Did any brother ask James about the oil problem?Whether you refer to a symbolic ation or not (see comments on the previous article) I want to highlight four points before proceeding:
(1) This question is not fundamental to faith, and therefore the error in it is not heresy (if it does not take it to extremes such as?Extreme aotion?). So, at the beginning of the e-book, I didn’t ask anyone to use it recklessly.
- (2) Although faith is not fundamental.
- We can see in history that symbols often become objects of idolatry.
- So we should not be frivolous about it.
(3) If you have not yet read the eBook, I suggest you do so before proceeding (click here or on the image to download)
(4) In the text I wrote, I speak of four current uses of the ation: (i) the consecration of ministers, (ii) the symbolism of the reception of the Holy Spirit, (iii) the symbolism of healing and (iv) the consecration of objects, I say that the NT does not prescribe that any of them be symbolically executed, here it should only be debated (iii), because in fact there is no other controversial reference to the other three points. It is true that there is no requirement of the NT to anoint with oil during the consecration of ministers, objects or as a symbol of receiving SE (not entering the Pentecostal debate).
Moving on to the question of whether or not oil is symbolism, although the ebook is already discussing it, I want to live up to it and publish the argument of a respectable theologian (Vincent Cheung) who defends the symbolic question.
There are several bible passages that people use to try to justify the use of medicine. First we will take James 5: 14-15 as a representative case, because the examination of the arguments for and against the use of medicine on the basis of this will be useful in the study of several other passages. The passage reads:
Are there any among you who are sick? Have the elders of the Church call to pray for him and ao together him with oil, in the name of the Lord. Prayer in faith will heal the sick; The Lord will resurrect him, and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
Donald Burdick says we should consider “this application of oil as medicinal rather than sacramental. “After all, “is it a well-documented fact that oil was one of the most common remedies in biblical times?Is it obvious, then, that James prescribes prayer and remedy?”. [28] We will see that this interpretation is superficial and irresponsible.
First, not all biblicals believe that the Apostle James recommends the use of drugs. For example, E. Gibson writes: “Yes” the oil was used as a real remedy, (1) why did they have to be administered by the elderly?and (2) why is healing immediately attributed to “prayer in faith” These questions seem to suggest that oil was imposed by James as an external symbol, without as a true remedy?[29]. In addition, Alexander Strauch writes: “Certainly, James was not naive enough to believe that oil was a cure for all diseases. Can we assume that if the oil were necessary for medical purposes, it would have been applied long before the visit of the elderly?The task of the elders was to pray for healing according to verse 15, and is it a prayer in faith?[30]
Now, if the oil were only enough to cure, then it would be useless to pray for healing along with the agoning of the sick. But the passage makes prayer the decisive factor: “Will prayer in faith heal the sick?(James 5: 5) However, if prayer is the decisive factor, then oil is not a necessary factor; that is, oil itself is not the medium even one of the means of healing. James says that it is prayer that causes a person to heal himself, and that it is the Lord who resurrects him. Nothing implies that oil plays a role in a person’s healing.
The scriptures record instances in which God healed the most extreme cases and even resurrected the dead in response to prayer. [31] In many of these cases, no substance, such as oil, was used. This means that prayer alone is a sufficient way to receive God’s healing, which therefore means that no substance of medical value is needed when one wishes to receive healing from Him.
Although oil has certain healing properties, how many types of diseases can it cure?James does not limit the types of diseases for which ancients can pray using this method. Those who say james had in mind the medicinal value of oil should also be prepared to say that oil is a panacea; otherwise, its interpretation does not make sense of the passage.
Now, even though oil has healing properties, most people would agree that current medicine is much more effective than an external application of oil in the body. Those who claim that the process described here even depends in part on the medicinal value of the oil. We must also be prepared to say that Tiago, if he were alive today, would suggest better types of remedies. But there is no indication in the passage that we should interpret it that way.
Those who interpret this passage in the sense of biblical approval for drug use have no guarantee of changing or combining with “cure”; therefore, if you base your attempts to combine prayer and medicine in this passage, you should continue to use only oil as medicine, and nothing else.
That is, if Tiago has in mind the medicinal value of the oil, rather than its symbolic meaning, those who understand the passage in this way do not have to continue using oil when praying for the sick, because now we have much more. effective remedies . . However, the passage itself does not say that you can use anything else instead of the oil, but that you must use the oil itself. On the other hand, if James considers the symbolic meaning of the oil, we can continue to use is to pray for the sick.
Therefore, the most appropriate interpretation of this passage is that the oil used to anoint the sick is merely symbolic, and we should not think that the oil itself has a medicinal value. There is no justification for believing that James had in mind a certain medicinal value that oil can have when he teaches us to anoint with oil and pray for the sick; the passage simply does not teach the use of medicines, but only that God will heal when we pray in faith, and establishes a path in The Conclusion is that although the scriptures allow the use of drugs, this particular passage does not say so, although it does not discourage the use of medicines, it certainly does not encourage, since it prescribes prayer. as a solution to the disease.
By: Vincent Cheung. Excerpt from the book Biblical Healing
In fact, James’ passage isn’t easy. There are other questions, such as: is the disease physical or spiritual?I will not get into those questions because that is not the main topic, however, I suggest you also read the following opinions:
1. John Calvin? Commentary of James 5: 14-15 (advocates symbolic ation and the gift of healing limited to apostolic times; it also addresses the theme of extreme ation).
2. Herman Hanko? Prayer and healing (advocates spiritual disease and symbolic aeration)
3. Augustus Nicodemus Lopes, whom I respect very much, in his book Tiago (Interpretation of the New Testament), says:
I can’t agree with those who think the oil was used as medicine in these cases. [?] As to whether Tiago’s indications in this passage apply today, I reply that I see no textual objections; however, given the abuses committed by the Catholic Church and the neopentecoscal Churches, pastors and elders should be careful not to make the same mistakes and not let themselves be carried away for the wrong reasons, in addition, should you carefully observe what Tiago recommends here, so as not to adopt false, superstitious and human practices in pastoral care, which end up corrupting the faith of believers?
James 5 is a rebuke to pastors who never have faith to heal churches that do not pray in Elijah’s mind. [?] This is a case where the person is so weak and prostrate in bed that they cannot easily leave to join the church. We see this condition in the expression?(probably, what does it mean he’s in a bed with the old ones around), and we see in the statement?Will the Lord resurrect him? (which implies that he is lying down). Thus, the situation in which the elders are called probably implies a physical condition that prevents a person from going out to have fellowship with the brothers.
Without believing that I have understood the whole question, I briefly update my reflections to continue the good Christian reflection, based on the love of Christ.