FaithMeds.com
I recently stumbled across a website that, to quote, contains “healing insights from the Word of God and cutting-edge NATURAL ALTERNATIVES that will help you live the abundant, healthy life God wants you to enjoy” (emphasis original). Sound appealing? Well, for someone like me with a significant chronic condition (I have diabetes), it aroused more than a little curiosity. However, I proceeded with caution because the title—“FaithMeds”—is just a tad suspicious.
Dr Don VerHulst, M.D. (an ordained minister), makes a couple of significant claims about what his product Diamaxol can do for my diabetes:
- By using Diamaxol, I would be harnessing God's power by following his “blueprint for my health” (which also includes “choosing a biblical lifestyle that emphasises God-made natural fruits, vegetables and whole grains ...”). Dr Don believes that the Bible is the most accurate physiology textbook he has ever come across. He uses out-of-context verses throughout his website in an attempt to back up his theological viewpoint.
- Using Diamaxol can lead to obtaining the control in my life that I need, despite what I have always believed about God's complete sovereignty. Again I quote: “Your health is your choice. Every day, hour, minute and second, you choose between sickness and health, death and life.” While it is possible to make responsible choices for a healthy lifestyle, the ability to “choose between death and life” is news to me.
As I glanced through explanations of the scientific methodology of Dr Don's research, I discovered, unsurprisingly, that it left a lot to be desired. We are not even told the ingredients of what Diamaxol contains. But apart from the obvious potential harm from a product that is not rigorously researched, Dr Don's reading of the Bible demonstrates a seriously flawed theology that brings two main issues to mind.
Firstly, his claims suggest an assumption that God's promise to “heal all your diseases” (Psalm 103:3) is fulfilled here on earth, and that we are not enjoying God's blessing if we don't enjoy perfect health now. This viewpoint fails to take passages such as Romans 8 into consideration—that the creation, which includes our physical bodies, is still in the bonds of decay. The future promise of the resurrection day gives great hope to the reality of suffering now. As a result, the type of theology fundamental to Dr Don's claims has caused crises of faith for misled Christians—believers who face disillusionment with God because they are enduring physical illness in this world and they seem to have failed to receive his true blessing.
Secondly, Dr Don seems to be deceived by the notion that using his product not only helps Christians to fulfil God's will for their lives, but that there is only one biblical answer for how to care for our physical health. It would seem, therefore, that not following Dr Don's advice is disobedience to God.
In the end, I can only conclude that while such schemes as FaithMeds.com sound appealing, they only offer the empty promises of false teaching. Oh, and would you trust medicine from a man who comes from 135 Terminal Way, Reno, Nevada?