This is part three of a five part review of The Bible Cure. While the first post identified some positive elements of the Bible Cure, it also noted a heavy theme of revelation throughout the book — a revelation that seems to come directly from God and the Holy Spirit. This led us to examine if The Bible Cure was without error — for if it was from God (“His Bible cure”) — it should be accurate. Part two found that there was error in Dr. Cherry’s Bible cure, noting that Dr. Cherry relies more on modern science (of 1998) than the Bible. The review also noted that The Bible Cure contains inconsistencies and contradictions. In addition, Dr. Cherry misapplies Leviticus 3:17 — advocating the elimination of foods God has created for us to enjoy. But that is not the only Scripture Dr. Cherry meddles with.
Faulty Exegesis.
Throughout the book, Dr. Cherry forces impure interpretation on Scripture passages to support his diet theory. I will share four examples: Job 1:10; Mark 11:23-24; Matthew 11:12; and Isaiah 53:5.
Job 1:10
In Job 1:10, Satan speaks to God Almighty about Job, complaining that he is unable to harm him: “Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.”
Of this verse, Dr. Cherry says, “When we are disobedient or ignorant of God’s will for our lives, we can remove ourselves from God’s hand of protection. Then we become vulnerable to the devil’s attacks.” He then refers to the disobedience of eating unhealthy foods as a cause for these satanic attacks (38). This sounds very similar to what Job’s friends said to Job when he became ill – when it had nothing to do with Job’s disobedience. To one of Job’s “friends” God says, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has” (Job 42:7).
While God does set a hedge about His children, He alone has the power to remove it or not. If He removes it, He does so for His own purposes — just as with Job. To trouble the waters more, Dr. Cherry, later claims this hedge spoken of in Job is our immune system (93-94).
Mark 11:23-24
The next verse Dr. Cherry picks out of context is Mark 11:23-24:
“Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.”
The above verse is used as the foundation for principle #4 in Dr. Cherry’s step-by-step Bible cure. He writes: “Now we are ready to speak to the mountain. Instead of just praying, petitioning, and testing, we must go further in our walk with God. Jesus taught us to speak to our mountain and command that illness to be removed” (45).
But has Jesus really taught us to “speak to our mountain and command that illness to be removed”? If so, one might wonder why Jesus never told Paul that the problem with the “thorn in his flesh” was due to a speech impediment. One might also wonder why James instructed the sick person to go to the elders of the church for prayer, without ever mentioning the need to command their illness to leave. Again, one might question if Job could have trumped God and commanded those oozing boils to vanish (rather than scratching them with broken pottery). There is no room in Dr. Cherry’s Bible cure for the providence of God.
Sometimes God allows sickness for our good and His glory. Sometimes suffering through illness is “necessary” for the refining of our faith (1 Peter 1:6). Sometimes God’s grace must be sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9). Sometimes God says, “Have you considered my servant Job?” (Job 1:8). Unfortunately, Dr. Cherry ignores the principle of God’s mysterious ways throughout his entire book. We cannot cherry pick our verses. We must seek the whole counsel of God — which includes submission to His divine providence. When speaking of Mark 11:23-24, Dr. Cherry fails to recognize, as did reformer John Calvin, that God does not “give loose rein to the wishes of men.” Calvin writes:
If it be objected, that those prayers are never heard, that mountains should be thrown into the sea, the answer is easy. Christ does not give a loose rein to the wishes of men, that they should desire any thing at their pleasure, when he places prayer after the rule of faith; for in this way the Spirit must of necessity hold all our affections by the bridle of the word of God, and bring them into obedience. Christ demands a firm and undoubting confidence of obtaining an answer; and whence does the human mind obtain that confidence but from the word of God? We now see then that Christ promises nothing to his disciples, unless they keep themselves within the limits of the good pleasure of God. [1]
Dr. Cherry lacks the wisdom of the full counsel of God in using Mark 11:23-24 as a foundational verse for his Bible Cure. In so doing, he leaves no room for living “within the limits of the good pleasure of God,” resigned to illness if that is God’s plan and purpose (as it was for Job and Paul).
Matthew 11:12
Next, Dr. Cherry cites Matthew 11:12 as the foundation for principle #6 of his Bible cure.
Matthew 11:12 says: “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.” Dr. Cherry sees this verse as a call for sick Christians to be violent against the schemes of the devil who “has stolen what should be ours,” namely our health. Therefore he says, “We must violently take it back.” The way to do this is to declare by faith: “No, devil! In Jesus’ name, I refuse to accept this disease in my body. In Jesus’ name I command this affliction to flee….I have been healed by the stripes, by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ name I rebuke this sickness.”
Again, Dr. Cherry fails to understand that God is sovereign over illness. Satan is powerless to do anything to a Christian without God’s full permission. In addition, God has never called us to speak to the devil. Resist him, yes. Rebuke him, no. In fact the archangel Michael would not dare to rebuke the devil. The book of Jude records: “But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!'”
The fullness of this misapplication and misunderstanding manifests itself in Chapter 4 (Records of Healings Through the Bible Cure). There “Mrs. P., a sweet lady in her sixties” was suffering stomach cancer. Cherry writes, “I had the strong impression that God wanted to heal this lady, but I sensed there was a strong hinderance…interfering with…healing.” But after some testing, God “spoke to” Dr. Cherry, “revealing” why she could not receive her healing. She was not “violent” enough to fight the disease. A few months later Mrs. P. died. But it wasn’t the doctors fault — he had the cure. It was Mrs. P. who was not violent enough to receive it (65-66).
Isaiah 53:5
The final misapplication of Scripture (that I will discuss) was quoted above: “I have been healed by the stripes, by the shed blood of Jesus Christ.” While it is true that one day all our sicknesses and troubles will be at best forgotten and at worst only a sweet memory of God’s love for us, the death of Christ is not a promise of physical healing.
Yes, Christ is the Great Physician. Yes God cares about those who are suffering. Yes, God has the absolute power to heal and to destroy. There is none who can question Him. None who can thwart His plans (Job 42:2). But the healing promise given in Isaiah 53:5 (with his stripes we are healed) is a reference to the forgiveness of our sins: spiritual healing. Peter understood this and explained exactly what Isaiah meant: “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24). Notice the word “for” before the words “by His wounds you were healed.” It refers back to the stripes (wounds) Christ received on the cross to bear our sin so we could live righteously before God. Christ suffered death — so we could live for Him forever. His stripes undid the curse of sin and death that led to eternal suffering. Now in Christ, by His stripes, we can be healed of the sin that separates us from God.
The above thoughts lead to another fatal flaw in this book: the use of mysticism. I suspect an astute reader has already made that note, so I will only share the most dangerous of all in detail — and the rest in recap. But that will have to be in another post, as I have exceeded my number of allotted words (I must be self-disciplined).
Part four of my review of The Bible Cure will address in more detail the dangerous elements of mysticism found in the book.
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[1] Calvin, Harmony of the Gospels
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Reformed Health exists so you can take control of your own health and be all that God has designed you to be. The information shared on Reformed Health is the sole opinion of the author and is not meant to diagnose or treat any illness. None or our claims have been evaluated by the FDA or any other government organization. We are not medical doctors, nor do we have any medical doctors on staff. If you are having a health emergency, please call 911, contact your doctor, or visit a local emergency room. Always consult your doctor before engaging in any new exercise regime.
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Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.
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© 2017 Mischelle Sandowich
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