Alternative meds

[kevinmiller]

Being a teacher, I often have a hard time accepting peoples' work without seeing their credentials. I don't think that holism is a euphemism for witchcraft. As you can see in this wikipedia article, it can be used in any number of fields: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holistic
However, it still does not prove that acupuncture originated solely in the occult or that it is wrong for us to use it if it is truly beneficial to the body.

[matie-k]

Sorry, I have no great Chinese lore to add. :frog I always just thought acupuncture was dealing with knowing just the right spots to jab a person with microscopic needles in order to cut off a nerve ending or do something of the sort. I know of a few people over here who used acupuncture along with other stuff in order to lose weight. Other than that I know nearly nothing about it.

[kevinmiller]

Oh well, so much for that idea. lol
I'll see if I can't ask a Korean friend sometime. Or I might ask one of my students.

[LindaR]

Being a teacher, I often have a hard time accepting peoples' work without seeing their credentials. I don't think that holism is a euphemism for witchcraft. As you can see in this wikipedia article, it can be used in any number of fields: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holistic
However, it still does not prove that acupuncture originated solely in the occult or that it is wrong for us to use it if it is truly beneficial to the body.

What are the credentials of wikipedia? Just wondering why you reference that site. Do a google search on Michael Harner. He is a shaman.

[Anon]

Actually how I got started is I was looking up an article on Christians and demon possession. In the process, the article had a huge list of occultic activities Chrisitans should avoid, and "acupunture" was one. Since I didn't know anything about that, I Googled "Acupuncture Christian" and found that many Christians avoid this...there was even a Lutheran article saying its best to avoid it.

So maybe Google "acupuncture Christian" like I did and see what you think.

[LindaR]

Thanks Kitagirl. I googled "acupuncture Christian" and the first site which came up is "gotquestions.org"--Here is a couple of paragraphs from that site:

Question: "Should a Christian participate in acupuncture / acupressure?"

Answer: Let us begin this answer with a bit of history. The origin of acupuncture is Chinese and it is a teaching of Taoism. Taoism is the philosophical system evolved by Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu and that advocates a life of complete simplicity and naturalness and of non-interference with the course of natural events in order to attain a happy existence in harmony with the tao or life force. It is also called Hsuan Chaio, which is a popular Chinese religion that purports to be based on the doctrines of Lao-tzu but which is actually highly eclectic in nature and characterized by a pantheon of many gods, superstition and by the practice of alchemy, divination and magic.

In this Chinese philosophy and religion there are two principles. The first is the "yin," which is negative, dark and feminine and the second is "yang," which is positive, bright and masculine. The interaction of these two forces is thought to be the guiding influence for the destinies of all creatures and things. In other words, there is no place for the one true God of the universe in this false religion. Ones fate is under the power of the balance or imbalance of these two forces. Acupuncture is an attempt to bring these two forces (yin and yang) into harmony and therefore positively affect the "destiny" or the health of the body. Acupuncture then is a mechanism practiced by adherents of Taoism that is used to bring the "yin and yang" of the body into harmony with tao and it is based in a false religion.

With that information as a basis, can we find an answer about false religion in Scripture? The answer is yes. There are numerous commands to Israel by God that deal with the false gods of the pagans that surrounded them. We find many of these commandments in Leviticus and again in Deuteronomy. However the first commandment God gave to Israel is the foundation of all of these commandments. "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:3).

http://www.gotquestions.org/acupuncture-Christian.html

BTW, this is not a KJV site, but they have really good information on many topics.

[John the Baptist]

I graduation with a lady back in the 1970's whose husband is a chiropractor. they are a fine Christian couple.

[kevinmiller]

See, I don't agree with using the Chinese religious aspect of it to call it into question. If it works medicinally, use it. If a cultic group somewhere came up with a cure for a serious disease, would you refuse to use it because they were part of a cult? If acupuncture works, then there is no difference.

[Anon]

See' date=' I don't agree with using the Chinese religious aspect of it to call it into question. If it works medicinally, use it. If a cultic group somewhere came up with a cure for a serious disease, would you refuse to use it because they were part of a cult? If acupuncture works, then there is no difference.[/quote']

I guess the question would be, does it work physically or does it work spiritually? There *are* indeed ways of curing problems in an occultish fashion that do really "work". I'm not saying acupuncture is that, and I do not really believe that...however from my reading it seemed it was a remote possibility, which is why I brought up the thread.

[kevinmiller]

I don't think that acupuncture is spiritual, though I'm going to start a study in the Bible about spirituality and health. I do believe that there can be a correlation. For example, the Bible talks about laughter doing good like a medicine and bitterness drying the bones, both things that can be proven in medicine to a certain extent. It should make for an interesting study and perhaps some interesting discussion.

[Anon]

I don't think that acupuncture is spiritual' date=' though I'm going to start a study in the Bible about spirituality and health. I do believe that there can be a correlation. For example, the Bible talks about laughter doing good like a medicine and bitterness drying the bones, both things that can be proven in medicine to a certain extent. It should make for an interesting study and perhaps some interesting discussion.[/quote']


...and just remember that by "Spiritual" you can mean that either positive or negative. As you say, a merry heart definitely has some physical effects. However Satan can also "heal" when he desires, in order to further his deceptions.

[GlenBurnieMD]

http://www.quackwatch.com is a great site for exposing quacks. There are quite a few chiropractor articles.


P.S. Remember I am not a doc named Glen...


Mike

[kevinmiller]

Yup, which is why we must use Biblical discernment before accepting everything as being from God. On the flip-side, we also can't throw an entire field of something out because of it's supposed or real associations either.

[matie-k]

My dad used to say chiropractors are quacks. :frog

[Anon]

My dad says they are quacks too. I am skeptical of them but have gone before... they have helped my husband alot....so who really knows.