[ JBEM Index / Volume 4 / Number 4 ]

Editor’s Note*

Beginning with the letter below from Dr. Payne, this issue contains considerable argumentation, explicit and implicit, on the topic of truth-telling. In recent years I have become more convinced that one method of staying close to the truth conceptually is to use biblical names, where they exist, for biblical concepts. Too often we submit to pagan thought-forms by adopting pagan nomenclature. In this issue we reprint two brief articles which question the use of words with a connotation of disease for such problems as chronic drunkenness. While there is nothing intrinsically wrong with using the word “alcoholism”, the word carries so much unbiblical baggage that it is wiser to eschew it. If it is a disease, why does God describe it as a sin? Is there any scriptural example of God condemning illness as sin?

Speaking of truth, if you want a booklet to use in the sex education of adolescents which is consistent with biblical truth on this matter, we recommend The Wonder of Me: Fertility Appreciation for Adolescents and Parents by Ruth S. Taylor, M.D., M. P. H. & Ann Nerbun, R.N., M. S. N. The booklets are available at from $2 to $5 per copy (depending upon the quantity ordered) from DEPPA Publications, P.O. Box 383, Sumter, S.C. 29151. The booklets would be a great aid in classroom or home teaching on human sexuality.

We wish once again to remind our readers of the existence of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. If you don’t feel well-represented by other medical organizations, especially when it comes to issues of political significance, you should consider this feisty group. In AAPS vs. Bowen, the association recently scored a small but significant success in making the federal government bureaucracy back off on some pending requirements of physician laboratories. Information can be obtained from AAPS, 1601 N. Tucson Blvd., Suite 9, Tucson, AZ 85716.

[ JBEM Index / Volume 4 / Number 4 ]