METHODS FOR RESTRAINING AND CURING SPIRITUAL AND NATURAL DISEASES.
As there is a correspondence between the natural and spiritual causes of
disease, so there must be a correspondence between the methods of
restraining and curing natural and spiritual diseases.
First: Spiritual diseases or evils are restrained by punishments which, by
force, as it were, counteract the inclination to do evil; corresponding to
this method we have the Antipathic method of restraining natural diseases,
which is one of the prevailing methods; for instance, for constipation
cathartics are given, for a diarrhoea astringents, and opiates are given to
forcibly relieve or restrain the symptoms of disease. Every one can but see
that such remedies for the cure of natural diseases, like punishments for
the cure of spiritual diseases or evils, are but palliative; for the
reaction, if reaction ensue, is not in the right direction. It is true that
a cure sometimes results in spite of the treatment, especially in transient
cases, the vital forces restoring health during the temporary restraint of
the diseased action; but in many cases the constipation is only aggravated
by cathartics, and diarrhoeas are not benefited by astringents; and the
evil man often becomes more vicious after punishment.
Second: Spiritual evils are often restrained by exciting one passion to
restrain evil acts in another direction; for instance, acquisitiveness and
vanity are often excited to restrain evil men from evil acts, which might
result from hatred and a desire for revenge, thus calling off the attention
from the prevailing evil inclination. Corresponding to this method of
restraining spiritual diseases we have the Allopathic method of restraining
diseased action in one organ by exciting diseased action in another organ
or part, as is done when a cathartic is given for disease of the head or
lungs, or when a blister is applied to the skin in case of internal
diseased action; thus, as it were, calling off the attention of the vital
forces from the diseased structures, and thus palliative relief is often
obtained in natural as in spiritual diseases.
Third: Either from afflictions, suffering, disappointments, or from
voluntarily hearkening to the truth, a man begins to feel a desire to
change his life, and looking to the Lord he repents and resolves to obey
the Divine Commandments by shunning evils as sins against God. But when he
commences to do this, evil spirits flow into his mind and tempt him to
again do evil acts; if the temptations are too strong he falls, but he may
fall to rise again; he will either do this by renewing his resolution to
overcome the evil inclination, or he will fall to rise no more, and keep on
in his old course of life, perhaps worse than before. Thoughts come before
actions; if a man, when tempted to do evil, resists the thoughts of doing
the evil acts, every one can see that he is striking a blow at the
perverted affection through which he has been tempted to do evil;
consequently the step toward a cure is far more radical and permanent than
it would have been if he had done the evil act.
Children and the young should be taught that to violate the Divine
Commandments is a sin against God, and that they should resist their
hereditary or acquired inclination to speak wrong words or do evil acts the
moment such inclinations are manifested in their thoughts, which is far
better than to allow them to move them to do evil acts. The cure of
spiritual diseases by the resisting of temptation is a genuine method of
cure. Corresponding with this for the treatment of natural diseases, we
have their treatment by the use of Homoeopathic remedies. Only spirits of a
similar inclination can tempt a man to do an evil act and thus manifest his
unsubdued inclination to him, which enables him to see and overcome the
inclination by resisting it. So, on the natural plane, it is only a
poisonous substance or remedy, which is capable of causing a similar
disease to the one existing, which can manifest the disease to the vital
forces and thus enable them to react against the disease. But if the dose
of the remedy given is too large it will aggravate the disease, as a
cathartic dose of a cathartic remedy will aggravate a diarrhoea; but the
vital forces may react and overcome the disease, or they may not, and the
disease continue even worse than before. It is the reaction of the vital
forces that overcomes the diseased action and effects the cure, and not the
remedy, any more than it is the evil spirit that tempts man that overcomes
his spiritual evils during regeneration. As it is not necessary that the
temptation should be so strong as to make a man take the first step toward
performing an evil act, to enable him to resist it if he will the moment
the inclination is seen in his thoughts, so it is not necessary that a dose
of a Homoeopathic remedy should be so strong as to aggravate the natural
diseased action in the slightest degree before it can be seen by the vital
forces, and a reaction follow. The size of the dose must be determined by
experience; but we know that its effects need only to equal the effects of
temptations which proceed no further than the thought of doing evil before
reaction may follow, therefore we can form no conception of the minuteness
of the dose which may be sufficient for a cure to follow.
But if a man would be restored to spiritual health by getting rid of his
hereditary and acquired inclinations to do evil, he must acknowledge the
Lord, diligently search His Word, and be willing to see and obey His
commandments, which are the laws of spiritual health and life, and must be
obeyed conscientiously, in intention, thought, word, and deed, if health is
to be restored; otherwise, punishment, hope of reward, and temptations can
only afford palliative relief at best. So in regard to natural diseases. If
a man would be restored to physical health by getting rid of his hereditary
and acquired inclinations to diseases, he must recognize that the laws of
nature are the laws established for his good by the Lord, and he must
diligently study the laws pertaining to health and life, and be willing to
see and obey those laws as to sunlight, air, exercise, clothing, and in
eating and drinking, etc., if he would be restored to health; otherwise,
antipathic, allopathic, and even homoeopathic remedies will prove only
palliative at best. If we expect to be well, spiritually or naturally, we
must strive to know and obey the laws of health and life.
Temptations by evil spirits permitted and controlled by the Lord for the
sake of removing many spiritual evils, and a corresponding action of
homoeopathic remedies administered by a skillful hand, for the sake of
removing natural diseases, are curative methods which belong to the New
Jerusalem Dispensation, now descending from God out of heaven, making all
things new--the Church of the future.