Cure for Moral Cancer

By Smith

This book describes the unique Christian cure for the moral illness that has crippled mankind throughout history and still runs rampant today. It examines this problem identified by all major religions and philosophies of the world. Then follows the detailed description of the proven and fully available (though sometimes unpleasant) cure. Best of all, it discusses the anti-toxin to prevent re-infection!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 17, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483681740

Smith

Smith was born in 1928 into the family of a Methodist Episcopal pastor. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Asbury University and Master of Divinity degree from Vanderbilt University. He served more than 45 years as an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church, including special appointments in the Far East and Pacific islands. He also served with a dedicated group to advance Christian education in mainland China. Still studying and active in ministry, he currently serves as teaching pastor on a church staff, leads two businessmen’s Bible study groups and preaches. He is married to the same girl for more than 60 years and they have raised their family to deeply love and serve The Lord Jesus Christ. It is no accident that his name is missing here: the fundamental thesis of the text demands that this work and any good result from it be credited to the Glory of God and not the exercise of a man.

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Copyright © 2013 by Smith.

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4836-8173-3

                   Softcover                                 978-1-4836-8172-6

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4836-8174-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 09/10/2013

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Contents

INTRODUCTION

Chapter One       ALL OVER THE WORLD

Chapter Two       FROM CREATION UNTIL THE ¹st CHRISTMAS

Chapter Three       THE 2000 YEARS SINCE HIS BIRTH

Chapter Four       VOICES IN HISTORY

Chapter Five       THE CURE—PART ONE

Chapter Six       THE CURE—PART TWO

Chapter Seven       STAYING HEALTHY

CONCLUSION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the memory of two men. Both of them lived lives that were consistent and complimentary to the cure.

My father left home and employment to study for ordination in Christian ministry. He became a great spokesman for the Faith. A fellow pastor described him as the greatest preacher I ever heard. He, like his father-in-law, was a man of frequent and intense intercessory prayer.

My brother served in the U.S. Army in France and Germany. He later served as an Air Force chaplain in California, Colorado, Okinawa, and Pakistan. Following retirement, he volunteered for Christian missionary service in China. Many letters from China express love and appreciation from those who converted to the Christian faith during his work there.

INTRODUCTION

There is convincing evidence of very good news for a world that continues to have some serious, even threatening problems.

Can you imagine the celebration were a cure for cancer to be found? For every type of cancer?

Imagine the elation! The ecstatic joy and relief would only be tempered by the sadness of those who would wish it had been discovered sooner so that their parent or sibling or child might have been spared. There would be a significant celebration if a cure and preventive were found for Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis or any other of the devastating physical maladies that prey upon human life.

The truth is that there’s a pervasive and far more destructive plague than those just named; however, a powerful, tested and proven cure is freely available.

There is a cure at hand for this greatest single ailment—a cure that is both available and affordable, though some part of it is admittedly unpleasant. This destructive illness has infected the human race throughout history, and there is documented evidence that it is present in epidemic proportions in the twenty-first century. Everyone succumbs even though, for some, the symptoms may remain hidden with only occasional eruptions. Every civilization and every society has been aware of this and has identified it. It has known no geographic, racial, social, or economic boundaries. From the most primitive and remote person to the most powerful and affluent person living today, it has spread its curse for generations and is as devastating today as when it first appeared centuries ago.

But, and far more important, there is a cure—not just in theory, but in fact. It is not mysterious or elusive. Its components are available in virtually every nation and region of the world. It has been thoroughly tested and proven to be completely effective.

Why, then, was this plague not long ago eliminated from the planet? Because many who know that they are ill attempt to mask the symptoms. Many more are unaware that they are carriers, while more than a few enjoy and even welcome the infection—as strange as that may sound.

Here follows a look at the affliction, its history, symptoms, and effects—and best of all, its cure.

There is a cure! This is not a manufactured scenario. It is not a secret solution to an imaginary problem. There is a serious problem, and there is a true answer.

Chapter One

ALL OVER THE WORLD

The greatest single cause of human suffering and destruction by far is known by several different English names. It is the generating force behind every war, every murder, every lie, every theft, and every act of adultery. It provided the energy for those who destroyed the Twin Towers in New York City on 9/11/2001. It is the ultimate source of the dangerous tensions between China and Russia and the United States. It drives the stubborn clinging to power in Syria, in Lebanon, and in Iran. It is the generating force behind a strangling impasse in the United States Congress.

This infection has created yet another international crisis at the beginning of the twenty-first century. It causes suffering and distress beyond calculation all over the world. It is not a new emerging disease. It is as old as human life on planet earth. And, it is clearly an epidemic.

For several years The Christian Science Monitor has posted an article each December showing the results of Transparency International’s study of corruption in government and political leadership around the world. The latest findings give an unsettling description of one form of this disease and its continued spread. Covering 176 countries of the world, it is a depressing description of the corruption, bribery, nepotism, and tax evasion in Asia, Europe, South America, Africa, North America, and the Arab world.¹ In fact, the 2012 survey results in a tie among three countries for the top spot as most corrupt—an incredibly unenviable title. No part of the world is immune.

In every instance and without exception, there is a moral infection that lies at the root of the problem. The definition of ‘the root’ is very important, and ‘moral infection’ may have a very broad meaning. The terms used may either open or close the possibility of cure.

Jewish writings have more than a half dozen different names for the same basic virus. Christian writings have at least ten different titles for the various forms of this disease. Some common names for it are evil, wrongdoing, moral violation, wickedness, and sin. But those terms, even with their negative connotations, are simply much too passable today except when applied to some clearly distasteful or harmful actions or attitudes. For many, especially we who claim the label ‘Christian’, these terms are considered to apply primarily to people who are not as sensitive or disciplined as we. For many of us, these words are not nearly as threatening as they were originally meant to be because we have chosen to consciously disapprove of and avoid the things that we recognize to be morally wrong. Then, too, think of your own reaction whenever you encounter one of these words: do you immediately think in religious terms of some patently wrong act while seldom going deeper to contemplate the root or the cause?

There are, in fact, much more descriptive names that are more revealing, particularly for those who are quite familiar with the language of the Christian faith. Although these other words may unsettle or discomfort an honest and thinking person, they need to be consistently used in place of the ones previously mentioned (evil, moral violation, sin, etc.). It would be most useful for honest self-appraisal and understanding to use these more explicit names: self-centeredness, self-preoccupation, self-elevation, and selfishness—SELF in all of its exaggerated and indulgent forms.

A great array of Christian writers from varying theological persuasions spanning many centuries have agreed on this one thing. And, they have used very nearly the same words as Saint Augustine, Martin Luther and John Wesley. All of them stated that the love of self is the root of ALL sin. The more recent theologian Paul Tillich wrote that self-elevation is sin in its total form.²

This self-absorption, the infected self, has destroyed more people than cancer or AIDS, has caused more suffering than polio or leprosy, and has resulted in more deaths than smallpox or the black plague. In fact, it has caused more human destruction than all of those combined. It can be found as the principle cause behind every war. Its infection caused a major financial crisis in the world’s greatest super-power at the end of the twentieth century, continuing into the twenty-first. It has severely curtailed efforts to relieve poverty and serious illness. It has throttled efforts to safeguard the environment. It has been found to be the primary cause of crime, drug abuse, marriage failure, and a wide range of other social and personal problems. It is wide spread among attorneys, farmers, medical doctors, truck drivers, clergymen, housewives, political office holders, scientists, teachers, and business executives, to name just a few.

All of the major thought systems of the world concerned with right and wrong, good and evil have recognized and addressed this problem. That fact should not be surprising if the Biblical assertion is correct: He gives light to every person that comes into the world (John 1:9), ‘light’ meaning insight, basic understanding, or perception of those things that are of greatest importance. This light has enabled people all over the world and in every society to recognize this evil root. Karl Menninger wrote, "The goal of all of the great historic religions can be summarized as being the overcoming of one’s self-love."³

Taoism/Daoism stresses the basic and essential importance of selflessness, placing a premium on humility and submission. This was not simply a ploy designed to provide support for its leaders: it was a display of deep insight into what makes human life on this planet work well—an attempt to identify and eliminate what makes human life malfunction.⁴ But the pressing question is, do the disciplines of humility and submission really provide an effective cure? They may suppress and restrain undesirable symptoms of the virus, but what about a true cure? And does the Christian faith provide a genuine cure, or does it only serve as a pain suppressant or a cosmetic treatment?

Buddhism has, through the centuries, set forth its fundamental doctrine of ‘no-self’ and reinforced it by having its people bow and kneel and prostrate themselves. There is this Buddhist proverb: Pluck out the self as with the hand you pluck out the autumn water lily, and you will set your heart on the perfect path of peace. To pluck it out, if possible, might bring peace, but it would do enormous damage to the individual and his or her proper sense of self-esteem which is so essential to human life. Buddhism teaches its followers it is crucial to overcome belief in oneself with the goal of anatta, meaning ‘no self’. The Buddha taught that everything that exists is subject to three things: change, suffering, and anatta—the fact of our own nothingness. The root cause of suffering is the grasping that has been placed in us all, this continuous striving to build up the sense of ‘I’ within us. We must begin to let go of our obsession with ‘I,’ ‘me,’ ‘mine.’⁵ The aim is to get rid of the ego by insight into the objective non-existence of a self. The problem is very clearly identified, although the solution is in marked contrast to the Christian offer of a cure in which the self remains a priceless creation of God, to be refined and made beautiful and useful. In the Christian scriptures,