Religion's Place in Nursing

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I often read Billy Graham's column and thought today's was particulary pertinent to our profession. I'm just curious as to your own personal thoughts and feelings on the matter. (Please, no screaming at one another...this is not a debate.)

Dear Dr. Graham,

I'd like to be a Christian, but I have a hard time believing that Jesus rose from the dead. You see, I'm an intensive care nurse, and I know that once a person dies, that's the end. Maybe you can help me get past these doubts. -- Mrs. K.W.

Dear Mrs. K.W.:

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the most important event in all history -- and yes, incredible as it may seem, it really did happen.

In fact, it might interest you to know that one of the Gospels was written by a medical doctor (Luke). Like you, he knew that death is final and irreversible -- and yet he also gave us one of the most extensive accounts of Jesus' resurrection from the dead. Why? Because he had thoroughly investigated the evidence for Jesus' resurrection for himself and he knew only one conclusion was possible: Jesus had come back from the dead.

Why is the resurrection important? Why did God raise Jesus from the dead? One reason was to prove that Jesus was who He said He was: the divine Son of God, sent from heaven to save us from our sins. The Bible says that He "was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 1:4). The resurrection sets Jesus apart from every other person who has ever lived.

But the resurrection points to an even greater truth: Death has now been conquered! The grave is not the end, but heaven's doors are now open! Jesus is alive, and He wants to come into your life today. Why not discover this great truth for yourself by turning to Christ today?

Edited to remove the dead link that stretched things past the edge of the screen - hope it makes it easier to read :)! - Ratched

Specializes in Retail Health.

Hello Jemommy, while I understand where you're coming from just remember that the bible also says we don't have to argue the scripture because it will manifest itself in time. Just look at the world now and how the events from revelations are already unfolding. The truth will be revealed in the end. Its up to non-believers to either accept or reject it. We're only responsible for planting the seed. We have confidence in Jesus so we can rest in that. Don't get you're blood pressure up over it, not all people will be saved, its that simple.

Thank you for your calm words. It just really angers me when people question our precious Lord. Speaking nicely to them won't reach out. Just because i am a christian does that mean that I can't stand up for God (what is right). I'm not going to just let people degrade my Jesus and what He stands for without a fight. I feel as strongly about Him as I do any other member in my family. He is sooo Precious. He's my Savior. I love Him wholeheartedly and someone has to stand up to these NONBELIEVERS. It is not my job to convince them to believe, but it is my DUTY as a christian woman to correct their ignorance when speaking about GOD.
Specializes in Obstetrics, M/S, Psych.
Also, for the atheists and agnostics on this post: Im curious to know what you think about the current state of this world? Do you think that the earthquakes, famine, pestilence, wars, personal and spiritual apostasy, and prevalence of murders within families (children killing parents and vice versa) is just a coincidence? I mean has anyone noticed how this world is going downhill? For those who aren't familiar with Revelations, it is the last book of the bible which basically lays out the events that will occur at the end of the world before the return of Jesus. One scrpture says "And when you see these events know that my coming is nigh."

I don't think that the world is any more immoral or problematic than it ever was. Wasn't burning single women at the stake just because their cats hung to close to them and they had a wierd mole fairly horrendous? How about lynchings? Atom bomb? I think we know more of the natural disasters because we learn of them through the media, but they are no more prevalent. How would we have known prior to the invent of satelite that there was, say, a huge earthquakle in India? We wouldn't even know it occurred, except through word of mouth. The numbers of the instances of things happening that are horrible may have increased, but that is because the general population of the world has increased drastically. There has always been pestilence. The plague, typhoid...and so on. Nothing new there, either. I have thought it may be natures way of population control to preserve the planet. It's all individual perception, I guess.

Can we close this thread? It has turned from a nice, peaceful discussion from a couple days ago into ridiculous arguing over things that no one is going to change anyone's mind about.

Specializes in ICU.

Does anyone else want to second this request???

I think this thread has possibly done it's dash and become too tangled to continue. If you want to start another thread "exploring the role of religion in relation to the paradigm of the nurse client interface as it pertains to the health care milieu" please, by all means feel free to do so.

(:imbar sorry - couldn't resist a bit of psuedojargon there!!!)

Specializes in LTC, CPR instructor, First aid instructor..
can we close this thread? it has turned from a nice, peaceful discussion from a couple days ago into ridiculous arguing over things that no one is going to change anyone's mind about.

yes lets lock it up.

Specializes in NICU, Infection Control.

As requested, I closed it.

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