St John's gospel makes the connection between sin and sickness very clear in
ch.5. The sick (lame?) man is told (v.14)"Sin no more that nothing worse
befall you." The passage seems to suggest a connection between his sickness
and his condition (deeper sickness?) of being unwilling to accept life and
responsibility. He will not give a straight answer to "Do you want to be
healed?"(v.6) - it's not my fault, no one would help me all these years. He
tells the Jews - it's not my fault that I'm carrying my pallet - the man who
healed me told me to do it (v.11). When he finds out who it was who healed
him, he rushes off to tell the Jews at once (v.15), precipitating the first
great conflict with the authorities recorded by John.
Agreed, not an equation, however. The lame man in c.5 is in clear contrast
with the blind man in c.9 (v.3: "It was not that this man sinned, or his
parents..."). He moves from physical blindness to physical sight to
spiritual(v.38). So some sickness is not caused by (or related to?) sin.
On the other hand some of the Jewish leaders, condemned for their blindness
(9:39-41) seem vigorously healthy and active! So sin does not always cause
physical sickness.
Peter Jolliffe
-----Original Message-----
From: Bill East <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: 17 February 1999 21:44
Subject: Re: Hospital Dedications [<Holy Innocents]
>At 10:51 16/02/99 -0500, you wrote:
>>
>>Greetings!
>>
>>>Fearful to start another thread with the equally elementary question: To
>>what
>>>extent was an equation drawn in the Middle Ages between sickness and sin?
>
>The connexion is made in the Bible, in the epistle of St James, 5:14 ff,
>
>Is one of you ill? Let him send for the elders of the church to pray over
>him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord; the prayer offered in
>faith will heal the sick man, and if he has committed sins they will be
>forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one
>another, that you may be healed.
>
>Jesus himself makes the connexion in several places, eg Mark 2:5, where
>Jesus says to the paralysed man, "My son, your sins are forgiven." At Mark
>6:12-13 the disciples are sent one their mission, "So they set out and
>proclaimed the need for repentance; they drove out many demons, and
>anointed many sick people with oil and cured them" - repentance of sins,
>casting out of demons and anointing the sick are seen as parts of the same
>ministry.
>
>The connexion (equation is too strong a word) is therefore not particularly
>medieval, but is a fundamental aspect of the Christian faith which still
>obtains today, and is acknowledged in the present-day penitential and
>healing rites of the Catholic Church.
>
>
>Bill.
>
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