The Big Picture | Issue 13 | Health & Wellbeing

Description

The Hebrew word shalom is often translated as “peace” or “wellbeing,” but it includes far more than personally feeling good; it is about the flourishing of all aspects of life: socio-political, economic, agricultural, relational, familial and personal. In many of its biblical occurrences, it is hard not to hear an echo of Eden, God’s Garden. Wellbeing is deeply personal, but it is also inherently public.

If Genesis 2 provides us with a rich picture of wellbeing, Genesis 3 reminds us that following on from the rebellion of the first couple, our way back to Eden is barred. An effect of sin is that we need restoration or healing. In Matthew 9 Jesus says, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

God can and does heal miraculously but all physical healing comes from God, whether it is miraculous or through the ingenuity of doctors and medication. Jesus’ analogy of sickness with sin is telling because as we know humans are psychosomatic unities, and health cannot be restricted to physical health. Unhealthiness of all the domains that touch us, whether of body, mind, spirit, relationships, society and the environment, are connected and affect one another.

In this issue, we explore what it means that God is our physician, and the manifold ways in which his healing is intended for the good of the whole world. Our community’s contributions touch on biblical prosperity, education, politics, mental health, grief, artificial intelligence and much more.

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