Links: Does God Cause Disasters? 60 Minutes on the Gates Foundation; TED Talk by Polio Campaign Director; Easter

By Brian Lowther

According to this Christianity Today Poll a majority of evangelicals believe God causes disasters.

Here is a 60 Minutes report on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Though it starts as a personal interest story, with tidbits here and there about their AIDS vaccine and their Malaria eradication plans, it ends dramatically in a Polio Ward in Dehli. Quoting Bill Gates, "We'll take the diseases of the poor, where there is no market, and we'll get the best scientists working on those diseases."

Dr. Bruce Aylward, head of the polio eradication programme at the World Health Organization, gives this TED talk where he lays out the plan to continue the scientific miracle that ended polio in most of the world.

See this blog entry that describes how Easter is the defining moment in God's plan to defeat evil and redeem and restore not just humanity, but all creation. It's short, but very weighty.

Links: Dr. Foege; Eradicating Ten Tropical Diseases by 2020; George Washington

By Brian Lowther

First check out this four minute interview of Dr. Bill Foege of the Gates Foundation. Dr. Foege is a devout believer and an American epidemiologist who is credited with devising the global strategy that led to the eradication of smallpox. In this interview Dr. Foege discusses lessons learned from the smallpox campaign, and what can be done to eradicate other diseases that have vaccines, such as pneumonia. Among other things, he mentions the Gavi Fund, a public-private global health partnership committed to increasing access to immunization in poor countries.

Next check out this article that details the new WHO campaign to eradicate at least 10 neglected tropical diseases by 2020. WHO Director-General Margaret Chan hopes this plan will finally end “the vast misery caused by these ancient diseases of poverty."

Lastly check out this article from the New England Journal of Medicine, which gives a great summary of infectious disease.  It gets fairly technical in certain places but also provides interesting details about infectious disease in the life of President George Washington. Did you know that he died of an acute infectious disease believed to have been bacterial epiglottitis, was scarred by smallpox, survived multiple debilitating bouts of malaria, suffered wound infections and abscesses, nursed his brother on a tropical island as he died of tuberculosis, and even had an influenza pandemic named after him (the Washington influenza of 1789–1790)? These details about Washington frame a historical perspective of infectious disease and show the remarkable progress that has been made since his day.

Is Satan Only Responsible for Tempting us to Sin?

By Brian Lowther

In my last post I suggested a list of five possible answers you might get if you were to ask people,  “Are the destructive germs that cause disease the work of Satan?” Below are my reflections on perspective #1, “No, I think Satan is only responsible for tempting us to sin.”

Though it does seem pretty clear that one of Satan’s chief responsibilities is temptation, the first thing that comes to mind in response would be a brief (and by no means exhaustive) list of scripture references that describe Satan doing anything other than tempting us to sin. So here goes. 

Satan is portrayed as being:

1. “the god of this age/this world [who] has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel,” 2 Cor 4:4
2. “the ruler of the power of the air,” Eph 2:2
3. “the prince (or ruler) of this world,” Jn 12:31; 14:30; 16:11
4. “the accuser of the brethren” Rev 12:10
5. He is portrayed as possessing all the kingdoms of the world, Lk 4:5-6
6. He is said to have control of the entire world, 1Jn 5:19 
7. He is portrayed as being the one behind:
   • death, Jn 10:10; Heb 2:14; 1Pet 5:8
   • murder, Jn 8:44; 1Jn 3:12, (though this can be tempting people to murder)
   • lying, Jn 8:44, (though this can be tempting people to lie)
   • persecution, Eph 6:12-13
   • sickness and disease, Job 2:7; Lk 13:16; Acts 10:38
   • physical ailments such as:
     • inability to speak, Mt 9:32-33; 12:22, Mk 9:17-25 
     • epileptic symptoms, Mt. 17:18; Mk 9:17-22
     • blindness Mt 12:22

He and his fallen army are portrayed as having supernatural capabilities to:

1. obstruct Kingdom work, 1 Thes 2:18
2. hinder prayer, Dan 10:13
3. do counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, 2 Thes 2:9
4. deceive, 2Cor 11:14;  Rev 20:8
5. choke faith, Mt 13:19; Mk 4:15
6. demonize people, Mk 1:26; 5:1-20; 7:26-30; Lk 4:33-36; 22:3; Acts 16:16-18. 

To illustrate, I’ve created this pie chart that categorizes the works of the devil. Click on the image to enlarge it.

View fullsize