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This is part of an article describing a Masters degree I might try and do, called the Trinitarian Theology & Culture at New Saint Andrew's college in Idaho. I'm super stoked. This degree looks amazing. You get to take classes in theological architecture, philosophy of language, literature, etc... etc...
Their unergrad program is based upon Harvard's curriculum from the 1600s!
Anyway, this is just fantastic. Wanted to share it with you all, as I add it to my list of possibilities for my future.
-----
A Degree of Difference
by Dr. Peter Leithart, Graduate Studies Dean
. . .In what other theology program do students divide their time between film criticism and the philosopher of science Thomas Kuhn? At what other school do students debate church-state relations on Monday and puzzle over Christological technicalities or Paul’s rhetoric on Tuesday? Where else do theology students spend a term reading Shakespeare, another reading literary criticism and philosophy of language, and another studying classics of sociology and cultural anthropology? What other theology requires students spend their spare time chanting Psalms and serving in the church? In what other unabashedly Protestant theology course do students read de Lubac and Milbank, Schmemann and Barth, not only to criticize but to learn? What other theology students are as likely to write about Gerald Manley Hopkins and the architecture of Roman baptisteries as they are about Calvin and the communicatio idiomatum?
Above all, where else can you find a broad curriculum like this integrated by a Trinitarian framework, taught by a faculty committed to the truth of Scripture and the Reformed confessional tradition?
I dare say, Nowhere.
Other theology programs have classes, even specialized degrees, on similar cultural topics. Down at Fuller, they offer intriguing classes on “visual culture,” and the old Saint Andrews has an impressive Institute for Theology, Imagination, and the Arts. At NSA, these courses are not electives or part of a special major in “theology and culture.” They are as central to theology as the biblical and theological courses I teach.
Our degree is billed as a Master’s in “Trinitarian theology and culture,” but more fundamentally we are opposed to the whole idea of “theology and . . .”. We renounce the copulative and all its works and all its ways.
Time was when “sacred doctrine” covered everything. Augustine wrote in the interrogative mood and for him every question about everything was a theological question, a prayer directed back to the Creator of all. Thomas was the greatest philosopher, as well as the greatest theologian, of his time, and he and Augustine are both among the great political theorists of the West. They didn’t think they were doing “theology and . . . .” They were just doing theology, studying and teaching sacred Scripture.
“Theology and . . .” programs are a byproduct of modernity, which split theology off from the rest of the academy, hustled it down a dark hallway, and locked it in a basement office with stern warnings to “Stay put” and “Behave.” Theologians, a meek race by and large, have usually complied, filling long seminars and shelf after shelf of books with monographs on minutiae of Scripture, on historical studies, on the arcane of systematics. Theologians were never, ever allowed to do was make authoritative “Thus saith the Lord” pronouncements about liberal politics, serial music, Cubism, relativity, or epistemology. For the most part, they didn’t care to make those pronouncements anyway.
Theologians are beginning to slip out of the basement, and beginning to speak with renewed confidence. Booklists of every theological publisher these days are filled with studies that apply theological insights to cultural issues. It is becoming clear to more and more theologians that all theology is theology of culture, cultural theology.
How, for instance, can anyone hope to become a biblical scholar without some literary sensitivity? The first half of the Old Testament, after all, is largely narrative, and the second half is largely poetry. How can a contemporary systematician responsibly write on theological anthropology without knowing something about Freud, and Max Weber, and cultural anthropology?
On the whole, “theology and. . .” courses and programs are a sign of health. But few theology programs are designed to handle a robustly cultural theology. The NSA program is. That is one of the things that gives our degree a degree of difference.
I teach the old standbys, the biblical and theology courses. Most days, we sit around the table, Greek Testament open before us, discussing and debating Mark’s or Paul’s grammar, literary artistry, and theology, or teasing out the Christological import of John’s thoroughly Jewish terminology.
This looks like a standard seminary course, and in many ways it is. Even here, though, the NSA program offers a degree of difference.
The founders of the modern world made sure that theology would stay weak by subdividing theology’s little ghetto. Divide and conquer has been modernity’s strategy for neutering theology. In one corner were the Old Testament scholars, and far on the other side were the New Testament, and both were prevented from talking to the systematicians. Still today, seminaries have divided biblical faculties. New Testament scholars might know the Greek Bible backward and forward, and especially the scholarly literature on the Greek Bible, but they rarely are bold enough to venture across the border.
Pre-modern theologians didn’t know there was a border. Origen, John Chrysostom, Bernard of Clairvaux might start with the Song of Songs, but once they begin they wander everywhere, as their meditations lead them form the gospels to Revelation, then back to Genesis or the book of Samuel. The Bible, not some tiny segment of it, gave bishops and priests, monks and friars room to stretch their limbs and play in the fields of the Lord.
This too is changing. New Testament scholars are more and more aware that the New Testament on its own lacks foundation. Every line of Paul’s letters reverberates with the music of Torah, Psalms, and prophets. “Theological interpretation” of Scripture is all the rage these days. No one quite knows what the phrase means, except that the Old Testament is part of the Christian Bible and the story of Jesus. As the boundary of Old and New breaks down, so do modern ways of reading Scripture. Typology and allegory are making a comeback, and we at least are glad to see them back.
Most schools and programs are not designed to teach the Bible this way. Seminaries still keep their Old and New Testament faculties separate. At NSA, we (once again) repudiate the copulative and all its works and all its pomp. We don’t study “Old and New.” The Bible isn’t two books, but one, and so we study it as a single book.
Their unergrad program is based upon Harvard's curriculum from the 1600s!
Anyway, this is just fantastic. Wanted to share it with you all, as I add it to my list of possibilities for my future.
-----
A Degree of Difference
by Dr. Peter Leithart, Graduate Studies Dean
. . .In what other theology program do students divide their time between film criticism and the philosopher of science Thomas Kuhn? At what other school do students debate church-state relations on Monday and puzzle over Christological technicalities or Paul’s rhetoric on Tuesday? Where else do theology students spend a term reading Shakespeare, another reading literary criticism and philosophy of language, and another studying classics of sociology and cultural anthropology? What other theology requires students spend their spare time chanting Psalms and serving in the church? In what other unabashedly Protestant theology course do students read de Lubac and Milbank, Schmemann and Barth, not only to criticize but to learn? What other theology students are as likely to write about Gerald Manley Hopkins and the architecture of Roman baptisteries as they are about Calvin and the communicatio idiomatum?
Above all, where else can you find a broad curriculum like this integrated by a Trinitarian framework, taught by a faculty committed to the truth of Scripture and the Reformed confessional tradition?
I dare say, Nowhere.
Other theology programs have classes, even specialized degrees, on similar cultural topics. Down at Fuller, they offer intriguing classes on “visual culture,” and the old Saint Andrews has an impressive Institute for Theology, Imagination, and the Arts. At NSA, these courses are not electives or part of a special major in “theology and culture.” They are as central to theology as the biblical and theological courses I teach.
Our degree is billed as a Master’s in “Trinitarian theology and culture,” but more fundamentally we are opposed to the whole idea of “theology and . . .”. We renounce the copulative and all its works and all its ways.
Time was when “sacred doctrine” covered everything. Augustine wrote in the interrogative mood and for him every question about everything was a theological question, a prayer directed back to the Creator of all. Thomas was the greatest philosopher, as well as the greatest theologian, of his time, and he and Augustine are both among the great political theorists of the West. They didn’t think they were doing “theology and . . . .” They were just doing theology, studying and teaching sacred Scripture.
“Theology and . . .” programs are a byproduct of modernity, which split theology off from the rest of the academy, hustled it down a dark hallway, and locked it in a basement office with stern warnings to “Stay put” and “Behave.” Theologians, a meek race by and large, have usually complied, filling long seminars and shelf after shelf of books with monographs on minutiae of Scripture, on historical studies, on the arcane of systematics. Theologians were never, ever allowed to do was make authoritative “Thus saith the Lord” pronouncements about liberal politics, serial music, Cubism, relativity, or epistemology. For the most part, they didn’t care to make those pronouncements anyway.
Theologians are beginning to slip out of the basement, and beginning to speak with renewed confidence. Booklists of every theological publisher these days are filled with studies that apply theological insights to cultural issues. It is becoming clear to more and more theologians that all theology is theology of culture, cultural theology.
How, for instance, can anyone hope to become a biblical scholar without some literary sensitivity? The first half of the Old Testament, after all, is largely narrative, and the second half is largely poetry. How can a contemporary systematician responsibly write on theological anthropology without knowing something about Freud, and Max Weber, and cultural anthropology?
On the whole, “theology and. . .” courses and programs are a sign of health. But few theology programs are designed to handle a robustly cultural theology. The NSA program is. That is one of the things that gives our degree a degree of difference.
I teach the old standbys, the biblical and theology courses. Most days, we sit around the table, Greek Testament open before us, discussing and debating Mark’s or Paul’s grammar, literary artistry, and theology, or teasing out the Christological import of John’s thoroughly Jewish terminology.
This looks like a standard seminary course, and in many ways it is. Even here, though, the NSA program offers a degree of difference.
The founders of the modern world made sure that theology would stay weak by subdividing theology’s little ghetto. Divide and conquer has been modernity’s strategy for neutering theology. In one corner were the Old Testament scholars, and far on the other side were the New Testament, and both were prevented from talking to the systematicians. Still today, seminaries have divided biblical faculties. New Testament scholars might know the Greek Bible backward and forward, and especially the scholarly literature on the Greek Bible, but they rarely are bold enough to venture across the border.
Pre-modern theologians didn’t know there was a border. Origen, John Chrysostom, Bernard of Clairvaux might start with the Song of Songs, but once they begin they wander everywhere, as their meditations lead them form the gospels to Revelation, then back to Genesis or the book of Samuel. The Bible, not some tiny segment of it, gave bishops and priests, monks and friars room to stretch their limbs and play in the fields of the Lord.
This too is changing. New Testament scholars are more and more aware that the New Testament on its own lacks foundation. Every line of Paul’s letters reverberates with the music of Torah, Psalms, and prophets. “Theological interpretation” of Scripture is all the rage these days. No one quite knows what the phrase means, except that the Old Testament is part of the Christian Bible and the story of Jesus. As the boundary of Old and New breaks down, so do modern ways of reading Scripture. Typology and allegory are making a comeback, and we at least are glad to see them back.
Most schools and programs are not designed to teach the Bible this way. Seminaries still keep their Old and New Testament faculties separate. At NSA, we (once again) repudiate the copulative and all its works and all its pomp. We don’t study “Old and New.” The Bible isn’t two books, but one, and so we study it as a single book.
My tentative (emphasis on tentative) schedule for next Spring. At the very least this is what I'm registered for. I'm rethinking my major a bit (not drastically) and so this may change... but here's the plan for now:
Beginning Hebrew 2 - Dr. Schultz
Pentateuch - Dr. Schultz
Lit. in the Age of Enlightenment - Dr. Woolsey
Islamic Foundations - Dr. Hegeman
Beginning Hebrew 2 - Dr. Schultz
Pentateuch - Dr. Schultz
Lit. in the Age of Enlightenment - Dr. Woolsey
Islamic Foundations - Dr. Hegeman
11 reasons why the elections in 2010 will be the most important in the history of the United States By Dr. Ron Paul. U. S. Congressman August 29, 2009
What would you say if I gave you 11 reasons why the elections in 2010 will be the most important in the history of the United States ?
1.
What if I had told you in October 2008, before the last presidential election, that before Barack Obama's first 100 days in office, the federal government would be in control of both the mortgage and the banking industries? That 19 of America 's largest banks would be forced to undergo stress tests by the federal government which would determine if they were insufficiently capitalized, so they must be supervised by the government?
Would you have said, " C'mon that will never happen in America ."
2.
What if I had told you that within Barack Obama's first 100 days in office the federal government would be the largest shareholder in two of the US Big-Three automakers: Ford, GM, and Chrysler? That the government would kick out the CEO's of these companies and appoint hand-picked executives with zero experience in the auto industry and that executive compensation would be determined, not by a Board of Directors, but by the government?
Would you have said, "C'mon that will never happen in America .."
3.
What if I had told you that Barack Obama would appoint 21 Czars, without congressional approval, accountable only to him, not to the voters, who would have control over a wide range of US policy decisions. That there would be a Stimulus Accountability Czar, an Urban Czar, a Compensation Czar, an Iran Czar, an Auto Industry Czar, a Cyber Security Czar, an Energy Czar, a Bank Bailout Czar, and more than a dozen other government bureaucrats with unchecked regulatory powers over US domestic and foreign policy.
Would you have said, "Cmon that will never happen in America ."
4.
What if I had told you that the federal deficit would be $915 billion in the first six months of the Obama presidency - with a projected annual deficit of $1.75 trillion - triple the $454.8 billion in 2008, for which the previous administration was highly criticized by Obama and his fellow Democrats. That congress would pass Obama's $3.53 trillion federal budget for fiscal 2010. That the projected deficit over the next ten years would be greater than $10 trillion.
Would you have said, "Cmon that will never happen in America ."
5.
What if I had told you that the Obama Justice Department would order FBI agents to read Miranda rights to high-value detainees captured on the battlefield and held at US military detention facilities in Afghanistan . That Obama would order the closing of the Guantanamo detention facility with no plan for the disposition of the 200-plus individuals held there.
That several of the suspected terrorists at Guantanamo would be sent to live in freedom in Bermuda at the expense of the US government. That some of our returning US veterans would be labeled terrorists and put on a watch list.
Would you have said, "Cmon that will never happen in America ."
6.
What if I had told you that the federal government would seek powers to seize key companies whose failures could jeopardize the financial system. That a new regulatory agency would be proposed by Obama to control loans, credit cards, mortgage-backed securities, and other financial products offered to the public.
Would you have said, "Cmon that will never happen in America ."
7.
What if I had told you that Obama would travel to the Middle East, bow before the Saudi king, and repeatedly apologize for America 's past actions. That he would travel to Latin America where he would warmly greet Venezuela 's strongman Hugo Chavez and sit passively in the audience while Nicaraguan Marxist thug Daniel Ortega charged America with terrorist aggression in Central America .
Would you have said, "Cmon that will never happen in America .."
8.
Okay, now what if I were to tell you that Obama wants to dismantle conservative talk radio through the imposition of a new "Fairness Doctrine." That he wants to curtail the First Amendment rights of those who may disagree with his policies via internet blogs, cable news networks, or advocacy ads. That most major network television and most newspapers will only sing his phrases like state-run media in communist countries?
Would you say, "Cmon that will never happen in America ."
9..
What if I were to tell you that the Obama Justice Department is doing everything it can to limit your Second Amendment rights to keep and bear arms.
That the federal government wants to reinstate the so-called assault weapons ban which would prohibit the sale of any type of firearm that does not require the shooter to pull the trigger every time a round is fired. That Obama's Attorney General wants to eliminate the sale of virtually all handguns and ammunition, which most citizens choose for self-defense.
Would you say, "Cmon that will never happen in America ."
10.
What if I were to tell you that the Obama plan is to eliminate states rights guaranteed by the Tenth Amendment and give the federal government sweeping new powers over policies currently under the province of local and state governments and voted on by the people. That Obama plans to control the schools, energy production, the environment, health care, and the wealth of every US citizen.
Would you say, "C'mon, that will never happen in America ."
11.
What if I were to tell you that the president, the courts, and the federal government have ignored the US Constitution and have seized powers which the founders of our country fought to restrict. That our last presidential election may have been our last truly free election for some time to come. That our next presidential election may look similar to the one recently held in Iran . (And maybe under review by ACORN.)
I know - I know what you will say.. That will never happen in America .
Hopefully you realize the significance of taking the census away from the Commerce Department and placing it under the White House, where Acorn has been given broad authority to manage it.
If we don't do everything in our power to stop this madness in 2010 and 2012, may God have mercy on our souls.
Pass this on to every freedom loving American you can.
"The 2010 election cycle is just around the corner. We must redouble our efforts to educate our fellow citizens, recruit and support liberty candidates, and marshal our resources for the battle ahead." – Ron Paul
What would you say if I gave you 11 reasons why the elections in 2010 will be the most important in the history of the United States ?
1.
What if I had told you in October 2008, before the last presidential election, that before Barack Obama's first 100 days in office, the federal government would be in control of both the mortgage and the banking industries? That 19 of America 's largest banks would be forced to undergo stress tests by the federal government which would determine if they were insufficiently capitalized, so they must be supervised by the government?
Would you have said, " C'mon that will never happen in America ."
2.
What if I had told you that within Barack Obama's first 100 days in office the federal government would be the largest shareholder in two of the US Big-Three automakers: Ford, GM, and Chrysler? That the government would kick out the CEO's of these companies and appoint hand-picked executives with zero experience in the auto industry and that executive compensation would be determined, not by a Board of Directors, but by the government?
Would you have said, "C'mon that will never happen in America .."
3.
What if I had told you that Barack Obama would appoint 21 Czars, without congressional approval, accountable only to him, not to the voters, who would have control over a wide range of US policy decisions. That there would be a Stimulus Accountability Czar, an Urban Czar, a Compensation Czar, an Iran Czar, an Auto Industry Czar, a Cyber Security Czar, an Energy Czar, a Bank Bailout Czar, and more than a dozen other government bureaucrats with unchecked regulatory powers over US domestic and foreign policy.
Would you have said, "Cmon that will never happen in America ."
4.
What if I had told you that the federal deficit would be $915 billion in the first six months of the Obama presidency - with a projected annual deficit of $1.75 trillion - triple the $454.8 billion in 2008, for which the previous administration was highly criticized by Obama and his fellow Democrats. That congress would pass Obama's $3.53 trillion federal budget for fiscal 2010. That the projected deficit over the next ten years would be greater than $10 trillion.
Would you have said, "Cmon that will never happen in America ."
5.
What if I had told you that the Obama Justice Department would order FBI agents to read Miranda rights to high-value detainees captured on the battlefield and held at US military detention facilities in Afghanistan . That Obama would order the closing of the Guantanamo detention facility with no plan for the disposition of the 200-plus individuals held there.
That several of the suspected terrorists at Guantanamo would be sent to live in freedom in Bermuda at the expense of the US government. That some of our returning US veterans would be labeled terrorists and put on a watch list.
Would you have said, "Cmon that will never happen in America ."
6.
What if I had told you that the federal government would seek powers to seize key companies whose failures could jeopardize the financial system. That a new regulatory agency would be proposed by Obama to control loans, credit cards, mortgage-backed securities, and other financial products offered to the public.
Would you have said, "Cmon that will never happen in America ."
7.
What if I had told you that Obama would travel to the Middle East, bow before the Saudi king, and repeatedly apologize for America 's past actions. That he would travel to Latin America where he would warmly greet Venezuela 's strongman Hugo Chavez and sit passively in the audience while Nicaraguan Marxist thug Daniel Ortega charged America with terrorist aggression in Central America .
Would you have said, "Cmon that will never happen in America .."
8.
Okay, now what if I were to tell you that Obama wants to dismantle conservative talk radio through the imposition of a new "Fairness Doctrine." That he wants to curtail the First Amendment rights of those who may disagree with his policies via internet blogs, cable news networks, or advocacy ads. That most major network television and most newspapers will only sing his phrases like state-run media in communist countries?
Would you say, "Cmon that will never happen in America ."
9..
What if I were to tell you that the Obama Justice Department is doing everything it can to limit your Second Amendment rights to keep and bear arms.
That the federal government wants to reinstate the so-called assault weapons ban which would prohibit the sale of any type of firearm that does not require the shooter to pull the trigger every time a round is fired. That Obama's Attorney General wants to eliminate the sale of virtually all handguns and ammunition, which most citizens choose for self-defense.
Would you say, "Cmon that will never happen in America ."
10.
What if I were to tell you that the Obama plan is to eliminate states rights guaranteed by the Tenth Amendment and give the federal government sweeping new powers over policies currently under the province of local and state governments and voted on by the people. That Obama plans to control the schools, energy production, the environment, health care, and the wealth of every US citizen.
Would you say, "C'mon, that will never happen in America ."
11.
What if I were to tell you that the president, the courts, and the federal government have ignored the US Constitution and have seized powers which the founders of our country fought to restrict. That our last presidential election may have been our last truly free election for some time to come. That our next presidential election may look similar to the one recently held in Iran . (And maybe under review by ACORN.)
I know - I know what you will say.. That will never happen in America .
Hopefully you realize the significance of taking the census away from the Commerce Department and placing it under the White House, where Acorn has been given broad authority to manage it.
If we don't do everything in our power to stop this madness in 2010 and 2012, may God have mercy on our souls.
Pass this on to every freedom loving American you can.
"The 2010 election cycle is just around the corner. We must redouble our efforts to educate our fellow citizens, recruit and support liberty candidates, and marshal our resources for the battle ahead." – Ron Paul
-Eugenics and Other Evils by G.K. Chesterton
-The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton
-C.S. Lewis by A.N. Wilson
-The Law by Frederic Bastiat
-Love Your God With All Your Mind by JP Moreland
-Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg
-Lust For Live by Irving Stone
-The Dark Night of the Soul by St. John of the Cross
-The Flames of Rome by Paul Maier
-Inside American Education by Thomas Sowell
-How Should We Then Live? by Francis Schaeffer
-The Discarded Image by C.S. Lewis
-The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx & Frederich Engels
-Miracles by C.S. Lewis
-Modern Art and the Death of a Culture by HR Rookmaker
-That Incredible Christian by AW Tozer
Books I didn't finish/still am working on:
-A History of the American People by Paul Johnson
-The Odyssey by Homer
-Pensees by Blaise Pascal
-The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton
-C.S. Lewis by A.N. Wilson
-The Law by Frederic Bastiat
-Love Your God With All Your Mind by JP Moreland
-Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg
-Lust For Live by Irving Stone
-The Dark Night of the Soul by St. John of the Cross
-The Flames of Rome by Paul Maier
-Inside American Education by Thomas Sowell
-How Should We Then Live? by Francis Schaeffer
-The Discarded Image by C.S. Lewis
-The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx & Frederich Engels
-Miracles by C.S. Lewis
-Modern Art and the Death of a Culture by HR Rookmaker
-That Incredible Christian by AW Tozer
Books I didn't finish/still am working on:
-A History of the American People by Paul Johnson
-The Odyssey by Homer
-Pensees by Blaise Pascal
The Ministry of the Night - AW Tozer
If God has singled you out to be a special object of His grace you may expect Him to
honor you with stricter discipline and greater suffering than less favored ones are called
upon to endure.
And right here let me anticipate the objection someone is sure to raise, viz., That God
has no "specials" among his children. The Holy Scriptures and Christian history agree
that he has to show. Star differs from star in glory among the saints on earth as well as
among the glorified in heaven. Without question the differences exist; but whether they
are by the decree of God or by His foreknowledge of the degree of receptivity He will find
among His children I am not prepared to say with certainty, though I would lean strongly
to the latter view. Without question the differences exist, but whether they are by the
decree of God or by His foreknowledge of the degree of receptivity among He will find
his children I am not prepared to say with certainty, though I would lean strongly to the
latter view.
If God sets out to make you an unusual Christian He is not likely to be as gentle as he is
usually pictured by the popular teachers. A sculptor does not use a manicure set to
reduce the rude, unshapely marble to a thing of beauty. The saw, the hammer and the
chisel are cruel tools, but without them the rough stone must remain forever formless
and unbeautiful. The saw, the hammer and the chisel are cruel tools, but without them
the rough stone must remain forever formless and unbeautiful.
To do His supreme work of grace within you I will take from your heart everything you
love most. Everything you trust in will go from you. Piles of ashes will lie where your
most precious treasures used to be.
This is not to teach the sanctifying power of poverty. If to be poor holy men made every
tramp on a park bench would be a saint. But God knows the secret of removing things
from our hearts while they still remain to us. What he does is to restrain us from enjoying
them. He lets us have them but makes us psychologically unable to let our hearts go out
to them. Thus they are useful without being harmful.
All this God will accomplish at the expense of the common pleasures that have up to that
time supported your life and made it zestful. Now under the careful treatment of the Holy
Spirit your life may become dry, tasteless and to some degree a burden to you. While in
this state you will exist by a kind of blind will to live, you will find none of the inward
sweetness you had enjoyed before. The smile of God for the time will be withdrawn, or
at least hidden from your eyes. Then you will learn what faith is, you will find out the hard
way, but the only way open to you, that true faith lies in the will, that the unspeakable joy
of which the apostle speaks faith but is not itself a slow-ripening Fruit; and you will learn
that present spiritual joys may come and go as they will without altering your spiritual
status or in any way affecting your position as a true child of the Heavenly Father. And
you will also learn, probably to your astonishment, that it is possible to live in all good
conscience before God and men and still feel nothing of the "peace and joy" you hear
talked about so much by immature Christians. How long you continue in this night of the
soul will depend upon a number of factors, some of which you may be able later to
identify; while others will remain with God, completely hidden from you. The words "The
day is thine, the night also is thine" will now be interpreted for you by the best of all
teachers, the Holy Spirit; and you will know by personal experience what a blessed thing
is the ministry of the night.
But there is a limit to man's ability to live without joy. Even Christ could endure the cross
only because of the joy in September before Him. The strongest steel breaks if kept too
long under unrelieved tension. God knows exactly how much pressure each one of us
can take. He knows how long we can endure the night, so he gives the soul relief, first
by welcome glimpses of the morning star and then by the fuller light that harbingers the
morning.
Slowly you will discover God's love in your suffering. Your heart will begin to approve the
whole thing. Your heart will begin to approve the whole thing. You will learn from yourself
what all the schools in the world could not teach you—the healing action of faith without
supporting pleasure. You will learn from yourself what all the schools in the world could
not teach you-the healing action of faith without supporting pleasure. You will feel and
understand the ministry of the night, its power to purify, to detach, to humble, to destroy
the fear of death and, what is more important to you at the moment, the fear of life. And
you will learn that sometimes pain can do what even joy cannot, such as exposing the
vanity of earth's trifles and filling your heart with longing for the peace of heaven.
What I write here is in no way original. This has been discovered anew by each
generation of seekers and Christian 'is almost a cliche of the deeper life. Yet it needs to
be said to this generation of believers often and with emphasis, for the type of
Christianity now in vogue does not include anything as serious and as difficult as this.
The quest of the modern Christian is likely to be for peace of mind and spiritual joy, with
a good degree of material prosperity thrown in as an external proof of the divine favor.
Some will understand this, however, even if the number is relatively small, and they will
constitute the hard core of practicing saints so badly needed at this hour if serious New
Testament Christianity is to survive to the next generation.
AW Tozer, from the book "That Incredible Christian"
If God has singled you out to be a special object of His grace you may expect Him to
honor you with stricter discipline and greater suffering than less favored ones are called
upon to endure.
And right here let me anticipate the objection someone is sure to raise, viz., That God
has no "specials" among his children. The Holy Scriptures and Christian history agree
that he has to show. Star differs from star in glory among the saints on earth as well as
among the glorified in heaven. Without question the differences exist; but whether they
are by the decree of God or by His foreknowledge of the degree of receptivity He will find
among His children I am not prepared to say with certainty, though I would lean strongly
to the latter view. Without question the differences exist, but whether they are by the
decree of God or by His foreknowledge of the degree of receptivity among He will find
his children I am not prepared to say with certainty, though I would lean strongly to the
latter view.
If God sets out to make you an unusual Christian He is not likely to be as gentle as he is
usually pictured by the popular teachers. A sculptor does not use a manicure set to
reduce the rude, unshapely marble to a thing of beauty. The saw, the hammer and the
chisel are cruel tools, but without them the rough stone must remain forever formless
and unbeautiful. The saw, the hammer and the chisel are cruel tools, but without them
the rough stone must remain forever formless and unbeautiful.
To do His supreme work of grace within you I will take from your heart everything you
love most. Everything you trust in will go from you. Piles of ashes will lie where your
most precious treasures used to be.
This is not to teach the sanctifying power of poverty. If to be poor holy men made every
tramp on a park bench would be a saint. But God knows the secret of removing things
from our hearts while they still remain to us. What he does is to restrain us from enjoying
them. He lets us have them but makes us psychologically unable to let our hearts go out
to them. Thus they are useful without being harmful.
All this God will accomplish at the expense of the common pleasures that have up to that
time supported your life and made it zestful. Now under the careful treatment of the Holy
Spirit your life may become dry, tasteless and to some degree a burden to you. While in
this state you will exist by a kind of blind will to live, you will find none of the inward
sweetness you had enjoyed before. The smile of God for the time will be withdrawn, or
at least hidden from your eyes. Then you will learn what faith is, you will find out the hard
way, but the only way open to you, that true faith lies in the will, that the unspeakable joy
of which the apostle speaks faith but is not itself a slow-ripening Fruit; and you will learn
that present spiritual joys may come and go as they will without altering your spiritual
status or in any way affecting your position as a true child of the Heavenly Father. And
you will also learn, probably to your astonishment, that it is possible to live in all good
conscience before God and men and still feel nothing of the "peace and joy" you hear
talked about so much by immature Christians. How long you continue in this night of the
soul will depend upon a number of factors, some of which you may be able later to
identify; while others will remain with God, completely hidden from you. The words "The
day is thine, the night also is thine" will now be interpreted for you by the best of all
teachers, the Holy Spirit; and you will know by personal experience what a blessed thing
is the ministry of the night.
But there is a limit to man's ability to live without joy. Even Christ could endure the cross
only because of the joy in September before Him. The strongest steel breaks if kept too
long under unrelieved tension. God knows exactly how much pressure each one of us
can take. He knows how long we can endure the night, so he gives the soul relief, first
by welcome glimpses of the morning star and then by the fuller light that harbingers the
morning.
Slowly you will discover God's love in your suffering. Your heart will begin to approve the
whole thing. Your heart will begin to approve the whole thing. You will learn from yourself
what all the schools in the world could not teach you—the healing action of faith without
supporting pleasure. You will learn from yourself what all the schools in the world could
not teach you-the healing action of faith without supporting pleasure. You will feel and
understand the ministry of the night, its power to purify, to detach, to humble, to destroy
the fear of death and, what is more important to you at the moment, the fear of life. And
you will learn that sometimes pain can do what even joy cannot, such as exposing the
vanity of earth's trifles and filling your heart with longing for the peace of heaven.
What I write here is in no way original. This has been discovered anew by each
generation of seekers and Christian 'is almost a cliche of the deeper life. Yet it needs to
be said to this generation of believers often and with emphasis, for the type of
Christianity now in vogue does not include anything as serious and as difficult as this.
The quest of the modern Christian is likely to be for peace of mind and spiritual joy, with
a good degree of material prosperity thrown in as an external proof of the divine favor.
Some will understand this, however, even if the number is relatively small, and they will
constitute the hard core of practicing saints so badly needed at this hour if serious New
Testament Christianity is to survive to the next generation.
AW Tozer, from the book "That Incredible Christian"
Originally posted: http://apostello.wordpress
Stop Singing: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Abortion and the Church Today
by SK Johnson
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a pastor and theologian who lived and worked in Nazi Germany. Bonhoeffer lived a courageous life, and is considered one of the most influential Christians of the 20th century, even though there are sadly many Christians who know nothing or very little about him.
Bonhoeffer was one of the Christians brave enough to speak out against the holocaust, when the general German Christian response at the time was apathy or even complicity. Bonhoeffer had a rare boldness, a fiery courage that only God can give. He spoke sternly against the church’s apathy concerning the holocaust. Perhaps one Bonhoeffer’s most controversial statements was something he said to a group of seminary students he was teaching. He remarked that “Only those who cry out for the Jews may also sing Gregorian chant.” Only those who cried out on behalf of the oppressed could sing in church. This concept is reminiscent to the daring words of Amos the prophet, speaking on God’s behalf:
Amos 5:23-24
“Take away from me the noise of your songs;
to the melody of your harps I will not listen.
But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing
stream.”
To not speak out on behalf of the oppressed was hypocrisy, and God made it clear that all our worship means nothing to Him if we do not speak His truth and share His love. We are as those who honor Him with our lips, but worship other gods with the rest of our bodies. We may praise Him with our song, but deny Him by our silence.
Bonhoeffer also had strong words about abortion. In one of his most important works, Ethics, he writes:
“Destruction of the embryo in the mother’s womb is a violation of the right to live which God has bestowed upon this nascent life. To raise the question whether we are here concerned already with a human being or not is merely to confuse the issue. The simple fact is that God certainly intended to create a human being and that this nascent human being has been deliberately deprived of his life. And that is nothing but murder.”
Far be it from me to presume to know what Bonhoeffer would say to us in our day, but looking at these two aspects of Bonhoeffer’s beliefs sure makes one wonder if he would tell us something similar about our approach to the issue of abortion, as he told the German Christians about the plight of the Jews. Maybe he would tell us to listen to the plight of the unborn more than the sound of our own praise.
Would Bonhoeffer be so bold as to say that only those who speak out on behalf of the unborn may sing hymns and praise songs? It makes us uncomfortable to consider that he might say something so bold. But, we must realize, his words to the German Christians were just as bold and controversial in his own time. Maybe he would say such a thing to us. Maybe he is.
When the prophet Isaiah was speaking out against the sin and rebellion of the Lord’s precious, but wayward, Israel, many Israelites were taking part in idol worship. These idols did not merely require emotional and spiritual allegiance, but a whole new way of living. The way we live is a form of worship. Following God’s law is a form of worshiping Him. These false gods required, among other things, the sacrifice of unborn babies. They required ways of living contrary to God’s law.
Isaiah 1:3-17
Bring no more vain offerings;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—
I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
Your new moons and your appointed feasts
my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
When you spread out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow’s cause.
God’s anger against Israel was not just concerning their spiritual allegiance, but the way they lived and acted. Even for the Israelites who did not engage in the unjust activities, the weight of the sin fell upon all who failed to speak out against what was wrong. Bonhoeffer tried to bring attention to the same concept. When we fail to speak out on behalf of the oppressed, we are complicit in their demise, and the blood is on our hands. We would do well to listen to what Bonhoeffer has to tell us today.
Proverbs 24:11-12
Rescue those who are being taken away to death;
hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.
12If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,”
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it,
and will he not repay man according to his work?
To say that we did not know what happened, as many German Christians tried to say about the holocaust, is no excuse. God knows how much we know, and He will hold us responsible. He will repay us according to our work. May we be renewed by the blood of Christ, and seek justice on behalf of his glorious, unending, kingdom.
In the next several months, decisions will be made that will alter our country’s abortion policy. The new healthcare bill will have some very frightening consequences. It will allow for the government healthcare plan to pay for abortions. Since the healthcare program will of course be funded by our tax dollars, this program will then be setting up a system for tax-funded abortions across the country. In other words, YOU will be paying for abortions with your tax dollars. A coalition of pro-life advocates have joined together to combat this provision. You can learn more about them, and get involved, at www.stoptheabortionmandate
This bill takes our national abortion policies to a whole new level, not just so that abortion is a private choice, but where it is a sanctioned aspect of our policy and everyone is required to take part in it. It is no longer just an issue of a woman’s private, individual, choice, it will be supported (whether you like it or not) and provided for by the whole country. The blood will be on our hands not just for failing to stop abortion, but now because our own pocketbooks will provide for it. For those of us who believe abortion is wrong, and an injustice in the sight of God and man, how can we stand for a bill that will force us to pay for it to happen?
Will we speak out on behalf of the voiceless? Or will we shrink and hide behind praise and worship melodies?
May the Lord give us all the strength to do the former.
"But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child - a direct killing of the innocent child - murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another? How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love, and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts. Jesus gave even his life to love us. So the mother who is thinking of abortion, should be helped to love - that is, to give until it hurts her plans, or her free time, to respect the life of her child." -Mother Theresa
May His unending and boundless love heal our people and our land. He offers grace and forgiveness, no matter what we have done. May we, with haste, return to Him. He longs for us, us broken, murderous, and wayward, people.
Stop Singing: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Abortion and the Church Today
by SK Johnson
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a pastor and theologian who lived and worked in Nazi Germany. Bonhoeffer lived a courageous life, and is considered one of the most influential Christians of the 20th century, even though there are sadly many Christians who know nothing or very little about him.
Bonhoeffer was one of the Christians brave enough to speak out against the holocaust, when the general German Christian response at the time was apathy or even complicity. Bonhoeffer had a rare boldness, a fiery courage that only God can give. He spoke sternly against the church’s apathy concerning the holocaust. Perhaps one Bonhoeffer’s most controversial statements was something he said to a group of seminary students he was teaching. He remarked that “Only those who cry out for the Jews may also sing Gregorian chant.” Only those who cried out on behalf of the oppressed could sing in church. This concept is reminiscent to the daring words of Amos the prophet, speaking on God’s behalf:
Amos 5:23-24
“Take away from me the noise of your songs;
to the melody of your harps I will not listen.
But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing
stream.”
To not speak out on behalf of the oppressed was hypocrisy, and God made it clear that all our worship means nothing to Him if we do not speak His truth and share His love. We are as those who honor Him with our lips, but worship other gods with the rest of our bodies. We may praise Him with our song, but deny Him by our silence.
Bonhoeffer also had strong words about abortion. In one of his most important works, Ethics, he writes:
“Destruction of the embryo in the mother’s womb is a violation of the right to live which God has bestowed upon this nascent life. To raise the question whether we are here concerned already with a human being or not is merely to confuse the issue. The simple fact is that God certainly intended to create a human being and that this nascent human being has been deliberately deprived of his life. And that is nothing but murder.”
Far be it from me to presume to know what Bonhoeffer would say to us in our day, but looking at these two aspects of Bonhoeffer’s beliefs sure makes one wonder if he would tell us something similar about our approach to the issue of abortion, as he told the German Christians about the plight of the Jews. Maybe he would tell us to listen to the plight of the unborn more than the sound of our own praise.
Would Bonhoeffer be so bold as to say that only those who speak out on behalf of the unborn may sing hymns and praise songs? It makes us uncomfortable to consider that he might say something so bold. But, we must realize, his words to the German Christians were just as bold and controversial in his own time. Maybe he would say such a thing to us. Maybe he is.
When the prophet Isaiah was speaking out against the sin and rebellion of the Lord’s precious, but wayward, Israel, many Israelites were taking part in idol worship. These idols did not merely require emotional and spiritual allegiance, but a whole new way of living. The way we live is a form of worship. Following God’s law is a form of worshiping Him. These false gods required, among other things, the sacrifice of unborn babies. They required ways of living contrary to God’s law.
Isaiah 1:3-17
Bring no more vain offerings;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—
I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
Your new moons and your appointed feasts
my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
When you spread out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow’s cause.
God’s anger against Israel was not just concerning their spiritual allegiance, but the way they lived and acted. Even for the Israelites who did not engage in the unjust activities, the weight of the sin fell upon all who failed to speak out against what was wrong. Bonhoeffer tried to bring attention to the same concept. When we fail to speak out on behalf of the oppressed, we are complicit in their demise, and the blood is on our hands. We would do well to listen to what Bonhoeffer has to tell us today.
Proverbs 24:11-12
Rescue those who are being taken away to death;
hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.
12If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,”
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it,
and will he not repay man according to his work?
To say that we did not know what happened, as many German Christians tried to say about the holocaust, is no excuse. God knows how much we know, and He will hold us responsible. He will repay us according to our work. May we be renewed by the blood of Christ, and seek justice on behalf of his glorious, unending, kingdom.
In the next several months, decisions will be made that will alter our country’s abortion policy. The new healthcare bill will have some very frightening consequences. It will allow for the government healthcare plan to pay for abortions. Since the healthcare program will of course be funded by our tax dollars, this program will then be setting up a system for tax-funded abortions across the country. In other words, YOU will be paying for abortions with your tax dollars. A coalition of pro-life advocates have joined together to combat this provision. You can learn more about them, and get involved, at www.stoptheabortionmandate
This bill takes our national abortion policies to a whole new level, not just so that abortion is a private choice, but where it is a sanctioned aspect of our policy and everyone is required to take part in it. It is no longer just an issue of a woman’s private, individual, choice, it will be supported (whether you like it or not) and provided for by the whole country. The blood will be on our hands not just for failing to stop abortion, but now because our own pocketbooks will provide for it. For those of us who believe abortion is wrong, and an injustice in the sight of God and man, how can we stand for a bill that will force us to pay for it to happen?
Will we speak out on behalf of the voiceless? Or will we shrink and hide behind praise and worship melodies?
May the Lord give us all the strength to do the former.
"But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child - a direct killing of the innocent child - murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another? How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love, and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts. Jesus gave even his life to love us. So the mother who is thinking of abortion, should be helped to love - that is, to give until it hurts her plans, or her free time, to respect the life of her child." -Mother Theresa
May His unending and boundless love heal our people and our land. He offers grace and forgiveness, no matter what we have done. May we, with haste, return to Him. He longs for us, us broken, murderous, and wayward, people.
See full article here, with footnotes: http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba
10 Surprising Facts about American Health Care
Brief Analysis | Health
No. 649
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
by Scott Atlas
Medical care in the United States is derided as miserable compared to health care systems in the rest of the developed world. Economists, government officials, insurers and academics alike are beating the drum for a far larger government rôle in health care. Much of the public assumes their arguments are sound because the calls for change are so ubiquitous and the topic so complex. However, before turning to government as the solution, some unheralded facts about America’s health care system should be considered.
Fact No. 1: Americans have better survival rates than Europeans for common cancers.[1] Breast cancer mortality is 52 percent higher in Germany than in the United States, and 88 percent higher in the United Kingdom. Prostate cancer mortality is 604 percent higher in the U.K. and 457 percent higher in Norway. The mortality rate for colorectal cancer among British men and women is about 40 percent higher.
Fact No. 2: Americans have lower cancer mortality rates than Canadians.[2] Breast cancer mortality is 9 percent higher, prostate cancer is 184 percent higher and colon cancer mortality among men is about 10 percent higher than in the United States.
Fact No. 3: Americans have better access to treatment for chronic diseases than patients in other developed countries.[3] Some 56 percent of Americans who could benefit are taking statins, which reduce cholesterol and protect against heart disease. By comparison, of those patients who could benefit from these drugs, only 36 percent of the Dutch, 29 percent of the Swiss, 26 percent of Germans, 23 percent of Britons and 17 percent of Italians receive them.
Fact No. 4: Americans have better access to preventive cancer screening than Canadians.[4] Take the proportion of the appropriate-age population groups who have received recommended tests for breast, cervical, prostate and colon cancer:
Nine of 10 middle-aged American women (89 percent) have had a mammogram, compared to less than three-fourths of Canadians (72 percent).
Nearly all American women (96 percent) have had a pap smear, compared to less than 90 percent of Canadians.
More than half of American men (54 percent) have had a PSA test, compared to less than 1 in 6 Canadians (16 percent).
Nearly one-third of Americans (30 percent) have had a colonoscopy, compared with less than 1 in 20 Canadians (5 percent).
Fact No. 5: Lower income Americans are in better health than comparable Canadians. Twice as many American seniors with below-median incomes self-report “excellent” health compared to Canadian seniors (11.7 percent versus 5.8 percent). Conversely, white Canadian young adults with below-median incomes are 20 percent more likely than lower income Americans to describe their health as “fair or poor.”[5]
Fact No. 6: Americans spend less time waiting for care than patients in Canada and the U.K. Canadian and British patients wait about twice as long – sometimes more than a year – to see a specialist, to have elective surgery like hip replacements or to get radiation treatment for cancer.[6] All told, 827,429 people are waiting for some type of procedure in Canada.[7] In England, nearly 1.8 million people are waiting for a hospital admission or outpatient treatment.[8]
Fact No. 7: People in countries with more government control of health care are highly dissatisfied and believe reform is needed. More than 70 percent of German, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and British adults say their health system needs either “fundamental change” or “complete rebuilding.”[9]
Fact No. 8: Americans are more satisfied with the care they receive than Canadians. When asked about their own health care instead of the “health care system,” more than half of Americans (51.3 percent) are very satisfied with their health care services, compared to only 41.5 percent of Canadians; a lower proportion of Americans are dissatisfied (6.8 percent) than Canadians (8.5 percent).[10]
Fact No. 9: Americans have much better access to important new technologies like medical imaging than patients in Canada or the U.K. Maligned as a waste by economists and policymakers naïve to actual medical practice, an overwhelming majority of leading American physicians identified computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as the most important medical innovations for improving patient care during the previous decade.[11] [See the table.] The United States has 34 CT scanners per million Americans, compared to 12 in Canada and eight in Britain. The United States has nearly 27 MRI machines per million compared to about 6 per million in Canada and Britain.[12]
Fact No. 10: Americans are responsible for the vast majority of all health care innovations.[13] The top five U.S. hospitals conduct more clinical trials than all the hospitals in any other single developed country.[14] Since the mid-1970s, the Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology has gone to American residents more often than recipients from all other countries combined.[15] In only five of the past 34 years did a scientist living in America not win or share in the prize. Most important recent medical innovations were developed in the United States.[16] [See the table.]
Conclusion. Despite serious challenges, such as escalating costs and the uninsured, the U.S. health care system compares favorably to those in other developed countries.
Scott W. Atlas, M.D., is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and a professor at the Stanford University Medical Center. A version of this article appeared previously in the February 18, 2009, Washington Times.
10 Surprising Facts about American Health Care
Brief Analysis | Health
No. 649
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
by Scott Atlas
Medical care in the United States is derided as miserable compared to health care systems in the rest of the developed world. Economists, government officials, insurers and academics alike are beating the drum for a far larger government rôle in health care. Much of the public assumes their arguments are sound because the calls for change are so ubiquitous and the topic so complex. However, before turning to government as the solution, some unheralded facts about America’s health care system should be considered.
Fact No. 1: Americans have better survival rates than Europeans for common cancers.[1] Breast cancer mortality is 52 percent higher in Germany than in the United States, and 88 percent higher in the United Kingdom. Prostate cancer mortality is 604 percent higher in the U.K. and 457 percent higher in Norway. The mortality rate for colorectal cancer among British men and women is about 40 percent higher.
Fact No. 2: Americans have lower cancer mortality rates than Canadians.[2] Breast cancer mortality is 9 percent higher, prostate cancer is 184 percent higher and colon cancer mortality among men is about 10 percent higher than in the United States.
Fact No. 3: Americans have better access to treatment for chronic diseases than patients in other developed countries.[3] Some 56 percent of Americans who could benefit are taking statins, which reduce cholesterol and protect against heart disease. By comparison, of those patients who could benefit from these drugs, only 36 percent of the Dutch, 29 percent of the Swiss, 26 percent of Germans, 23 percent of Britons and 17 percent of Italians receive them.
Fact No. 4: Americans have better access to preventive cancer screening than Canadians.[4] Take the proportion of the appropriate-age population groups who have received recommended tests for breast, cervical, prostate and colon cancer:
Nine of 10 middle-aged American women (89 percent) have had a mammogram, compared to less than three-fourths of Canadians (72 percent).
Nearly all American women (96 percent) have had a pap smear, compared to less than 90 percent of Canadians.
More than half of American men (54 percent) have had a PSA test, compared to less than 1 in 6 Canadians (16 percent).
Nearly one-third of Americans (30 percent) have had a colonoscopy, compared with less than 1 in 20 Canadians (5 percent).
Fact No. 5: Lower income Americans are in better health than comparable Canadians. Twice as many American seniors with below-median incomes self-report “excellent” health compared to Canadian seniors (11.7 percent versus 5.8 percent). Conversely, white Canadian young adults with below-median incomes are 20 percent more likely than lower income Americans to describe their health as “fair or poor.”[5]
Fact No. 6: Americans spend less time waiting for care than patients in Canada and the U.K. Canadian and British patients wait about twice as long – sometimes more than a year – to see a specialist, to have elective surgery like hip replacements or to get radiation treatment for cancer.[6] All told, 827,429 people are waiting for some type of procedure in Canada.[7] In England, nearly 1.8 million people are waiting for a hospital admission or outpatient treatment.[8]
Fact No. 7: People in countries with more government control of health care are highly dissatisfied and believe reform is needed. More than 70 percent of German, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and British adults say their health system needs either “fundamental change” or “complete rebuilding.”[9]
Fact No. 8: Americans are more satisfied with the care they receive than Canadians. When asked about their own health care instead of the “health care system,” more than half of Americans (51.3 percent) are very satisfied with their health care services, compared to only 41.5 percent of Canadians; a lower proportion of Americans are dissatisfied (6.8 percent) than Canadians (8.5 percent).[10]
Fact No. 9: Americans have much better access to important new technologies like medical imaging than patients in Canada or the U.K. Maligned as a waste by economists and policymakers naïve to actual medical practice, an overwhelming majority of leading American physicians identified computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as the most important medical innovations for improving patient care during the previous decade.[11] [See the table.] The United States has 34 CT scanners per million Americans, compared to 12 in Canada and eight in Britain. The United States has nearly 27 MRI machines per million compared to about 6 per million in Canada and Britain.[12]
Fact No. 10: Americans are responsible for the vast majority of all health care innovations.[13] The top five U.S. hospitals conduct more clinical trials than all the hospitals in any other single developed country.[14] Since the mid-1970s, the Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology has gone to American residents more often than recipients from all other countries combined.[15] In only five of the past 34 years did a scientist living in America not win or share in the prize. Most important recent medical innovations were developed in the United States.[16] [See the table.]
Conclusion. Despite serious challenges, such as escalating costs and the uninsured, the U.S. health care system compares favorably to those in other developed countries.
Scott W. Atlas, M.D., is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and a professor at the Stanford University Medical Center. A version of this article appeared previously in the February 18, 2009, Washington Times.
http://apostello.wordpress
[What was supposed to take an evening, has taken days, and HOURS of work has been put in this piece. In many ways, it represents many of the most important things I've been learning, and have felt pressed upon my heart to say, for the sake of the gospel of Christ in this world. Since I have it formatted a special way, and with lots of pictures, I will simply direct you to my new blog (and this is a sneaky way of getting some traffic for it. PLEASE ADD THOUGHTS AND CRITIQUE! :-) ].
I'm hesitant to post it because I've changed so much of it so many times, and want this to be as close to perfect as possible... but here goes nothing...
[What was supposed to take an evening, has taken days, and HOURS of work has been put in this piece. In many ways, it represents many of the most important things I've been learning, and have felt pressed upon my heart to say, for the sake of the gospel of Christ in this world. Since I have it formatted a special way, and with lots of pictures, I will simply direct you to my new blog (and this is a sneaky way of getting some traffic for it. PLEASE ADD THOUGHTS AND CRITIQUE! :-) ].
I'm hesitant to post it because I've changed so much of it so many times, and want this to be as close to perfect as possible... but here goes nothing...
http://apostello.wordpress
[What was supposed to take an evening, has taken days, and HOURS of work has been put in this piece. In many ways, it represents many of the most important things I've been learning, and have felt pressed upon my heart to say, for the sake of the gospel of Christ in this world. Since I have it formatted a special way, and with lots of pictures, I will simply direct you to my new blog (and this is a sneaky way of getting some traffic for it. PLEASE ADD THOUGHTS AND CRITIQUE! :-) ].
I'm hesitant to post it because I've changed so much of it so many times, and want this to be as close to perfect as possible... but here goes nothing...
[What was supposed to take an evening, has taken days, and HOURS of work has been put in this piece. In many ways, it represents many of the most important things I've been learning, and have felt pressed upon my heart to say, for the sake of the gospel of Christ in this world. Since I have it formatted a special way, and with lots of pictures, I will simply direct you to my new blog (and this is a sneaky way of getting some traffic for it. PLEASE ADD THOUGHTS AND CRITIQUE! :-) ].
I'm hesitant to post it because I've changed so much of it so many times, and want this to be as close to perfect as possible... but here goes nothing...