Bible Health Guide
By Philip St. Vincent Brennan
Chapter One
What The Bible Tells Us About
Healthy Living
In the Old Testament, God appeared as a stern, uncompromising Father who laid down the rules and regulations, and severely punished those who disobeyed them. In the New Testament, the reasons behind the rules and regulations were explained, and God was shown to be a loving and merciful Father who seeks not to punish us, but only to stop us from punishing ourselves.
With Good Reason
The Bible tells us that what man regards as wisdom is folly in the eyes if God—in other words, we don't and can't know the mind of God. All we can know is that God loves us with a love that surpasses all human understanding and that, in his love for us, he wants us to live in peace and harmony on earth and in heaven with Him forever. And His commandments and His word, as given us in the Bible, are all aimed at helping us to live healthy and happy lives here on this earth.
Living Orderly Lives
When we follow God's guidance as set forth in Holy Scripture, we live orderly lives, and people who live orderly lives also live healthy and fulfilling lives. The reverse is also true—disorderly living is unhealthy living, and leads only to unhappiness for ourselves and those around us. The Bible is our guide to living orderly lives.It can tell us which foods are the healthiest, how we can have peace of mind, how we can live in peace with our neighbors, and how we can deal with the inevitable misfortunes and trials that are the lot of all men and women.
Within its pages are all the guidelines we'll ever need to live happy, healthy, and productive lives.
The Bible is not a diet and nutrition how-to book. It isn't an exercise and fitness guide. It isn't filled with recipes and menus designed to help us find, prepare, and eat the right foods. Nor does it tell us how to build our muscles or shape our bodies. There aren't sit-ups or push ups or stretching exercises in the Scriptures.
We Can Learn From Example
Yet by observing the way that the people of the biblical times lived their lives, and by the kinds of foods that they ate, we can learn how to keep our bodies in tip-top shape, and our minds sharp and active.The Israelites ate simple foods—their daily diet included bread and fruits and vegetables, the kind of fiber that modern nutrition experts advise as essential to health. Their food was rich in essential vitamins and minerals.
They ate a lot of fish, a food that medical science now recognizes as a dietary must, capable of fending off both the ravages of aging and a host of degenerative diseases.
Upper Class Romans Not So Fit
Biblical living was simple living. It was natural. It was life lived as mankind's Creator meant it to be lived. This is not to say that everybody in biblical times was the picture of sparkling good health. The upper-class Romans in those times, for example, suffered from many of the same degenerative diseases that plague us. But they didn't live their lives in the same simple ways that the people of Israel lived theirs. They ate rich foods, drank far too much wine, and avoided physical exertion whenever possible. The way in which each group lived obviously determined the state of their physical and mental well-being.
A Simple, Natural Existence
One group—the Israelites—lived as their Creator meant them to live: simply, and in accord with nature. The other group, the Romans, lived their lives according to their adage: "Eat drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die." And, frequently, they did that.
Bible Health Guide Table of Contents