Commentary on "Celebrating Spiritual and Physical Fitness"

GABRIEL PROKSCH

 

Day 6: Thursday, April 15, 2010

 

 Overview

Continuing yesterday’s theme, the message for today goes to the specifics of physical exercise. It presents in a balanced and useful way the necessity for adjusting exercise in three aspects: frequency, intensity, and duration. The benefits are multiple: weight loss, reducing high blood pressure, decreased incidence of Type 2 diabetes, improvement in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, less incidence of depression, and a sense of well-being.

 

Observations

There is no need to improve the content of this day’s lesson; the material is condensed and well-packed for a day. At the end Psalm 139:13-15 is quoted as proof of the fact that our creation is a miracle, and this miracle makes people responsible for the way they take care of their bodies.

Using Psalm 139 as the biblical rationale for taking care of the body through physical exercise raises the legitimate question about how consistent the Adventists church is in the application of this text. Implicit in the argument about the miracle of creation expressed in Psalm 139 is the view that the fetus is truly a human person, created after God’s image in the wombprior to birth. The big question at this point is: if the Adventists are so careful in advocating physical exercise because of this miracle happening in the womb, why they are careless in leaving the decision for abortion, for the killing of this human life, to the pregnant mother? Why has the Adventist church not explicitly taken a decisive position that abortion is murder, if they are concerned with the responsibility this miracle of creation in the womb brings to the persons involved in it?

If the life is stopped at that initial moment, concern with physical exercise and care for the body afterward is futile. There remains no body to be taken care of if abortion is not rejected strongly, and even some Adventist hospitals are engaged in performing abortions. Are the Adventist workers hired by these hospitals supposed to study the Sabbath School Quarterly and follow the Adventist health reform? Is the pro-life position part of this health reform or not? Why are Christians who hold, according to Adventism, supposedly “pagan” views about soul and body dedicated pro-life advocates, while Adventists show unusual restraint at this point? Who are truly dedicated to the body’s well being, pro-life advocates or those who are not willing to speak about abortion as being murder?

Let the reader decide if his daily physical exercise counts more in God’s eyes as preservation of creation than does the preservation of the lives that would be saved if abortion is called after its proper name.

 

Summary

1. Creation and life, as Psalm 139 declare, is a divine miracle.
2. The lesson deals well with the subject and the Psalm.
3. There is a glaring concern, however. If creation is a divine miracle, why are Adventists not pro-life?
4. Focus on physical health is important, but the lack of a pro-life stance in Adventism belies their stated concern.
5. The miracle of life in the womb is not respected in the same way as is the life of a functioning adult.
6. Does exercise count more in God’s eyes than does the life of the unborn?

 

GO TO DAY 7

 

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