Thank the Doctor, or God?

3/4/19         Tom   
 

When our health is improved or our life is prolonged through the help of medical professionals, should we thank God, or the medical professionals and scientists who bring us modern medicine?

A coffeeshop conversation with Tom, a medical doctor, made me rethink that very question. Tom believes that this life is all there is; that after we die, well, lights out. Fueling his disbelief in an after life is his disbelief in God, and he has two main reasons for his belief that God does not exist. 1.) He can’t believe that a loving God could allow such suffering and death in the world and 2.) He can’t belief in a God that cannot be proven to exist through scientific means.

These are two of the most common arguments against God, but are they reasonable?

I told Tom I appreciate his dedication to doing his part as a doctor to alleviate some of the pain and suffering in the world. I was surprised to find out that, for him at least, it is largely a thankless job. Many of his patients suspect that he and other medical personnel don’t do their best, or that they themselves could somehow do better.

I wonder if that isn’t God’s experience. Because we live in a world of much pain and suffering, should we just assume God is doing nothing about it? Should we assume we could do better? Or might there be resolution to the problem of pain already underway, and a higher, long-term purpose for suffering that is simply beyond our understanding?

Tom relies on the many advances in science in his practice of medicine. Where did that knowledge come from? Who gave mankind the ability to use logic and reasoning, to form and test theories and discover knowledge in an organized fashion? Does not the order and design that makes science and medicine possible indicate the presence of a Designer?

In short, could not Tom’s ability to alleviate some of the pain and suffering in the world - using scientific knowledge made possible by God’s design - be one of the very means by which God is accomplishing much of the work Tom complains that God doesn’t do?

It is so tempting, in a time of great scientific discovery, to give all the credit to man for merely discovering the knowledge that God has made possible by design. We read in Revelation 21 that one day “…There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.” Technically speaking, on that day medical doctors like Tom will be out of a job!

In the meantime, we can join with God in His work of redemption in a fallen world, even as He accomplishes that same work of redemption in and through ourselves.

So… whom should we thank, God, or the doctors and others who bring us modern medicine? Why not both, of course!

Thanks, Tom, for allowing me to record our conversation! It can be seen at https://youtu.be/A6bNcIXyPzg on my YouTube channel.