Running head: FOUR PARTS OF THE CHRISTIAN BIBLICAL NARRATIVE 1
Four Parts of the Christian Biblical Narrative
All things that exist are God’s creation, except God Himself. God is also in control of anything and everything that happens in the world either directly or by delegation. For example, by giving man free will, God allowed evil to happen yet by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross, all evil can be eliminated on earth. Either way, God’s will of humans having free will abides. The concept of sickness and health follows the same concept. God has orchestrated a scenario where the fullness of health can exist alongside the abundance of illness with humans, including doctors and nurses playing a significant part in human inference.
The Four parts of the Christian Biblical Narrative
The four-part of the Christian Biblical narrative is the creation, the fall, the redemption and the restoration. Creation entails an intentional act of God to make a perfect world (Conradie, 2012). After God made the world, He indicated that it was good. Since God’s standards are very high, His having indicated that the world was good can only mean it was perfect, a concept known as Shalom. Shalom means that man is doing well within himself and in the relationship with God and nature. From the perspective of nursing, Shalom can be considered as the fullness of physiological, psychological, and emotional health (Hamilton et al., 2015). The second part is the fall which happened when Adam and Eve disobeyed God thus breaking Shalom. Pain, suffering, and death were the results. In the instant context, the fall can be related to the instance of illness, pain, and suffering. The fourth part is the redemption which happened when God offered His only son Jesus to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind (Conradie, 2012). Redemption creates an opportunity to return man to shalom. In Nursing, redemption can be compared to the relationship between the nurse and the patient, which presents an opportunity for God to heal the patient inter alia from curative means. Finally, there is the restoration which happens when humans embrace salvation through Christ and His death on the Cross (Conradie, 2012). Redemption is God’s part while restoration relies on man embracing what God did for him. In nursing, restoration happens when the relationship between the patient and nurse finally results in the holistic healing of the patient (Davis, Sheingold & Zeiger, 2016). Any effort by the nurse in this relationship would be futile unless the patient also plays the respective role (Joseph-Williams, Elwyn & Edwards, 2014).
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Comfort and Hope from the Narrative Above
When properly understood, the Christian narrative above can be a source of hope and comfort as and when a person is taken ill. First, the narrative is evidence that the existence of evil, pain, and suffering does not mean that God does not exist but that humans may have fallen short of God’s grace. The fact that a powerful, loving, and merciful God still exists can be a source of hope in the understanding that life has a deeper meaning. There is, therefore, a reason to fight for better health. Most importantly. God went out of His way to find a solution for humans when they fell from Shalom by giving Jesus as a sacrificial lamb. Therefore, God will move to any lengths to restore the sick to their health including granting intellect and caring to healthcare practitioners such as doctors, nurses, researchers, and pharmacists. Humans need to believe in God and submit to these practitioners and all shall be well (Haugun, 2014). Shalom can still be realized no matter how bad the situation is since God is all-powerful , according to the Bible.
Conclusion
Since everything in the world including humans and nature was made by God, He not only understands it but also able to make it right. The world that God created was perfect hence it did not have vagaries such as diseases. However, due to the failures of man, evils such as diseases came about. In the same way that God was able to restore humans to Shalom in the Christian narrative, He is also able to restore the sick to the fullness of health. In the process, the sick have a role to play, including having faith and cooperating with healthcare officials.
References
Conradie, E. M. (Ed.). (2012). Creation and Salvation: A companion on recent theological movements (Vol. 2). Münster, Germany: LIT Verlag Münster
Davis, S., Sheingold, B., & Zeiger, R. (2016). Teaching caregiver care to advanced practice nurses: The intersection of technology, online support communities and social capital. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice , 6 (11), 46-52
Hamilton, J. B., Galbraith, K. V., Best, N. C., Worthy, V. C., & Moore, L. A. D. (2015). African-American cancer survivors’ use of religious beliefs to positively influence the utilization of cancer care. Journal of Religion And Health , 54 (5), 1856-1869
Haugan, G. (2014). The relationship between nurse–patient interaction and meaning‐in‐life in cognitively intact nursing home patients. Journal of Advanced Nursing , 70 (1), 107-120
Joseph-Williams, N., Elwyn, G., & Edwards, A. (2014). Knowledge is not power for patients: a systematic review and thematic synthesis of patient-reported barriers and facilitators to shared decision making. Patient Education And Counseling , 94 (3), 291-309
