1987 Issue 3 - The Frustration of Fallibility - Counsel of Chalcedon
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8/12/2019 1987 Issue 3 - The Frustration of Fallibility - Counsel of Chalcedon
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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 _,
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8/12/2019 1987 Issue 3 - The Frustration of Fallibility - Counsel of Chalcedon
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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
-
8/12/2019 1987 Issue 3 - The Frustration of Fallibility - Counsel of Chalcedon
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:
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P.O.
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he Counsel or Chalccdon, March, 1987