical and mental therapy. When conflict occurs between heaven's prescribed therapy for the soul and earth's prescribed therapy for body or mind, those who are not ashamed of the gospel will identify the therapy, which conflicts with gospel requirements, as spiritual quackery.

Spiritual Quacks

Spiritual quacks are those who rely upon human experience for guidance in spiritual matters. With spiritual quacks the diagnosis and prescription of the Great Physician are lightly regarded and with some of them they are held in contempt. Modern empirics manifest more confidence in conclusions drawn from statistics than in the gospel of Christ. With them any insistence on strict adherence to the will of God is interpreted as legalism. Their "shibboleth" is "authoritarianism." The test is not in the pronunciation of the word as it was at the "ford of the Jordan," rather, the test is in the meaning one attaches to the word. If one applies "authoritarianism" to those who accept the Bible as the word of God and contend for obedience to the will of God as revealed therein, that one passes the test. He is accepted into full fellowship. Where the quacks of old disregarded all theoretical knowledge, members of the modern sect disregard the authoritative pronouncements of the Son of God. The ancient sect of quacks based their knowledge and practice on personal experience alone; the current crop relies heavily upon conclusions drawn from statistics. With some of the more rabid members of this sect, the findings based upon statistics carry enough weight to set aside the prescription of the Great Physician.

This disposition manifests itself in some of the articles appearing currently. In his article, "The Rising Tide which recently appeared in the Mission Messenger, brother Robert Meyers wrote, "This man, a professor in a large state university, helped publish an article on the high proportion of mental illness among members of the Churches of Christ in his country. Psychiatrists, he said, reported a much higher percentage among Church of Christ members than among non-legalistic religions." ("Non-legalistic religions" placed in opposition to "Church of Christ members" very subtly serves the writer's purpose of 'indicting "Church of Christ members" with being members of a "legalistic religion.")

It is almost incredible, to this writer, that "psychiatrists....reported a much higher percentage among Church of Christ members than among non-legalistic religions." But if we accept brother Meyer's published statement, we must conclude that some psychiatrists are willing to prostitute their profession to the cheap ends of propaganda. This conclusion is inescapable when we view the actions of these psychiatrists in the light of the admitted lack of precise knowledge of causative factors in mental illness. Surely, in view of the caution exercised by the great majority of psychiatrists, the hasty irresponsible action which is alleged of these psychiatrists reveals their lack of qualifications to play such a vital role. Surely the thoughtful will be unwilling to abandon the prescription of the Great Physician to accept the dictates of such irresponsible's as these have shown themselves to be.

Brother Norman Parks also refers to some statistics, which "revealed" a high incidence of mental illness among members of the church of Christ, in an article which appeared in the Gospel Guardian, Sept. 6, 1962. The data which brother Parks relied upon "were not prepared by a psychiatrist but by a preacher who worked with the patients." According to the findings of this, forty-two percent of the patients of the largest mental hospital in the state of Tennessee were members of the church of Christ. Brother Parks did not just present the figures with questions as to how these figures should be interpreted. Rather he used the figures as a club against "religious authoritarianism and legalism. Those who read the brother's article carefully saw that the terminology served as camouflage for an attack against the authority of Christ. In proof of this charge is the following language from brother Parks...."But how may he strictly adhere to such 'impossible' laws as being perfect, forgiving seventy times seven, denying himself, loving his neighbor as himself, or becoming one flesh with his spouse?" The very idea! Art thou a "professor in a large state university" and understandeth not these things? These laws which the brother refers to as "impossible" laws are contained in the prescription of the Great Physician. There is no way that this statement can be interpreted as against "authoritarianism" but not against the authority of Christ. Such statements dishonor the author of our salvation who required these very things to which the brother scornfully refers.

The "ordinances and precepts of the New Testament" are elements of the prescription of the Great Physician. They express the will of the Father who is in heaven and the Son of God said, "Not every one that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven." (Matt. 7:21) Here, entrance into the kingdom of heaven is by the Son of God made dependent upon doing the will of God. What does this make Christ? Is he a legalist? If such language as this does not make Jesus a legalist, how can it be construed as making another a legalist when he is only teaching what Jesus taught. Let some of our devotees of statistology "give a judgment on that." Is Jesus a "legalist"? If so, let us not be ashamed but be honored, when someone boldly charges, or cowardly insinuates, that we are legalists.

It is frightening to the thoughtful that members of this sect will "rush in where angels fear to tread" by invading an area of authority which God has assigned exclusively to his Son and with their irresponsible generalizations based upon inadequate statistics destroy faith in the prescription of the Great Physician. In this day when license is identified in the minds of many with personal liberty, the pronouncements issuing from this sect of empirics will be eagerly seized upon and used to justify failure to obey the commands of the Lord Jesus Christ.

"Forces That Make For Mental Illness"

Lack of faith is the basic cause of mental illness according to the Great Physician. "But if God doth clothe the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, 0 ye of little faith? Be not therefore anxious saying, what shall we eat? or what shall we drink? or wherewithal shall we be clothed." For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things." (Matt. 6:30-32) To this diagnosis agree many of earth's eminent physicians. Anxieties, feelings of insecurity, guilt complexes, etc., cannot exist in the same heart with strong faith.

Who is responsible for this dearth of faith? Is it those who have earnestly urged people to "understand what the will of the Lord is" and to "do the will of the Father," or is the lack of faith to be charged to those who seek for answers to spiritual problems in worldly wisdom, rather than in divine revelation?

Instead of interpreting questionable statistics in such a way as to cause people to be uneasy about their mental health, because of their desire and efforts to do the will of the Father in heaven, one's time could be far better spent teaching what the will of God is. Impress upon the people that the children of God "have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but one that bath been in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." (Heb. 4:15) With this conviction they can heed the exhortation, "Let us therefore draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace to help us in time of need." (Heb. 4:16)

— 417 E. Groesbeck, Lufkin, Texas