The Bible does not only speak of scientific things, historical, social and moral but also psychological things in life.
(Romans 14:21)“It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.”
Although it is not prohibited in the Bible to eat animal meat, the preceding verse was cited by the apostle Paul as a warning to Christians not to offend fellow Christians. It is a kind of admonition which can be considered psychologically sound and healthfully good.
(I Timothy 4:3-5)“Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.”
When it said, “it is good not to eat flesh and to drink wine”, [if it is an an offense to anybody]; it does not only speak of social things but of scientific aspects as well. Eating meat or flesh of animals and drinking wine is common to drunkards. The word “flesh” used in the verse is kreas, which means animal meat.
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κρέας
kreas
kreh’-as
Perhaps a primary word; (butcher’s) meat: – flesh. (Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries
Dictionaries of Hebrew and Greek Words taken from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance by James Strong, S.T.D., LL.D., 1890.)
Scientifically, human beings are not designed to be meat eaters or carnivores. If we study our physical being, our body’s design is very much different from natural meat eaters. Carnivores or meat eaters have fangs designed to kill, sharp claws designed to tear flesh, short intestines (about 3 times the length of its body) for the quick disposal of the waste product of meat containing putrifacted materials. They have highly acidic saliva and digestive enzymes needed for the digestion of flesh, bones, feathers and a remarkable enzyme uricase that digest and expels uric acid, a highly toxic by-product of meat. They have large liver that helps in the detoxification of the chemical by-products of meat. Whereas human beings which is naturally born a frugivore have fangs, but not sharp, meaning it is not intended to kill. Our fingers were not equipped with sharp claws needed to tear flesh. Our intestine is 12 times the length of our body that allows the longer stay of fruits and vegetables without harmless by products (needed for proper and complete assimilation of nutrients in them). Our liver is not as large as those of natural meat eaters because fruits and vegetables and nuts do not have plenty of toxic by-products for the liver to neutralize. Our saliva is alkaline and with little ptyalin needed to digest the small amount of starch in fruits and vegetables.
Considering all these factors we know that we are not natural meat eaters and therefore it is scientifically sound to say it is good (for humans) neither to eat animal flesh nor drink wine.
Wine, (those that are intoxicating) is equally not fit for human consumption. Scientific studies show that alcohol and other fermented materials in wine cause a lot of unhealthy effects in the human body.
Heavy alcohol use destroys the liver, the body’s primary filtering system, which means that germs of all kinds won’t leave your body as fast. The result is, heavier drinkers are more prone to initial infections as well as secondary complications. Alcohol also dehydrates the body — it actually takes more fluids from your system than it puts in.
(http://my.webmd.com/content/pages/5/4068_103.htm)
- Alcohol is the number one drug of choice for teenagers.
- Alcohol-related car crashes are the number one killer of teenagers in the United States.
- Alcohol is the number one drug problem in America
(http://www.sacsheriff.com/crime_prevention/documents/substance_abuse_01.cfm)
Nausea and sickness
Too much alcohol can irritate the stomach, leading to sickness and nausea, and can lead to temporary impotence in men.
Alcohol has a dehydrating effect, and the traditional hangover arrives partly as a result.
However, it is the longer term effects which worry doctors.
Too much alcohol over a prolonged period can affect nearly every organ in your body.
Alcohol is essentially a poison, and the cumulative effects can be horrific.
Long term drinkers can suffer liver damage, as the liver is the organ that processes the alcohol and removes it from the body.
Liver damage
There are three types of damage – fatty liver, in which fat is deposited in the liver, impairing its function, alcohol hepatitis, an inflammation of the liver which can cause severe symptoms and lead in some cases to alcoholic cirrhosis, which can eventually cause liver failure if the drinker does not stop.
The first two stages are usually reversible, whereas cirrhosis has no cure.
Heavy drinkers can suffer from chronic gastritis – essentially a daily recurrence of hangover style nausea and sickness. They can also suffer damage to the esophagus.
Pancreatitis is a common problem in heavy drinkers – this is an extremely painful condition which is hard to treat, and sometimes fatal.
Brain damage is also possible in some cases – alcoholic dementia is often found in very long-term drinkers.
Heart disease and stroke
However, it is damage to the heart and circulatory system that place many drinkers at risk. Drinking over the recommended limits is one of the most common causes of high blood pressure, which can contribute to heart disease.
Drinking heavily is also likely to greatly increase the calorific intake, perhaps leading to obesity, which also increases these health risks.
Regularly drinking more than three units of alcohol a day increases the risk of a type of stroke called hemorrhagic stroke.
It can also contribute to osteoporosis, lead to muscle weakness, make skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema worse.
In men, there is likely to be a loss of libido and potency, shrinking of the testicles and penis, reduced fertility, loss of pubic hair and if cirrhosis is present, increased breast size and loss of body hair.
In women, ovulation may cease, and breasts and sexual organs shrivel.
Many cancers are alcohol-related, particularly those of the mouth, esophagus, liver, stomach, colon, rectum, and perhaps breast cancer in women.
Harming unborn children
Heavy drinking, even in one-off binges, by pregnant women can harm their unborn child.
It can lead to miscarriage, low birth weight, and, in the worst cases, to fetal alcohol syndrome, a group of defects which can include lowered IQ, facial malformations and growth deficiencies.
Many studies have found suggestions that moderate alcohol drinking, for example one or two units a day, can have a protective effect against in particular heart disease.
This has yet to be conclusively proven, as it is not clear whether it is the alcohol, or some other ingredient in the drink, which is having the effect.
( http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/medical_notes/a-b/872428.stm)
By all these scientific wisdom we may conclude that the Bible is a no nonsense book. But what I admire most in the Bible being the words of the Creator is it can penetrate the depth of one’s being.
(Hebrews 4:12-13) “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”
The words of God are so powerful that it can divide asunder the soul and the spirit meaning that it can penetrate the innermost part of our being. In fact it speaks of the conscience and by this we know that it speaks the truth. My dear readers I know that you have your conscience.
(Romans 2:15) “Which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another…”
You can feel how truthful this pronouncement of the Scriptures. Our conscience bears witness of the existence of God. The Bible exactly tells us what is happening inside our being or in our conscience. It may accuse or excuse our own self and other people. Do you feel the same?
I hope that you will be honest enough in your reply; after all, it is not my business knowing your conscience, but yours. In our conscience also, the Bible tells us that there are”things of the law” written by God. Even if we have not heard the audible voice of our Creator, we know that our conscience can tell us of what is right and what is wrong. Verily, these are the things contained in God’s law: what is right — the dos, and what is wrong — the don’ts.
(Romans 2:14)“For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:”
Considering all these facts do you now agree with me that the Bible does not only speak of scientific but also psychological matters.
God knows our being, He knows our promptings. Solomon, with his God-given wisdom, once judge two quarreling women: each claiming that the baby boy is her son. He rendered judgment and said, “Divide the boy into two.” And the real mother gave up her son for it not to be divided.
(I Kings 3:16-27)“Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him. And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house. And this woman’s child died in the night; because she overlaid it. And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear. And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spoke before the king. Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living. And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. Then spoke the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.”
Do you now believe that the Bible speaks of psychological matters? What am I trying to prove by narrating all these things? I want you to realize the Bible is a no-nonsense book. It comes from somebody who know even our conscience which cannot be known by the dearest and the most intimate of our relatives. It is known only to God.
(Jeremiah 17:9-10)“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.”
You might say, “So what if there is a God?”. I am trying to convince you to believe that we came into existence because of a loving God who is always waiting for us to acknowledge him. There are fools, who do not believe in God.
(Psalms 53:1)“The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.”
No amount of intelligence and knowledge that an atheist may posses can make him a good and better person, than to acknowledge the existence of God who created him and his neighbors. The best men in the whole history of humanity (men with human considerations, pity, justice, loving-kindness, moral aptitude and great leaders) all believe in God. I know that there was once a tyrant and demonic leader who caused the death and unspeakable sufferings of about 9 million people, and that person does not believe in God. Have you heard of Hitler? My advice is that for you to investigate.
My goal in preaching and teaching the Gospel to other people is to convince them to believe in God: the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth, because I know in my conscience, had it not been for my acknowledgment of the existence of a great God, perhaps I would just be like those fine looking people who hide a monster in their conscience. Belief in God will make you a better person, more caring and more considerate to others — and that is the element of a more peaceful society of humans. Unbelief will not make you good, but 100% evil.
(Romans 3:10-18)“As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
God Bless,
EFS
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