Reading Acts BIBLE: Acts 1:1-11:18 Journal Summary #6 (on Powell Ch. Acts 1:1—11:18 Powell 125-145 [Ch. 6] 6) Week 10 Work Due – Sat, April 7.
Journal Summary #7 (on Richards and O’Brien Conclusion, 211- 217)
Acts 11:19-26:32 BIBLE: Acts 11:19-26:32 Journal Summary #8 (on Powell Ch. Powell 103-123 [Ch. 5] 5) Week 11 Work Due – Sat, April 14
Powell (Journal #9 Journal Summary readings) 191-213 [Ch. #9 (on Powell Ch. 9] 9)
Week 12 Work Due – Sat, April 21 Catch up week! Week to catch up or plan ahead! Forum 12 (Reflections on Acts reading) Acts 27:1-28:30 BIBLE: Acts 27:1-28:30
Journal Summary #10 (on Powell Ch. Powell: 169-189 [Ch. 8] 8) Week 13 Work Due – Sat, April 28 Article: “A Biblical Reflection Paper Foundation for on Contextual Medicine” Experience and Praxis Forum 13 (Reflections on Acts reading) ) Catch up week! Catch up on your Forum 14 (Review assignments of the Course)
Week 14 Work Due – Friday, May 4 Book Review (Richards/O’Brien)

Reflection Paper on Contextual Experience and Praxis
This assignment shall be worth 100 points.
This paper is an opportunity for you to reflect theoretically and practically on how your experience as a Nursing student and emerging medical professional during your semester has influenced the study and interpretation of the bible.
Write a 500-750 (2-3 pages) word Paper on the pericope assigned by your Instructor at the beginning of the semester.  It is most likely posted in the Announcement section of Sakai.
Use APA formatting for the paper.
ONLY submit ONE paper – Word or PDF
1.    Introduction – Include information about your “niche” in the Nursing program…in other words, how did you feel “called” to the Nursing profession?  Do you have a passion for a specific “practice” in Nursing (infants, ICU, etc.)?
2.   Read your pericope at least three times.  Read the articles in Unit 8, “The Hermeneutical Circle Explained,” and “A Biblical Foundation for Medicine.”
3.   In your writing, reflect how your experience as a Nursing student has influenced your interpretation of the bible.  Has your view of the bible and biblical truth changed since you have been in your Nursing program?  How will this experience continue to shape your interpretation as well as application of the bible(what scholars will call, “the movement from belief to praxis”)?
4.   Conclusion – Has your Nursing experience changed how you feel about God and the bible?  How has it changed your views?  How has your experience expanded the “hermeneutical circle” in your life?  How has it changed your view of Jesus and what the bible calls, “the Body of Christ” (i.e. the Church, faith communities, etc.)?  Is there something that you feel compelled TO DO as a result of your experience?
A Biblical Foundation for Medicine Part 1: Medicine Within a Christian Worldview John Dunlop, MD, MA (Bioethics) Today’s Christian Doctor – Fall 2011 In this three-part series, we’ll be discussing the ways that the Bible should be impacting your practice, beginning with this essay on medicine within a Christian worldview. In the next edition, we will look at how our understanding of the attributes of God can inform our professional lives. The third essay will present an overview of the role of medicine in the Scriptures as we reflect on where the healing professions fit into God’s plan for redemption. Are you a Christian doctor or are you a doctor who happens to be a Christian? It may not seem like a great distinction, but how you view yourself can make a major difference in how you practice medicine or dentistry. Striving to be a Christian doctor involves grounding your career within a Christian worldview. To the question, “What does my faith have to do with my day-today practice?” the Christian practitioner must answer, “EVERYTHING.” To know what this means requires you to answer an even more complex question, “In what ways should the Bible impact my practice?” It must be acknowledged from the outset that many individuals in medicine practice an exceptionally high quality of medicine, but are either ignorant of the Bible or frankly discredit it. They love their patients, sacrificially give of themselves to their work and maintain a high standard of excellence. In short, they demonstrate many of the Christ-like characteristics found in Scripture. They would likely not credit the Bible for these laudable traits, even though their behaviors are probably sourced in Judeo-Christian values. Made in the image of the very God they deny, these practitioners are the recipients of God’s common grace. The Role of Christianity in the History of Medicine Our knowledge of the practice of ancient medicine in the Western world is limited. We know that little could be done to actually affect the course of disease; at most, some symptoms were palliated. Ancient medicine allowed for the wide practice of euthanasia and abortion, two methods not subject to a code of ethics or a belief in a transcendent reality. That started to change in the fourth century B.C. with Hippocrates, a member of the Pythagorean School. To the best of our understanding, he led a small group of Greek physicians who took the Hippocratic Oath based upon their awareness of a transcendent reality. In doing so, they forswore the practices of abortion and euthanasia.1 It is unclear how popular that stand was in the culture of the day, but it was likely held only by a minority of physicians. His ideas later gained widespread acceptance. As Hippocratic scholar Ludwig Edelstein notes: At the end of antiquity a decided change took place. Medical practice began to conform to that state of affairs which the Oath had envisaged . . . Now the Oath began to be popular. It circulated in various forms adapted to the varying circumstances and purposes of the centuries . . . . Small wonder! A new religion [Christianity] arose that changed the very foundations of ancient civilization. Yet, Pythagoreanism seemed to bridge the gap between heathendom and the new belief. Pythagorean ethics, its concepts of holiness and purity, justice and forbearance . . . . Even the Church Fathers abounded in praise of the high-mindedness of Hippocrates and his regulations for the practice of medicine.2 Medical historian Albert Jonsen says that the guiding principle of modern Western medicine is historically a synthesis of the competence emphasized by Hippocrates and the compassion taught and modeled by Jesus.3 Consequently, to understand the essence of medicine, it is imperative to appreciate the contribution that has been made not only by Hippocrates, but by Jesus and the Scriptures. In addition to its role in the foundation of medicine, a Christian worldview has continued to contribute significantly to the development of medicine, even in the present day. To note just five significant contributions: The conviction that the universe was the product of an intelligent, purposeful God, and not that of time and chance, has been the basis of much of modern science including medicine. German astronomer Johannes Kepler described science as “thinking God’s thoughts after him.”4 Medical science today has drifted far from these roots, but it is difficult to deny that this conviction in an intelligent creator God was a primary motivator behind the early discoveries of medicine. Having taken the challenge to learn medicine not by theory but at the bedside, Thomas Sydenham was known as the father of clinical observation. His contributions to the science of medicine were profound. John Patrick quotes him in the context of his spiritual understanding: It becomes every man who purposes to give himself to the care of others, seriously to consider the four following things: First, that he must one day give an account to the Supreme Judge of all the lives entrusted to his care. Secondly, that all his skill, and knowledge, and energy as they have been given him by God, so they should be exercised for His glory, and the good of mankind, and not for mere gain or ambition. Thirdly, and not more beautifully than truly, let him reflect that he has undertaken the care of no mean creature, for, in order that he may estimate the value, the greatness of the human race, the only begotten Son of God became himself a man, and thus ennobled it with His divine dignity, and far more than this, died to redeem it. And fourthly, that the doctor being himself a mortal man, should be diligent and tender in relieving his suffering patients, inasmuch as he himself must one day be a like sufferer.5 Princeton ethicist Paul Ramsey’s 1971 publication of “The Patient as Person” became a seminal work for the field of bioethics. In the book, he emphasized the value of individual choice over the paternalism of the medical profession and defended patient autonomy in strongly Christian terms. An emphasis on the fields of hospice and palliative care were recovered at St. Christopher’s Hospice in London by Dame Cicely Saunders. Initially agnostic in terms of faith prior to founding the hospice, “she discovered she believed in God. It was, she said, ‘as if a switch had flipped.’”6 The life of Mother Teresa has been an inspiration to many throughout the world. After founding the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India, in 1950, she continued to serve the poor, sick, orphaned and dying in the name of Christ for the next 45 years. Substance and Style Before considering a biblical foundation of medicine, we must distinguish between substance and style. Substance involves what we do while style is how we do it. Substance has much to do with the science of medicine while style has more to do with the art of medicine. Scripture does not say much about the substance of medicine, but it says a great deal about style. This represents the major Judeo-Christian contribution to modern medicine. Christianity was slow to impact the substance of medicine because church dogma in the early Christian era interfered with scientific discoveries. In the second century, Galen was confined to doing animal dissections in his scientific investigation of human anatomy by the church’s prohibition of human vivisection. It was not until the start of the modern era that a Christian-based conviction of the intelligent design behind the human body led to the scientific studies which were foundational to modern medical science. Thinking Biblically My approach to a biblical basis for medicine is based on how I view the role of Scripture in our lives. For this, I look to what the Bible claims for itself. In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, we read, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work” (ESV). The Bible thus provides us with the principles necessary to successful living. That does not imply it gives all straightforward answers, but it does give us the foundation we need to make right choices. Indeed, when we spend time in the Scripture, we should not only be reading words but listening t