686 The Spiritual Man
would expect the physically weak to be infected; yet the fact may be
that the weak are spared and the strong are the ones stricken. We
have to acknowledge, he concluded, that aside from natural causes
there is additionally the control of Providence. Personally I think
well of what this brother has said. How often people grow sick in
spite of every preventive measure.
I also recall what one of my schoolmates related to me about his
experience at Peking Medical College. There was a certain professor
in the college who was profound it learning yet short on patience.
Hence he usually posed very simple questions in examinations. Once
he asked why people contracted tuberculosis. This was a simple
enough question; yet many failed to supply the proper answer. Most
replied by writing that certain people had tubercle bacillus. All of
these answers were marked incorrect. The professor explained that
the earth was full of tubercle bacilli but that not everybody was felled
by tuberculosis. It is only under certain favorable conditions, he
reminded them, that these bacilli cause the disease called
tuberculosis. The bacillus alone cannot cause the disease. Most
students forgot the importance of these favorable conditions. Let us
be aware, therefore, that despite the presence of many natural factors
Christian become sick only by God’s permission given under
appropriate conditions.
We unreservedly believe that there are natural explanations for
sickness; this has been proven scientifically. We confess nonetheless
that many illnesses among God’s children are the consequences of
sinning against God such as in the case cited in 1 Corinthians 11. It is
consequently essential to ask for forgiveness first, then for healing
afterwards We frequently can detect, soon after we have been struck
down with sickness, where we have transgressed against the Lord or
how we have been disobedient to His Word. When the sin is
confessed and the problem resolved, the sickness fades away. This is
truly a most marvelous event. Thus the initial point we need to know