Table Summary Of Christ's Healing Miracles

22. Healing of Malchus' Ear

Mark 14:47; Luke 22:50-51; John 18:10:

47 And one of them that stood by drew a sword, and smote a servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear. (Mark 14)

50 And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. 
51 And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him. (Luke 22)

10 Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. (John 18)

This account seems to be the only one covering body part replacement. In saying that Jesus healed the servant it is not entirely clear whether He placed the original ear and it became perfectly re-attached back from whence it came or whether Jesus facilitated the growth of a perfect new ear in the place of the old one. Either way this piece of doctoring would be miraculous today never mind two thousand years ago. Interestingly this did not seem to affect the high priest or his party's views of their prospective treatment of Jesus since He was taken away regardless. Moreover Malchus challenged Peter afterwards; it would seem that his kinship to the high priest came before his being at the receiving end of Jesus' miracle cure:

26 One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with him? (John 18)

Perhaps the previous example of only one in ten of the leprous men glorifying God upon their being cured was correct in demonstrating the relatively low approval rating Jesus actually received at the hands of the cured. Perhaps only 10% of those ones will be saved into the Kingdom? However, what we are seeing in these two scriptures are examples of ingratitude rather than of faith since the patients would have required faith in God to enable them to benefit from from His gifts. So ingratitude towards Jesus albeit tempered with a faith in the one true God Jehovah (as He was at that time) may well have been enough for these ones to have gained their places in the Kingdom to come. 

Strangely, although the account of the ear removal is written in three of the gospels, it is only in Luke that we have the healing also mentioned. Also Mark does not specify which ear it was whereas the other two gospels specify it as Malchus' right ear. These points will no doubt have some coded greater meaning which is beyond the knowledge of the writer at this time. 

21. Healing Bartimaeus of blindness

(Mark 10:46-52):
 
46 And they came into Jer'i•cho. But as he and his disciples and a considerable crowd were going out of Jer'i•cho, Bar•ti•mae'us (the son of Ti•mae'us), a blind beggar, was sitting beside the road. 
47 When he heard that it was Jesus the Naz•a•rene', he started shouting and saying: "Son of David, Jesus, have mercy on me!" 
48 At this many began sternly telling him to be silent; but he kept shouting that much more: "Son of David, have mercy on me!" 
49 So Jesus stopped and said: "CALL him." And they called the blind man, saying to him: "Take courage, get up, he is calling you." 
50 Throwing off his outer garment, he leaped to his feet and went to Jesus. 
51 And in answer to him Jesus said: "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man said to him: "Rab•bo'ni, let me recover sight." 
52 And Jesus said to him: "Go, your faith has made you well." And immediately he recovered sight, and he began to follow him on the road. (Mark 10)

Another case of blindness, this time cured in one attempt without the use of Jesus' spit but by Bartimaeus' own faith.

20. Raising of Lazarus

(John 11:1-44):

1 Now there was a certain man sick, Laz'a•rus of Beth'a•ny, of the village of Mary and of Martha her sister. 
2 It was, in fact, the Mary that greased the Lord with perfumed oil and wiped his feet dry with her hair, whose brother Laz'a•rus was sick. 
3 Therefore his sisters dispatched word to him, saying: "Lord, see! the one for whom you have affection is sick." 
4 But when Jesus heard it he said: "This sickness is not with death as its object, but is for the glory of God, in order that the Son of God may be glorified through it." 
5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Laz'a•rus. 
6 However, when he heard that he was sick, then he actually remained two days in the place where he was. 
7 Then after this he said to the disciples: "Let us go into Ju•de'a again." 
8 The disciples said to him: "Rabbi, just lately the Ju•de'ans were seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?" 
9 Jesus answered: "There are twelve hours of daylight, are there not? If anyone walks in daylight he does not bump against anything, because he sees the light of this world. 
10 But if anyone walks in the night, he bumps against something, because the light is not in him."11 He said these things, and after this he said to them: "Laz'a•rus our friend has gone to rest, but I am journeying there to awaken him from sleep." 
12 Therefore the disciples said to him: "Lord, if he has gone to rest, he will get well." 
13 Jesus had spoken, however, about his death. But they imagined he was speaking about taking rest in sleep. 
14 At that time, therefore, Jesus said to them outspokenly: "Laz'a•rus has died, 
15 and I rejoice on YOUR account that I was not there, in order for YOU to believe. But let us go to him." 
16 Therefore Thomas, who was called The Twin, said to his fellow disciples: "Let us also go, that we may die with him." 
17 Consequently when Jesus arrived, he found he had already been four days in the memorial tomb. 
18 Now Beth'a•ny was near Jerusalem at a distance of about two miles. 
19 Accordingly many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary in order to console them concerning their brother. 
20 Therefore Martha, when she heard that Jesus was coming, met him; but Mary kept sitting at home. 
21 Martha therefore said to Jesus: "Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died. 
22 And yet at present I know that as many things as you ask God for, God will give you." 
23 Jesus said to her: "Your brother will rise." 
24 Martha said to him: "I know he will rise in the resurrection on the last day." 
25 Jesus said to her: "I am the resurrection and the life. He that exercises faith in me, even though he dies, will come to life; 
26 and everyone that is living and exercises faith in me will never die at all. Do you believe this?"27 She said to him: "Yes, Lord; I have believed that you are the Christ the Son of God, the One coming into the world." 
28 And when she had said this, she went off and called Mary her sister, saying secretly: "The Teacher is present and is calling you." 
29 The latter, when she heard this, got up quickly and was on her way to him. 
30 Jesus had not yet, in fact, come into the village, but he was still in the place where Martha met him. 
31 Therefore the Jews that were with her in the house and that were consoling her, on seeing Mary rise quickly and go out, followed her, supposing that she was going to the memorial tomb to weep there. 
32 And so Mary, when she arrived where Jesus was and caught sight of him, fell at his feet, saying to him: "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." 
33 Jesus, therefore, when he saw her weeping and the Jews that came with her weeping, groaned in the spirit and became troubled; 
34 and he said: "Where have YOU laid him?" They said to him: "Lord, come and see." 
35 Jesus gave way to tears. 
36 Therefore the Jews began to say: "See, what affection he used to have for him!" 
37 But some of them said: "Was not this [man] that opened the eyes of the blind man able to prevent this one from dying?" 
38 Hence Jesus, after groaning again within himself, came to the memorial tomb. It was, in fact, a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 
39 Jesus said: "TAKE the stone away." Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to him: "Lord, by now he must smell, for it is four days." 
40 Jesus said to her: "Did I not tell you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?"

41 Therefore they took the stone away. Now Jesus raised his eyes heavenward and said: "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 
42 True, I knew that you always hear me; but on account of the crowd standing around I spoke, in order that they might believe that you sent me forth." 
43 And when he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice: "Laz'a•rus, come on out!" 44The [man] that had been dead came out with his feet and hands bound with wrappings, and his countenance was bound about with a cloth. Jesus said to them: "Loose him and let him go." (John 11)

This account is again another salesman's tactic. It appears that Jesus deliberately stayed in his present location for two further days rather than leave immediately to see his sick friend Lazarus. Jesus even explains that to us; He wanted Lazarus to die so that He could resurrect him as a witness to God's glory. This sounds incredibly cold and calculating to us mere mortals, but knowing the full picture should open our eyes as to Jesus' modus operandi. Despite the human suffering surrounding Lazarus' death, Jesus knew him only to be ‘asleep' in an angelic body. Jesus' humanity did, however, show itself when He was with Lazarus' family before the resurrection.

All the comments associated with the previous example of resurrection apply here also.

19. Healing 10 lepers

(Luke 17:11-19): 

11 And while he was going to Jerusalem he was passing through the midst of Sa•mar'i•a and Gal'i•lee. 
12 And as he was entering into a certain village ten leprous men met him, but they stood up afar off. 
13 And they raised their voices and said: "Jesus, Instructor, have mercy on us!" 
14 And when he got sight of them he said to them: "Go and show yourselves to the priests." Then as they were going off their cleansing occurred. 
15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice. 
16 And he fell upon his face at [Jesus'] feet, thanking him; furthermore, he was a Sa•mar'i•tan. 
17 In reply Jesus said: "The ten were cleansed, were they not? Where, then, are the other nine? 
18 Were none found that turned back to give glory to God but this man of another nation?" 
19 And he said to him: "Rise and be on your way; your faith has made you well." (Luke 17)

This is another example of an instant cure for leprosy. But why ten men divided into one and nine? This surely cannot indicate that only 10% of those cured during Jesus' ministry gave thanks to God? Perhaps this item was witnessed and recorded for the Sons of Israel to ruminate upon.

18. Healing a man with dropsy

(Luke 14:1-6):

1 And on an occasion when he went into the house of a certain one of the rulers of the Pharisees on the sabbath to eat a meal, they were closely watching him. 
2 And, look! there was before him a certain man who had dropsy. 
3 So in response Jesus spoke to those versed in the Law and to the Pharisees, saying: "Is it lawful on the sabbath to cure or not?" 
4 But they kept silent. With that he took hold of [the man], healed him and sent [him] away. 
5 And he said to them: "Who of YOU, if his son or bull falls into a well, will not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?" 
6 And they were not able to answer back on these things. (Luke 14)

The form or placement of the oedema in this case of dropsy is not specified so we are left unclear as to the precise cause leading to the restriction in the blood or lymph circulation. Once again we must believe that the provision of an aging but non-Adamic body will immediately relieve the patient of the oedema together with its root cause with the enhancement to the immune system to remove the growth itself and the temporary and local removal of the p21 gene to enable the surrounding tissue to heal properly. Since this account seems to be directed at the moral question Jesus aimed at the Pharisees rather than the patient perhaps the fact that this individual had dropsy rather than any other disease is not especially relevant?

17. Healing a woman with an 18 year infirmity

(Luke 13:10-13):

10 And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath.
11 And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. 
12 And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.
13 And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. (Luke 13)

At first sight this also looks like a case of demon possession but its expulsion as such is not made clear in that Jesus is not explicitly said to have expelled a demon to cure the woman. I am now beginning to wonder that, since demonic spirits have the ability to transfer their spiritual maladies to the soul they are possessing, is that not also the case for men's spirits? Are some sicknesses and infirmities of the body directly caused by the imperfections in the possessing human spirit, i.e. psychosomatic. After all it is likely that mental illness can stem from the spirit or a defective brain. This is the stuff of another paper I think!

16. Healing a blind and mute demoniac

(Matthew 12:22, Luke 11:14)


22 Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. (Matthew 12)

14 And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered. (Luke 11)

Again this is a case of the casting out of a blind/mute demon and is not really in the same category as curing a physically sick or dead human soul.

The Second Phase of the Cure

BRITISH scientists have developed the world's first stem cell therapy to cure the most common cause of blindness. Surgeons predict it will become a routine, one-hour procedure that will be generally available in six or seven years' time. The treatment involves replacing a layer of degenerated cells with new ones created from embryonic stem cells. It was pioneered by scientists and surgeons from the Institute of Ophthalmology at University College London and Moorfields eye hospital. 

The treatment will tackle age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of blindness. It affects more than 500,000 Britons and the number is forecast to increase significantly as people live longer. The disease involves the effective loss of eye cells. AMD affects the macula, the part of the eye that allows us to see fine detail. People with advanced dry-type AMD (the most common form), have a breakdown of light-sensitive cells and supporting tissue in the central retinal area. This breakdown causes a blurred spot in the centre of their vision. Over time, the blurred spot may get bigger and darker, taking out more of the central vision. They may have difficulty reading or recognizing faces until they are very close to the object being viewed. Therefore people would look like walking trees from a distance so this does sound like the probable ailment that required Jesus' second phase cure. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a disease associated with aging that gradually destroys sharp, central vision. Central vision is needed for seeing objects clearly and for common daily tasks such as reading and driving. 

Under the new treatment, embryonic stem cells are transformed into replicas of the missing cells. They are then placed on an artificial membrane which is inserted in the back of the retina. Embryonic stem cells have the ability to develop into all types of body tissue. Their use is controversial, however, because it involves the destruction of human embryos. Whilst I am not condoning this treatment from a moral point of view (LW views on the human embryo would probably not condemn it anyway - see LW web-site ref. [J13] Abortion) such destruction would not have been necessary in Jesus' version of this cure; I am merely demonstrating the medical success of such treatment.

So here we have an Adamic aging process related to the loss of function of photoreceptors in the central retinal area. Whilst this presumably was caused by God's removal of telomerase from the patient's retinal cells, it is not clear to the writer that merely replenising the cells with telomerase would bring dead cells back to life. So the prospective cure from Jesus for their non-Adamic renewal may perhaps have been the removal of the p21 gene which would effect a new growth of cells in the retina. This may then have been the second phase of Jesus' cure for this man's blindness. 

Now in reviewing the overall curing technique of providing a cloned aging non-Adamic body as per our Final Conclusions section above, it looks as if this man had two cloned bodies ready for transportation down to Earth. The first brought the man's DNA back to its correct albeit aging non-Adamic state and therefore still without its telomerase. The second, in addition, removed the p21 gene to enable the instant healing of the retinal cells. I think this proves without doubt that there are two differences between Adamic and non-Adamic human bodies in addition to the non-aging property which would belong to a fully non-Adamic human. Furthermore I believe it was the specific purpose of this scripture, with its curious two-phase cure, to confirm this relatively small difference between our frail Adamic bodies and the perfect non-Adamic souls that we were always meant to be. I should be more than a little interested if the reader considers that he (or she) has a better explanation for such a strange account of the healing abilities of our Lord.

The First Phase of the Cure

Nearly 40 years ago, scientists began exploring the concept of curing genetic diseases by replacing damaged genes with healthy ones. Since then, hundreds of studies have attempted to turn theory into practice, but despite progress in animal models, the goal of successfully reversing genetic disease in humans has been frustratingly elusive. Now, the years of investment in basic and applied science are close to paying off in the form of the first therapy in humans to reverse a form of childhood blindness called Leber congenital amaurosis, or LCA. 

LCA comprises a group of degenerative diseases of the retina, and is the most common cause of congenital blindness in children. It is an autosomal recessive condition: when both parents carry the specific genetic mutation, each child has a 25 percent chance of being affected. Symptoms usually are noticed in early infancy and include loss of vision, light sensitivity, and wobbly eye movement (nystagmus). 

Now the evidence in our scripture could well indicate that this was the main (and first cured) problem for our blind man. Whilst a congenital condition, the LCA child is not always born blind but may develop blindness during his formative years. Consequently in the latter case he will have a recollection of visual images after the onset of blindness. This was why the man was able to distinguish between trees and men even in his blurred vision.

Some 14 or 15 genes in the retina have been found to be associated with the various forms of LCA and it is thought likely to be closer to 30 once all the necessary research has been done. One type of LCA is caused by a mutation in the RPE65 gene, whose function is to process a type of vitamin A needed to keep light-sensing photoreceptor cells - the rods and cones of the retina - in operating order. The disorder is rare, affecting about 2,000 patients per year, but it is untreatable and severe, causing blindness early in life. Currently scientists are setting out to replace the non-functioning gene with one that works - and to restore vision. What they have found was that, starved of the vitamin A factor normally made by RPE65, photoreceptor cells stopped working - but they remained essentially intact. So these cells do not require any p21 gene removal for healing purposes, they only require the gene to be fixed. The correction of a gene mutation sounds like the sort of job requiring Jesus' saliva for a non-Adamic DNA fix does it not?

The following is a quote from one of the doctor's involved in the current research: "The idea of gene transfer therapy", he says, "is not rocket science, it's very simple. We're just treating these patients that are missing this function by supplying a normal copy, a good copy of the gene that they can use.'' "The trick", he says, is "to put it inside the vector (a harmless virus, which does not elicit an immune response, used as the vehicle for the gene replacement) and target it to the right place surgically...The actual injection takes seconds.'' 

Another notable quote from the NEI: "This has a very immediate, sweeping human impact,'' he says, "The magic of this trial, and I think there is magic, is the possibility of restoring visual function.'' One could imagine Jesus making similar comments!

I found the National Eye Institute (NEI) web-site particularly helpful in formulating my understanding of LCA and I recommend it to the interested reader: https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/leber-congenital-amaurosis#inheritance

So that is the story of the first phase of Jesus' two stage cure for this man's blindness. The gene replacement therapy did not affect vision lost as a result of degeneration of photoreceptor cells. Perhaps this latter problem was treated by the second stage of the cure. Let us continue with the potential story of that second stage.

14. Healing a blind man

(Mark 8:22-26) 

22 Now they put in at Beth•sa'i•da. Here people brought him a blind man, and they entreated him to touch him. 
23 And he took the blind man by the hand, brought him outside the village, and, having spit upon his eyes, he laid his hands upon him and began to ask him: "Do you see anything?" 
24 And the man looked up and began saying: "I see men, because I observe what seem to be trees, but they are walking about." 
25 Then he laid his hands again upon the man's eyes, and the man saw clearly, and he was restored, and he was seeing everything distinctly. 
26 So he sent him off home, saying: "But do not enter into the village." (Mark 8)

Now this account is very interesting in that it appears that our Lord required two attempts to fully restore this blind man's sight. The first attempt provided him with what can only be construed as blurred vision and the second then provided him with fully clear sight. The first cure must have fixed the fundamental problem of total lack of sight but a further ‘adjustment' was needed to provide proper and full focus perhaps by adjusting the eye lenses somehow? Interestingly Christ asked the man if he could see after the first ‘treatment' presumably because He knew that a ‘follow-up session' would be required to fine tune the result already achieved in the first treatment. This will need some explanation; if the cure was as those previously considered to be the provision of a non-Adamic body then why would the fine tuning be needed? Also Christ's spit seems to have had some effect in the first treatment for sight restoral but not the second. 

It seems as if there were two distinct problems with this man's sight which Christ cured individually and serially. So it seems perhaps that there are at least two ways in which Jesus heals:

1. A genetic/cellular level problem and/or a boosting of the immune system either of which would require a complete DNA fix. Jesus' spit would have contained digestive enzymes but more particularly would have contained sloughed off cheek cells which would have contained His complete aging non-Adamic DNA sequence. Perhaps this imparts the applicable correct sequence onto that of the patient in a non-Adamic healing process;

2. Healing local broken/damaged tissue through manipulation of p21 gene.

So if we consider this case we could conceive that the curing of the total blindness was a DNA related condition requiring Jesus' saliva. The secondary focussing requirement was, say, a physical retinal muscular problem resolved by a temporary and localised removal of the p21 gene to enable the eye to heal itself through the body's partially restored non-Adamic processes.
This suggests that Jesus was able to provide both a local and a general cure depending on a patient's ailment. Clearly in the case of a resurrection, short of providing a complete replacement body (a possibility we confirmed previously in this paper), the complete revival of all the organs and cellular response units of the immune system would have had to have been repaired as a minimum whereas the solution to a case of dropsy might have been a local removal of telomerase from the tumerous cells (and those alone) with perhaps a dose of p21 gene removal to the surrounding good body cells to aid the swift healing process?

In the previous deaf-mute case two symptoms were cured simultaneously and, given our current view of the use of Jesus' saliva, it would seem that the deaf-mute hearing problem was one requiring physical healing and the causation of the speech impediment was at a cellular level. Both these types of healing would be present as part of a non-Adamic replacement therapy so perhaps the two stage healing process in the account under consideration was to demonstrate this level of detail to us students of God's Word.

Now let us look in some considerable medical detail at the blind man's requiring two different cures for his blindness. A lengthy exercise perhaps but one for which the Holy Spirit is gently screaming at me to study and understand.

13. Healing a deaf man with a speech impediment

(Mark 7:31-37): 

31 Now coming back out of the regions of Tyre he went through Si'don to the sea of Gal'i•lee up through the midst of the regions of De•cap'o•lis. 
32 Here they brought him a man deaf and with a speech impediment, and they entreated him to lay his hand upon him. 
33 And he took him away from the crowd privately and put his fingers into the man's ears and, after spitting, he touched his tongue. 
34 And with a look up into heaven he sighed deeply and said to him: "Eph'pha•tha," that is, "Be opened." 
35 Well, his hearing powers were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he began speaking normally. 
36 With that he charged them not to tell anyone; but the more he would charge them, that much more they would proclaim it. 
37 Indeed, they were being astounded in a most extraordinary way and they said: "He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the speechless speak." (Mark 7)

The first point to make is that this is a different case of deaf-muteness compared with the later account in Mark 9. That latter one is explicitly one of possession so it is reasonable to believe that this case in Mark 7 is a purely physical medical condition. Whilst I believe that deaf-mutism is normally caused either by congenital deafness or early loss of hearing this does not seem to be one of those cases. In fact the man is not actually described as dumb but as having a speech impediment which suggests that he was able to talk albeit not clearly. This condition was no doubt compounded by his deafness. So it would appear from this account that this poor man had physical impairments both with his ears and his tongue. As always in Jesus' healing ministry we find the cure for both conditions to be immediate. The interesting additional point in this case is that the man's normal ability for speech was restored immediately which also confirms that this was not a congenital condition, i.e. he must have been able to hear and speak normally at some earlier time in his life otherwise he would have had to learn his native language prior to being able to speak. Interestingly, if this man had been a genuinely congenital deaf-mute, the immediacy of the cure would not have been evident since the man would not have been able to converse until he had learned the language. Is this a case of our deity deliberately picking a patient for maximum impact on the surrounding crowd? This particularly since He charged them to not tell anyone knowing full well that this is exactly what they would do. This sounds like a very human sales strategy! But I guess if you have a genuine miracle cure that you wish to advertise far and wide then why not? 

Now this is starting to get interesting since, after carrying out a little research on the internet, I think I have been able to diagnose this poor man's ailment. This is quite incredible for a non-medical but faithful man such as myself to achieve since the details in the scriptural account are both cryptic and two thousand years old! I believe this poor chap had a cleft palate with complications as I will now expand upon.

We all start out life with a cleft lip and palate. During normal fetal development between the 6th and 11th weeks of pregnancy, the clefts in the lip and palate fuse together. In babies born with cleft lip or cleft palate, one or both of these splits failed to fuse. A "cleft" means a split or separation; the palate is the "roof" of the mouth. A cleft palate or lip then is a split in the oral (mouth) structure. Oral clefts are one of the most common birth defects. A cleft palate can range from a small malformation that results in minimal problems to a large separation of the palate that interferes with eating, speaking, and even breathing. 

Apparently no-one knows for sure exactly what causes clefts, but most believe they are caused by one or more of three main factors: an inherited characteristic (gene) from one or both parents, environment (poor early pregnancy health or exposure to toxins such as alcohol or cocaine), and genetic syndromes. A syndrome is an abnormality in genes on chromosomes that result in malformations or deformities that form a recognizable pattern. Cleft lip/palate is a part of more than 400 syndromes including Waardenburg, Pierre Robin, and Down syndromes. Approximately 30 percent of cleft deformities are associated with a syndrome, so a thorough medical evaluation and genetic counseling is recommended for cleft patients.

The complications of cleft lip and cleft palate can vary greatly depending on the degree and location of the cleft. They can include the following:

• Ear infections and hearing loss: Any malformation of the upper airway can affect the function of the Eustachian tube and increase the possibility of persistent fluid in the middle ear, which is a primary cause of repeat ear infections. Hearing loss can be a consequence of repeat ear infections and persistent middle ear fluid. Tubes can be inserted in the ear by an otolaryngologist to alleviate fluid build-up and restore hearing.
• Speech and language delays: Normal development of the lips and palate are essential for a child to properly form sounds and speak clearly. Cleft surgery repairs these structures; speech therapy helps with language development.

So now we can understand Christ's cure of this man with a severe cleft palate. Christ's fingers in the patient's ears were enough to remove the p21 gene to enable the healing of the Eustachian tube and the consequent removal of any infection with the enhanced immune system leading to drainage of the fluid build-up thus allowing the man to hear properly again. Christ's spit on the man's tongue corrected the missing chromosome sequence causing the cleft palate thus allowing the man to speak properly again. The fact that this man was instantly able to speak after his cure also implies that his illness was not total from birth since he did not have to learn the language. This would be the case for the cleft palate which caused speech and hearing losses, neither of which would be total from birth.

Now before the medics among you start telling me that these conditions would not be those of a total deaf-mute let me forestall that objection by agreeing with that point. Let me remind the reader that this particular patient was described by scripture as having a speech ‘impediment'; he was not described as mute except by the bystanders after the event. Whilst the ear infections related to a cleft palate are not likely to result in total deafness, the bystanders nonetheless in this case also referred to the patient's unqualified deafness in the overall profile of Christ's healing powers. The point here therefore is that, to all intents and purposes, the patient was as close to being a deaf mute as practically reasonable particularly considering the age in which these events took pace. The bystanders, the real object for Christ's healing miracles, were convinced that He was able to make the deaf hear and the mute speak. This was Christ's, and therefore God's, purpose.

This appears to be a two-phase cure albeit with both results taking place at the same time, i.e. in parallel. Please see the next cure for another more interesting example of this albeit with both results this time taking place serially. As in the next two-phase case I believe Christ's actions were solely for the benefit of today's True Christian Church of the Lords' Witnesses to more fully understand the key differences between Adamic and non-Adamic human bodies and were not actually necessary for the complete replacement of the patient's Adamic body with his non-Adamic cloned version.

12. Healing a 38 year invalid

(John 5:5-17):

5 But a certain man was there who had been in his sickness for thirty-eight years. 
6 Seeing this man lying down, and being aware that he had already been [sick] a long time, Jesus said to him: "Do you want to become sound in health?" 
7 The sick man answered him: "Sir, I do not have a man to put me into the pool when the water is disturbed; but while I am coming another steps down ahead of me." 
8 Jesus said to him: "Get up, pick up your cot and walk." 
9 With that the man immediately became sound in health, and he picked up his cot and began to walk. Now on that day it was a sabbath. 
10 Therefore the Jews began to say to the cured man: "It is Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry the cot." 
11 But he answered them: "The very one that made me sound in health said to me, ‘Pick up your cot and walk.'" 
12 They asked him: "Who is the man that told you, ‘Pick it up and walk'?" 
13 But the healed man did not know who he was, for Jesus had turned aside, there being a crowd in the place. 
14 After these things Jesus found him in the temple and said to him: "See, you have become sound in health. Do not sin anymore, in order that something worse does not happen to you." 
15 The man went away and told the Jews it was Jesus that made him sound in health. 
16 So on this account the Jews went persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things during Sabbath. 
17 But he answered them: "My Father has kept working until now, and I keep working." (John 5)

This one's illness seems to be fairly nondescript except that, whatever this one was suffering from, it left him generally weak and lame. I am certain that the period of illness of thirty eight years will have some greater meaning (currently unknown to the writer) but in the literal meaning at least this indicates the intractability of the illness. Once again the only real medical lesson we can gain from this example is the immediacy of the cure of a lengthy and debilitating illness which again points up to the provision of a non-Adamic upgrade for the patient.

Now Jesus' comment to the man in verse 14 not to sin again is more than a little interesting. Jesus warns him that further sinning will lead to something worse happening to him. If our thinking on the non-Adamic transformation is correct then it will be as if the patient was effectively resurrected from the first death albeit without actually suffering physical death. It is as if the provision of an early non-Adamic body through Christ's healing ministry is the equivalent of being given the same upon resurrection into the Kingdom albeit with the aging factor added in. Having a non-Adamic body the man would not suffer further illness, so what could be worse? The clear answer to this is that further serious sinning would lead to the second death and the man would automatically go straight to Gehenna on judgement day. Presumably under these circumstances there would be no redeeming factors that would be taken into account in these cases. Again Jesus' words support this current understanding of the healing process.

11. Healing a mute demoniac

(Matthew 9:32-33):

32 As they went out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil. 
33 And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake: and the multitudes marvelled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel. (Matthew 9)

Since this is a case of the casting out of a mute demon this is not really in the same category of curing a physically sick or dead human soul so will be discounted in this analysis of physical illnesses and their cures.

10. Healing two blind men

(Matthew 9:27-31):

27 And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. 
28 And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. 
29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. 
30 And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it.
31 But they, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country. (Matthew 9)

As with paralysis there are multifarious causes of blindness. We do not even know if the form of blindness suffered by each of the two men was the same. We can only assume that the lack of detail of the nature of their blindness in scripture means that this information is not necessary to our true understanding of this account. Jesus could have cured them regardless of the precise medical diagnosis for their blindness. This scripture once again points to the immediate provision of an ageing but non-Adamic renewal of each blind man's human body thereby repairing all their imperfections at a stroke.

​9. Raising Jairus' daughter

(Matthew 9:18-19, 23-25; Mark 5:22-24, 35-43; Luke 8:41-42, 49-56):

18 While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live. 
19 And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples. 
23 And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, 
24 He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.
25 But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose. (Matthew 9)

22 And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet, 
23 And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live. 
24 And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.  
35 While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further? 
36 As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe. 
37 And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James. 
38 And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly. 
39 And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. 
40 And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying. 
41 And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. 
42 And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment. 
43 And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat. (Mark 5)

41 And, behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue: and he fell down at Jesus' feet, and besought him that he would come into his house: 
42 For he had one only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay a dying. But as he went the people thronged him. 
49 While he yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master. 
50 But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole. 
51 And when he came into the house, he suffered no man to go in, save Peter, and James, and John, and the father and the mother of the maiden. 
52 And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth. 
53 And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead. 
54 And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise. 
55 And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat.
56 And her parents were astonished: but he charged them that they should tell no man what was done. (Luke 8)

Whilst this is another case of instant resurrection there are a couple of points to make here. Firstly the girl had only very recently died before Jesus arrived at the house, so the girl's body had only recently been alive albeit in an apparently very sick state. Jesus states that he will make her whole again and in this sense His curing of her amounted to her spirit returning to her body that once again had presumably been made aging but non-Adamic. Also before the girl's resurrection, Jesus had told the crowds that the girl was merely sleeping and was not dead. All of this is compatible with the Lords' Witnesses understandings that a whole live soul is made up of the living human body together with its spirit, its personality (Introduction [9] What is a Soul? What is a Spirit?). It is also compatible with the LW understanding that the first death involves the death of the Adamic human body with the consequent transport of the human spirit that possessed that body into that of a sleeping angelic body in heaven. Once again the resurrection involved the return of the girl's unconscious spirit from the sleeping angel back into her renewed non-Adamic body and into an immediately conscious state.

8. Healing a woman with internal bleeding

(Matthew 9:20-22, Mark 5:25-34, Luke 8:43-48):

20 And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: 
21 For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. 
22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour. (Matthew 9)

25 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, 
26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. 
28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. 
29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. 
30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? 
31 And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? 
32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. 
33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. 
34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague. (Mark 5)

43 And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, 
44 Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched. 
45 And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? 
46 And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me. 
47 And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately. 
48 And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace. (Luke 8)

Given that we are looking at a woman's internal bleeding in this case, it is reasonable to conclude that this poor woman's condition may well have been Menometrorrhagia, the Wikipedia description being: Excessive uterine bleeding, both at the usual time of menstrual periods and at other irregular intervals. Menometrorrhagia can be a sign of a number of different disorders including hormone imbalance, endometriosis, benign fibroid tumors in the uterus, and, rarely, cancer. Anemia may result from the excessive uterine bleeding. Treatment depends on the cause. If there does not appear to be a dangerous cause, such as cancer, hormone supplementation or the therapeutic use of birth control pills to better control the menstrual cycle may be recommended.

Since the woman had been suffering this sickness for some twelve years it is reasonable to conclude that it was not caused by a malignant condition such as cancer otherwise she would have likely died well before the twelve years were up. So we are probably talking here about a hormonal or benign tumour cause. Once again we have the woman's faith curing her; her faith alone upon touching Jesus' garment enabled the Holy Spirit to do Her healing work. As always the cure was also immediate in its external manifestation and in the internal wellbeing felt by the woman. Again we are forced to conclude that the provision of an immediate DNA fix throughout her body provided an aging non-Adamic body thereby correcting any hormonal issues and/or removing any foreign bodies such as a tumour, which would not belong in a perfect human body, this latter action again requiring an upgrade to the woman's immune system response. Presumably the quality and amount of her blood was restored immediately in her newly perfected body to their normal levels with the consequent feeling of relief from the symptoms of the illness that the woman had felt.

7. Raising a widow's son

(Luke 7:11-17):

11 And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. 
12 Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. 
13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. 
14 And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. 
15 And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. 
16 And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people. 
17 And this rumour of him went forth throughout all Judaea, and throughout all the region round about. (Luke 7)

Here we have a case of Jesus' resurrection of a young dead man instantly upon His touching of the deceased's funeral bier. The man had presumably been dead for a few days since his funeral had been arranged and so some physical deterioration to his body must have been present. Now the Lords' Witnesses understand that the spirits of the dead are transported into the body of a sleeping angel in heaven. For an instant resurrection such as this one we must have the young man's human body immediately returned to a healed living state and his spirit transported back from the sleeping angel into his revived human body. From previous examples we have looked at, it would seem that the instant cures of the sick and lame resulted in their imperfect bodies being made perfect (non-Adamic) albeit whilst still aging. It would therefore seem likely, in these cases of resurrection described in scripture, that the newly revived human bodies are also made non-Adamic. The Lords' Witnesses understand that human bodies in the Kingdom will be made non-Adamic so I can see no reason why this would not also be the case in these specific examples of early resurrection albeit with the non-aging element removed. Once again we can see that our God has the ability to instantly ‘zap' an individual's DNA to provide an instant fix to whatever ails that individual's Adamic body including death presumably due to any cause.

6. Healing a withered hand

(Matthew 12:9-14, Mark 3:1-6):

9 After departing from that place he went into their synagogue; 
10 and, look! a man with a withered hand! So they asked him, "Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath?" that they might get an accusation against him. 
11 He said to them: "Who will be the man among YOU that has one sheep and, if this falls into a pit on the sabbath, will not get hold of it and lift it out? 
12 All considered, of how much more worth is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do a fine thing on the sabbath." 
13 Then he said to the man: "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and it was restored sound like the other hand. 
14 But the Pharisees went out and took counsel against him that they might destroy him. (Matthew 12)

1 Once again he entered into a synagogue, and a man was there with a dried-up hand. 
2 So they were watching him closely to see whether he would cure the man on the sabbath, in order that they might accuse him. 
3 And he said to the man with the withered hand: "Get up [and come] to the centre." 
4 Next he said to them: "Is it lawful on the sabbath to do a good deed or to do a bad deed, to save or to kill a soul?" But they kept silent. 
5 And after looking around upon them with indignation, being thoroughly grieved at the insensibility of their hearts, he said to the man: "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 
6 At that the Pharisees went out and immediately began holding council with the party followers of Herod against him, in order to destroy him. (Mark 3)

This account is most likely describing a man with Poland syndrome. The Wikipedia description of Poland syndrome (also Poland's syndrome, Poland's syndactyly, Poland sequence, and Poland's anomaly) is a rare birth defect characterized by underdevelopment or absence of the chest muscle (pectoralis) on one side of the body and (but not always) webbing of the fingers (cutaneous syndactyly) of the hand on the same side (ipsilateral hand) mostly common on the right side of the body and found more in males than females. The cause of Poland syndrome is unknown. However, an interruption of the embryonic blood supply to the arteries that lie under the collarbone (subclavian arteries) at about the 46th day of embryonic development is the prevailing theory.

So here we have an event during foetal development that causes a physical defect from birth that is effectively untreatable even with today's medical science. Once again we have the spiritual cure from Jesus who is clearly in close proximity to the patient but does not appear to need a physical laying on of hands in this case to effect the instant cure from the Holy Spirit. The only possible explanation for such an instant cure would be for the patient's body to instantly repair and heal itself. Would the removal of the p21 gene enable the proper healing of such a malformation according to the patient's DNA I wonder?

5. Healing a paralytic

(Matthew 9:1-8, Mark 2:1-12, Luke 5:18-26):

1 So, boarding the boat, he proceeded across and went into his own city. 
2 And, look! they were bringing him a paralyzed man lying on a bed. On seeing their faith Jesus said to the paralytic: "Take courage, child; your sins are forgiven." 
3 And, look! certain of the scribes said to themselves: "This fellow is blaspheming." 
4 And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said: "Why are YOU thinking wicked things in YOUR hearts?
5 For instance, which is easier, to say, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Get up and walk? 
6 However, in order for YOU to know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins-" then he said to the paralytic: "Get up, pick up your bed, and go to your home." 
7 And he got up and went off to his home. 
8 At the sight of this the crowds were struck with fear, and they glorified God, who gave such authority to men. (Matthew 9)

1 However, after some days he again entered into Ca•per'na•um and he was reported to be at home. 
2 Consequently many gathered, so much so that there was no more room, not even about the door, and he began to speak the word to them. 
3 And men came bringing him a paralytic carried by four. 
4 But not being able to bring him right to [Jesus] on account of the crowd, they removed the roof over where he was, and having dug an opening they lowered the cot on which the paralytic was lying. 
5 And when Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic: "Child, your sins are forgiven." 
6 Now there were some of the scribes there, sitting and reasoning in their hearts: 
7 "Why is this man talking in this manner? He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins except one, God?" 
8 But Jesus, having discerned immediately by his spirit that they were reasoning that way in themselves, said to them: "Why are YOU reasoning these things in YOUR hearts? 
9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, ‘Get up and pick up your cot and walk'? 
10 But in order for YOU men to know that the Son of man has authority to forgive sins upon the earth,"-he said to the paralytic: 
11 "I say to you, Get up, pick up your cot, and go to your home." 
12 At that he did get up, and immediately picked up his cot and walked out in front of them all, so that they were all simply carried away, and they glorified God, saying: "We never saw the like of it." (Mark 2)

18 And, look! men carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking a way to bring him in and place him before him. 
19 So, not finding a way to bring him in on account of the crowd, they climbed up to the roof, and through the tiling they let him down with the little bed among those in front of Jesus. 
20 And when he saw their faith he said: "Man, your sins are forgiven you." 
21 Thereupon the scribes and the Pharisees started to reason, saying: "Who is this that is speaking blasphemies? Who can forgive sins except God alone?" 
22 But Jesus, discerning their reasonings, said in answer to them: "What are YOU reasoning out in YOUR hearts? 
23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, ‘Get up and walk'? 
24 But in order for YOU to know that the Son of man has authority on the earth to forgive sins-" he said to the paralyzed man: "I say to you, Get up and pick up your little bed and be on your way home." 
25 And instantly he rose up before them, picked up what he used to lie on and went off to his home, glorifying God. 
26 Then an ecstasy seized one and all, and they began to glorify God, and they became filled with fear, saying: "We have seen strange things today!" (Luke 5)

Whilst this account is not being stated as a life-threatening rather than a seriously disabling paralytic condition, the comments for the previous paralytic still hold true.

4. Healing a centurion's servant

(Matthew 8:5-13, Luke 7:1-10):

5 When he entered into Ca•per'na•um, an army officer came to him, entreating him 
6 and saying: "Sir, my manservant is laid up in the house with paralysis, being terribly tormented."
7 He said to him: "When I get there I will cure him." 
8 In reply the army officer said: "Sir, I am not a fit man for you to enter under my roof, but just say the word and my manservant will be healed. 
9 For I too am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me, and I say to this one, ‘Be on your way!' and he is on his way, and to another, ‘Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!' and he does it." 
10 Hearing that, Jesus became amazed and said to those following him: "I tell YOU the truth, With no one in Israel have I found so great a faith. 
11 But I tell YOU that many from eastern parts and western parts will come and recline at the table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens; 
12 whereas the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the darkness outside. There is where [their] weeping and the gnashing of [their] teeth will be." 
13 Then Jesus said to the army officer: "Go. Just as it has been your faith, so let it come to pass for you." And the manservant was healed in that hour. (Matthew 8)

1 When he had completed all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered into Ca•per'na•um. 
2 Now a certain army officer's slave, who was dear to him, was ailing and was about to pass away. 
3 When he heard about Jesus, he sent forth older men of the Jews to him to ask him to come and bring his slave safely through. 
4 Then those that came up to Jesus began to entreat him earnestly, saying: "He is worthy of your conferring this upon him, 
5 for he loves our nation and he himself built the synagogue for us." 
6 So Jesus started off with them. But when he was not far from the house, the army officer had already sent friends to say to him: "Sir, do not bother, for I am not fit to have you come in under my roof. 
7 For that reason I did not consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. 
8 For I too am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me, and I say to this one, ‘Be on your way!' and he is on his way, and to another, ‘Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!' and he does it." 
9 Well, when Jesus heard these things he marvelled at him, and he turned to the crowd following him and said: "I tell YOU, Not even in Israel have I found so great a faith." 
10 And those that had been sent, on getting back to the house, found the slave in good health. (Luke 7)

This was a life-threatening paralysis cured immediately and remotely. We are not given any details as to the precise nature or cause of this paralysis but usually this will involve the loss of muscle use most likely through damage to the nervous system or brain function. Given the numerous potential causes for such a generic condition we can only speculate that the damage was repaired instantly together with the immediate removal of its cause. The only conclusion we can reach is that of the provision of a perfectly functioning non-Adamic set of nerve/brain cells together with an upgrading of the immune system should an external agent have been the cause of the symptoms. Given the immune system contains numerous separate components and systems within the human body, one can only assume that a complete but aging non-Adamic body was provided.

3. Healing a leper

(Matthew 8:1-3, Mark 1:40-42):

1 After he had come down from the mountain great crowds followed him. 
2 And, look! a leprous man came up and began doing obeisance to him, saying: "Lord, if you just want to, you can make me clean." 
3 And so, stretching out [his] hand, he touched him, saying: "I want to. Be made clean." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed away. (Matthew 8)

40 There also came to him a leper, entreating him even on bended knee, saying to him: "If you just want to, you can make me clean." 
41 At that he was moved with pity, and he stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him: "I want to. Be made clean." 
42 And immediately the leprosy vanished from him, and he became clean. (Mark 1)

The first point to make here is that leprosy is caused by a bacterial infection. Today's treatment consists of a cocktail of antibiotics which can take between six months to two years to cure the patient depending on the variant of leprosy. Leprosy has a lengthy incubation period so for someone to be an acknowledged leper in biblical times would probably have meant that the physical signs of disfigurement were clearly evident and the disease therefore well advanced. The modern treatment works best if used early in that it can prevent disfigurement from occurring. However, in this case, the probable pre-existing disfigurement would likely have remained after the disease had left the host if cured by today's technology. 

The direct touch of Jesus was the delivery mechanism for the Holy Spirit to do Her work. Not only was the bacteria killed instantly but, in describing the leper as clean, it would seem likely that the patient's disfigurements also disappeared immediately. How else in those days would the leper be aware that he had been cured completely of these slow-acting bacteria. In this case we have the Holy Spirit instantly rebuilding the leper's body back into the condition that it would have been in had he not contracted the disease in the first place. This was either a piece of wondrous instant cosmetic surgery or, more likely, the instant provision of a non-Adamic version of the recipient's DNA. This would have left the leper in an aging but otherwise perfect body which presumably enabled the leper to live to a ripe old (but normal) age without any further illnesses, since he would have gained a perfect immune system (a body like Jesus' own). This curing is almost like the rapture, i.e. an instant and conscious resurrection into a non-Adamic body. The specific mechanism to enable the body to heal back to its pristine state would likely be the removal of the p21 gene (see the Adamic v non-Adamic section below) which would promote the rebuilding of the damaged tissue. I am not certain that this element on its own would enable the tissue rebuild to be more or less instant however. There may be another factor present in this specific regard but this, I think, is well beyond current medical knowledge.

2. Healing of Peter's mother-in-law

(Matthew 8:14-15, Mark 1:29-31, Luke 4:38-39):

14 And Jesus, on coming into Peter's house, saw his mother-in-law lying down and sick with fever.
15 So he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and began ministering to him. (Matthew 8)

29 And immediately they went out of the synagogue and went into the home of Simon and Andrew with James and John. 
30 Now Simon's mother-in-law was lying down sick with a fever, and they at once told him about her. 
31 And going to her he raised her up, taking her by the hand; and the fever left her, and she began ministering to them (Mark 1)

38 After getting up out of the synagogue he entered into Simon's home. Now Simon's mother-in-law was distressed with a high fever, and they made request of him for her. 
39 So he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. Instantly she rose and began ministering to them. (Luke 4)

It is by no means clear that this fever was life-threatening so we cannot determine from these accounts whether it was a viral or bacterial infection. However what we can say about the cure and resultant recovery is that this was brought about by Jesus' laying on of hands which presumably enabled direct contact from the Holy Spirit. Also the cure did not only result in the immediate destruction of the cause of the infection but also enabled Simon's mother-in-law to start looking after Jesus and his companions immediately. Again this looks like a case of upgrading the patient with a perfect immune system enabling the cause of the fever to be removed immediately with the consequent instant improvement in the patient's condition.

1. Healing of the royal official's son

(John 4:46-54):

46 Accordingly he came again to Ca'na of Gal'i•lee, where he had turned the water into wine. Now there was a certain attendant of the king whose son was sick in Ca•per'na•um. 
47 When this man heard that Jesus had come out of Ju•de'a into Gal'i•lee, he went off to him and began asking him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of dying. 
48 However, Jesus said to him: "Unless YOU people see signs and wonders, YOU will by no means believe." 
49 The attendant of the king said to him: "Lord, come down before my young child dies." 
50 Jesus said to him: "Go your way; your son lives." The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went his way. 
51 But already while he was on his way down his slaves met him to say that his boy was living. 
52 Therefore he began to inquire of them the hour in which he got better in health. Accordingly they said to him: "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him." 
53 Therefore the father knew it was in the very hour that Jesus said to him: "Your son lives." And he and his whole household believed. 
54 Again this was the second sign Jesus performed when he came out of Ju•de'a into Gal'i•lee. (John 4)

Although fever in children is by no means uncommon, there are not too many causes that are likely to be life-threatening. One likely contender for this child's illness could have been bacterial meningitis for which a high fever is one of the early signs. Whilst there are several tropical diseases that come with high fever symptoms, they would not be a likely source of this child's illness since the combination of the temperate middle-eastern climate and the probable lack of high contagion would seem to limit the options in this case. Meningitis therefore would seem to be the likely contender here. It causes the lining of the brain to become inflamed and in the most serious of cases can cause blood poisoning (septicaemia). Today bacterial meningitis would be handled as a medical emergency, the key element of which would be treatment with antibiotics. So, at the very least, the attendant's faith in Jesus presumably enabled the Holy Spirit to act remotely upon his son by killing off the unfriendly bacteria causing the inflammation. This is something that the boy's own unaided immune system had failed to do. It would normally take several days for an anti-biotic to fully take effect through the manifestation of improved life signs; however, in this case, it would appear that the bacteria was killed off immediately upon Jesus' words with a simultaneous improvement in the child's condition. So it would appear that the antibacterial effect of the Holy Spirit is immediate and does not require any time for the host to build up resistance to the target bacteria. So this might appear to be a case where the boy's immune system was brought up to the strength level of a non-Adamic human perhaps?

Reference Section - The Healing Miracles

The scriptures pertaining to each miracle are reproduced below with a commentary on the healing aspects of each account. These reference sections were used as the basis for reaching the overall conclusions as described above.

Image provided by www.BiblePictureGallery.com

The Raising of Lazarus

The Final Conclusion

Upon preparing the first draft of this paper, I presented it for informal discussion with the President of the Lords' Witnesses. He was very interested in the content but like myself was drawn particularly to the immediacy of the cures. It had been on my mind as to whether the precise nature of the cures was as I had arrived at or whether, somehow, the patients had effectively received completely new non-Adamic bodies rather than fixes to their existing and ailing Adamic bodies as thus far proposed. In a number of ways the former of these two propositions fits better in scriptural terms with Lords' Witness understandings. As a result of that presidential review I am proud to be able to reference you to the latest understanding on this subject on the main LW web-site: Understanding 89c How did Jesus cure people instantly?

The nub of Understanding 89c contemplates the complete body replacement of the healed patient in an instant of time. Replica non-Adamic bodies materialise to replace their flawed Adamic body counterparts which consequently dematerialise with the spirit transferred between the two without being noticed by the patient or witnesses. Now while this may seem nothing short of fantastical, it is supported explicitly by scriptural description of the rapture: 

51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (1Corinthians 15)

So scripture itself is describing such an Adamic to non-Adamic or angelic transformation in a way to support Understanding 89c with the mechanism for such a transformation being described as 'a mystery'.  Understanding 89c, however, does not attempt to review the transport mechanism for the provision of such replacement non-Adamic bodies so this scientifically-minded Christian now set about that particular avenue of investigation. 

I have previously enthused about wormholes in earlier papers on this web-site in terms of their prospective ability to transport spirits and/or normal baryonic matter from one universe to another and vice versa. So could wormholes be the mechanism chosen by our Lords to effect Christ's cures in the first century by materialising replica non-Adamic bodies in place of their Adamic originals? Another contender that has recently been brought to my attention as a possible transport mechanism is quantum teleportation (QT). I examine the pros and cons of both prospective technologies below.

Now quantum teleportation is interesting if for no other reason than that the theory has been successfully tested in practice. The following web-site gives a very succinct explanation of how the theory works from no less than the IBM research team looking into the topic from a quantum computing perspective: http://www.research.ibm.com/quantuminfo/teleportation/.
 
In particular a very recent experiment succeeded in transporting quantum level data across a distance of 27 miles: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-9078855/NASA-scientists-achieve-long-distance-quantum-teleportation-time.html
Now, whilst this experiment is a long way from teleporting a sizeable physical body of matter from one point in space to another, it nonetheless represents a real start in demonstrating that the theory is solid. There are many scientists that doubt whether this could be turned eventually into a macro-sized transport mechanism for physical matter but engineers have often proven the scientists to be too conservative in their views as to how far their theories may be turned into the science fact of tomorrow. There is, however, one aspect of this concept that I think prevents this being the transport mechanism of either spirits or non-Adamic bodies in support of Christ's miracles. It appears from the literature that quantum teleportation only appears to apply for intra-universal rather than inter-universal travel. So QT may well provide an ability to travel about within our own universe at faster than light speeds in the future but will not enable travel between universes which is what my current thinking would require.
 
So it looks like we are back to my old friend the wormhole to fulfil that role. For those that need a quick refresher on the topic I found the following web-site very informative but not over-whelming in scientific detail; ideal for the casual but nonetheless interested reader: http://www.crystalinks.com/wormholes.html.

In proposing the possible use of wormholes for the transportation of living somatic body cells and human and angelic spirits, it is clear that there are a number of critical factors that would be required of this technology. These factors are all to do with the precision and stability with which wormholes would need to be set up and maintained during their use for body and spirit transportation. These factors would include the precise timing for which the wormholes were active and their spacial impact in terms of the precision required for the placement of transferred matter within the required size of wormhole. The following web-site describes in semi-technical terms how this precision and stability might theoretically be accomplished: "The Alternate View" columns of John G. Cramer. Whilst this article is based on the writer's interest in science fiction, his conclusions are clearly based on real scientific fact albeit theoretical. Another web-site worthy of review, on the subject of the necessary negative energy density required for wormhole stabilisation is to be found at: Negative Energy, Wormholes and Warp Drive.

Whilst all these requirements are quite clearly well beyond mankind's abilities into the foreseeable future, there would be no reason that I can come up with that they would be beyond the abilities of our deity whereby Jesus must have created, or have been the conduit for, the wormhole portals into this universe in biblical times. Given that our God created all matter and forms of energy ranging from the smallest of the elementary particles up to and beyond the whole of the known universe, the odd stable wormhole or two is not likely to have proven to be beyond His resources or capability I think. The stabilisation of such traversable wormholes would appear to require a never-observed form of exotic matter whose total energy is negative. To maintain the stability and size of the wormhole portals significant levels of power would be required, so it is interesting to note that Jesus himself commented on the loss of His power resulting in the curing of the woman with internal blood loss. This scripture is from Young's literal translation: 

30 And immediately Jesus having known in himself that out of him power had gone forth, having turned about in the multitude, said, `Who did touch my garments?' (Mark 5)

So it would appear that scripture once again supports our current notions. None of this should be too surprising to the faithful however. Given that the whole created universe and the heavens were created by our God, who is spirit, it cannot be beyond that spirit's capability to generate and direct the enormous levels of energy required for wormhole stability with considerable ease:

24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4)

As an aside, wormholes can provide a theoretical means of transport throughout the whole of the space-time continuum. On this web-site I have thus far refrained from considering the use of wormholes for time travel. My notions have not required this capability. However it is worthy of note that, since Jehovah created both space and time, that He has the ability to move around all of the dimensions of His created universe which is why He is able to foretell the future of our world in the book of Revelation:

13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. (Revelation 22) 

Summary Deductions Related to the Mechanisms of Christ's Healing Powers

The following conclusions are summarised from the data culled from the detailed analyses covered in the later reference sections of this paper:

1. The general pattern of Jesus' healing would appear to be the provision of an ageing non-Adamic version of the recipient's DNA. This would have left the patient in an ageing but otherwise perfect human body which presumably enabled the recipient to live to a ripe old (but normal) age without any further illnesses since he would have gained perfect health (a body like Jesus' own). This curing is almost like the rapture, i.e. an instant and conscious resurrection into a non-Adamic body. This ‘medical' approach to curing the sick can clearly also explain the more extreme cases where Jesus resurrected the dead.

2. Jesus' healing could effectively provide an instant vaccine by removing all symptoms of a bacterial or viral disease with immediate effect. This would be most likely through the provision of a non-Adamic immune system with the capability to provide instantly available and specific antigens of adequate number in the patients' bloodstream. Whilst the Adamic immune system works pretty well overall, it can be expected that the non-Adamic immune system would carry out the same job but with 100% viral and bacterial coverage, with instant deadly effect upon any foreign intruder and without suffering any illnesses of its own.

3. The specific mechanism provided by Jesus to enable His patients' bodies to heal back to their pristine states would likely be the removal of the p21 gene. This gene removal would promote the correct rebuilding of the damaged tissue. I am not certain that this element on its own would enable the tissue rebuild to be more or less instant however. The instant provision of a non-Adamic body replacement would meet this criterion though. So it would appear that such body replacement would still need the p21 gene in place because it would look strange if one of Jesus' patients had, for example, a limb chopped off subsequent to His cure only to have it grow back all by itself! Presumably this, together with the non-aging factor, will not be an anomaly in the Kingdom since these will be every day events in the next system one expects.

4. Jesus was able to remove internal and external growths instantly as part of His healing ministry. This must firstly have involved the provision of a non-Adamic immune system armed with the necessary killer cells to attack and consume the ‘foreign' cells that, be they benign or cancerous, did not match the correct DNA profile. This would then be followed up by the removal of the p21 gene to heal the surrounding host tissue. As always, whilst we can speculate on the details of the specific cure, its instant action would indicate a whole body non-Adamic response alien to the experience of our feeble Adamic bodies.

5. Prior to His resurrection of the dead, Jesus had told the crowds that the dead were merely sleeping and not dead. Scripture describes their resurrection as the spirit returning to the body. This is fully compatible with the Lords' Witnesses (LW) understanding that a live soul is made up of the living human body together with its spirit, its personality (Introduction [9] What is a Soul? What is a Spirit?). It is also compatible with the LW understanding that the first death involves the death of the Adamic human body with the consequent transportation of its human spirit into a sleeping angelic body in heaven. The resurrection in these cases involved the return of the unconscious spirit from the sleeping angel back into a renewed aging non-Adamic body and into an immediately conscious state. 

6.  After one of the healing miracles, Jesus warns the now healthy patient that further sinning will lead to something worse happening to him. If our thinking on the non-Adamic transformation is correct then it will be as if the patient was effectively resurrected from the first death albeit without actually suffering physical death. It is as if the provision of an early non-Adamic body through Christ's healing ministry is the equivalent of being given the same upon resurrection into the Kingdom albeit with the aging factor added in to be compatible with Adamic experience in this system. Having a non-Adamic body the man would not suffer further illness, so what could be worse? The clear answer to this is that further serious sinning would lead to the second death and the man would automatically go straight to Gehenna on judgement day. Presumably under these circumstances there would be no redeeming factors that would be taken into account to save that individual into the Kingdom. So Jesus' words support this current understanding of the non-Adamic nature of the healing process. This argumentation would also hold true presumably for those that Jesus resurrected from their first death before the generally appointed time.

7. Several of Jesus' healing miracles were deliberately staged to ensure they delivered the maximum impact on the witnesses so that His message of faith in His Father's powers travelled far and wide. This was the sole purpose of Christ's performing of all these miracles.

8. As I cover in one of the later reference sections, telomerase is an enzyme, found in our Adamic bodies, which ensures the longevity of the replication process. Telomerase is found in fetal tissues, adult germ cells, and (perversely if not Satanically) tumor cells but not our normal somatic body cells. This latter exclusion is why we age and die. Whilst this is an important feature of God's curse on Adamic mankind and is therefore a major differentiator between Adamic and non-Adamic human bodies, it has no part to play in Christ's healing miracles since they did not impart indefinite life upon his cured patients. 

9. One likely interpretation of the ailments of the blind man in example 14 below is that he had two different types of problem with his photoreceptors: Vitamin A starvation and old age which latter cause impacted his central retinal area. The first treatment involved eye genetic replacement therapy whereby Jesus repaired the blind man's DNA. This would have involved the provision of the missing RPE65 gene needed to reactivate the photoreceptors that were otherwise in good repair. This provided the first element of the healing treatment in which blurred vision was provided from an initial state of total blindness. It is possible that the second condition of the blind man was the degeneration of photoreceptor cells; macular degeneration involves the death of photoreceptor cells in the central retina, which is responsible for fine-detail vision. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) affects 30% of people over the age of 75 and is becoming a major health problem with the rapidly growing elderly population of developed countries. The latest cure for AMD involves replacing the old photoreceptors with newly grown ones from adult stem cells, i.e. replacing old with new. Since this effectively represents a specific example of the aging process one could speculate that this condition would not have occurred in a non-aging telomerase-laden non-Adamic body. However, since Jesus was providing a cure for an already age-damaged Adamic retina, perhaps His part B cure of the blind man involved the removal of the p21 gene in the eyeball to enable the old photoreceptors to repair themselves. The repaired photoreceptors in the central macula region of the retina would provide the eyesight's fine tuning enabling the blurred vision of walking trees to be correctly seen as men. So prospectively the healing example #14 below is making the point that Jesus' healing cures involved two elements and two elements only to provide a healthy but aging non-Adamic body: gene replacement therapy to create a complete and correct DNA sequence specific for each individual and the removal of P21 gene to provide the perfect healing process in somatic cells. The third item would be the final element that God removed from our Adamic bodies: telomerase in our somatic cells to enable an indefinite lifespan based on perfect cell reproduction. I would expect that the perfect immune system of a non-Adamic body would be a natural result of the above items rather than a specific non-Adamic ‘fix' in its own right.

10. In the three examples 13 - 15 of healing below we have the use of Jesus' saliva coming into play as a necessary part of the cure to enable eyesight or speech. All three examples contain what appear to be issues with the patients' DNA sequences. Saliva contains digestive enzymes but more particularly contains sloughed off cheek cells. In Jesus' case these latter would contain His complete aging non-Adamic DNA sequence. Perhaps we are being told that this imparts the applicable correct sequence onto that of the patient in a non-Adamic healing process thereby confirming the DNA nature of these cures.

What Can We Deduce From Jesus' Healing Miracles?

There are 22 healing miracles from Jesus' ministry recorded in the gospels. Each one of these miracles is enumerated in the reference section below together with an analysis of the medical condition cured as far as the gospel accounts will allow. I also present a table in the reference section with an entry of the relevant details for each miracle for quick reference. In this section we look in a generalised way at the key features apparent in that later section.

Firstly it is apparent that all manner of human disease and frailty are identified and cured in the gospels. In some cases the ailments are quite specific. In other cases it is not specific so we assume as many different causes for the ailment as likely in the understanding that, for today's medical knowledge, our Lord has provided as much information in the scriptures as we need in order to reach the conclusions that He deems necessary for our understanding today.

The ailments comprise bacterial or viral infection, physical disfigurement, cell or nervous system damage, tumours, hormone imbalance, inherited genetic sequence flaw, fluid swellings, missing body parts and, last but not least, death from cause or causes unknown. So these ailments pretty much cover the full gamut of the types of imperfection that the human body can and does experience even down to this modern age.

In attempting to categorise these conditions into the minimum number of general types of cure that would be appropriate we can consider the following:

1. Replacement of missing or flawed genetic material. 
2. Boosting of the immune system to destroy all physical foreign bodies from within the human host.
3. Healing and/or replacement of damaged/missing tissue.

There are a couple of key points to note regarding the cures that Jesus administered:

• The cures provided instant and complete alleviation from all these ills regardless of their apparent cause. (There is one key exception to this which is covered in the reference section.) 
• There were a limited number of ways for the cures to be administered and could be a mix and match of the recipients' faith, laying on of hands, saying words over the patient and the use of Jesus' saliva. In general it does not appear to matter which one or combination of these methods were used in any one case. (Again, interestingly, there is one key exception to this which is also covered in the reference section.)

It appears to the writer that all the above general observations point to the instant provision of non-Adamic, albeit still aging, human body properties to replace the previous faulty Adamic ones possessed by Jesus' patients. It is a relevant observation in this deduction that Jesus himself possessed such an aging non-Adamic human body and did not, apparently, catch any of the communicable diseases with which He came into close contact. In LW parlance a non-Adamic body is the type of perfect human body that Adam possessed before his fall from grace. Its hallmark was an indefinite lifespan which lacked the aging and disease-prone condition of his Adamic body which he possessed after the fall. God adjusted his perfect human body at the genetic and biochemical levels to the constantly deteriorating kind that we know today as Adam's descendents post-fall: 

17 and of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou dost not eat of it, for in the day of thine eating of it -- dying thou dost die. (Genesis 2)

Whilst the LW web-site explains the context of these different human bodies, it does not attempt to explain those differences in any biological depth. It is the purpose of the Adamic/non-Adamic comparison, in the reference section at the latter end of this paper, to expand upon this and to attempt to identify the small number of differences that God introduced to curse Adamic man and to explain the context and implications of Jesus' repairs to these flawed bodies.

Image provided by www.BiblePictureGallery.com

Jesus Tells Man at Pool of Bethesda to rise

Introduction

This paper examines all the cases in scripture of Jesus' curing of the sick and lame. It attempts to consider what we can conclude of the nature of each patient's illness and to surmise the nature of the cure necessary to have had the beneficial effect described. Oh yes and we consider the nature of the raising of the dead which presumably is not impacted by the cause of death. As usual when I started this new adventure it was not known where this research might end up but it has proven to be an interesting exploration and has sparked off some avenues for deeper research that would otherwise have remained untouched for some considerable time. As always I am eternally grateful to the Holy Spirit for leading me gently, and sometimes ungratefully screaming, down the path my flawed logic needed to go.

Given the sheer size of the subject matter covered, I have tried to keep the reading of it as minimal or as complete as the reader chooses. Consequently the paper is written in the reverse order in which the research for it was carried out. The main conclusions are presented as the main body of the paper and the detailed work describing the medical conditions cured and (what turned out to be the very relevant) detailed differences between Adamic and non-Adamic human bodies are each covered in the later two reference sections.

Jesus Christ Superdoc

5. Perfect Immune System

At this point I think we need to assume that a perfect immune system would be needed in a non-Adamic body since it is not obvious that disease bacteria and viruses were created after Adam's fall. This particularly since the Adamic body contains several immune system organ level components, i.e. thymus, spleen, lymph nodes and bone marrow. It seems probable that non-Adamic bodies will also contain such components thereby indicating the need to protect the non-Adamic body also from external dangers.

If you have the interest to go through the whole of this section you will see how complex, intricate and interrelated are all the elements of the immune system. It is a wonderful protective mechanism to enable even the Adamic human body to withstand many of the dangers that present themselves at a cellular level. It is by no means clear to the writer exactly how a perfect non-Adamic immune system would operate differently except that it would presumably have no immune system disorders whereby it either cannot do its job for some reason or actually is the cause of serious illness itself. There is no mention in scripture of pre-fall Adam or Jesus catching a cold as far as I am aware and certainly Jesus did not seem to catch any of the contagious ailments that He clearly came into close contact with during His healing ministry. I think it therefore reasonable to assume that the non-Adamic immune system is able to deal with health threats more effectively than its Adamic cousin by ‘turning up the wick' to effect instant destruction of those threats with few or mild, if any, side effects. So we can assume the non-Adamic immune system works in much the same way as ours does but carries out the same tasks much more quickly and effectively.

Today's vaccines work on the basis of injecting a mild form of a disease into the recipient's bloodstream. This promotes the production of appropriately formulated antigens which can then destroy the foreign invaders. Even in the cases in which vaccines can work against the target bacterium or virus, this process takes some time before the full effects of the cure become evident. The only way that this process can be speeded up with current medical thinking would be to prepare the requisite antigens as the vaccine directly. These would need to be personalised in advance for the recipient presumably via genetically engineered host stem cells. So to prevent any disease from occurring, once a virus or bacteria had already entered a human host, would be for all the antigens to be already present and available immediately to the immune system. This would be like having anti-virus software on your computer which contained the ‘signature' of all existing and prospective viruses, i.e. all infections without exception would be exorcised without harm to the host. So this could be the immune system of the non-Adamic body already replete with all the requisite antigens in place. Again was this what God removed when he made Adam's body Adamic and what Jesus was able to put back (possibly only in part as necessary) as a key element of His healing process?

Of course the best way to avoid getting the invaders in the body in the first place would be for the first line of defence to be perfect and kill all bacteria and viruses before they can get into the bloodstream. This would require the mucous and saliva in the entry points into our bodies to operate as perfect disinfectants which presumably would require some chemical changes between the non-Adamic and Adamic versions. Perhaps this is the point that Jesus is making when He uses His saliva in some of His healing miracles.

The immune system is designed to defend us against millions of bacteria, microbes, viruses, toxins and parasites that would love to invade our bodies. To understand the power of the immune system, all that one needs to do is look at what happens to anything once it dies. That sounds gross, but it does show us something very important about our immune systems. When something dies, its immune system (along with everything else) shuts down. In a matter of hours, the body is invaded by all sorts of bacteria, microbes, parasites etc. None of these are able to get in when our immune system is working, but the moment the immune system stops the door is wide open. Once we die it only takes a few weeks for these organisms to completely dismantle our bodies and carry it away, until all that's left is a skeleton. One could argue that these organisms have a useful role in garbage disposal. Obviously our immune system is doing something amazing to keep all of that dismantling from happening when we are alive.

The immune system is complex, intricate and interesting. Whilst I must apologise for the length of this section, there are at least two good reasons for the reader to want to know more about the immune system. First, it is just plain fascinating to understand where things like fevers, hives, inflammation, etc., come from when they happen inside our bodies. Secondly one hears a lot about the immune system in the news as new parts of it are understood and new drugs come on the market; knowing about the immune system makes these news stories understandable. In the remainder of this section, I will take a look at how our immune system works so that the interested reader can understand what it is doing for you each day, as well as what it is not. This will help us to marvel even further at the wonder of God's creation.


Seeing Your Immune System

The immune system works around the clock in thousands of different ways, but it does its work largely unnoticed. One thing that causes us to really notice our immune system is when it fails for some reason. We also notice it when it does something that has a side effect we can see or feel. Here are several examples:

• When you get a cut, all sorts of bacteria and viruses enter your body through the break in the skin. When you get a splinter you also have the sliver of wood as a foreign object inside your body. Your immune system responds and eliminates the invaders while the skin heals itself and seals the puncture. In rare cases the immune system misses something and the cut gets infected. It gets inflamed and will often fill with pus. Inflammation and pus are both side-effects of the immune system doing its job. 
• When a mosquito bites you, you get a red, itchy bump. That too is a visible sign of your immune system at work. 
• Each day you inhale thousands of germs (bacteria and viruses) that are floating in the air. Your immune system deals with all of them without a problem. Occasionally a germ gets past the immune system and you catch a cold, get the flu or worse. A cold or flu is a visible sign that your immune system failed to stop the germ. The fact that you get over the cold or flu is a visible sign that your immune system was able to eliminate the invader after learning about it. If your immune system did nothing, you would never get over a cold or anything else. 
• Each day you also eat hundreds of germs, and again most of these die in the saliva or the acid of the stomach. Occasionally, however, one gets through and causes food poisoning. There is normally a very visible effect of this breach of the immune system: vomiting and diarrhea are two of the most common symptoms. 
• There are also all kinds of human ailments that are caused by the immune system working in unexpected or incorrect ways that cause problems. For example, some people have allergies. Allergies are really just the immune system overreacting to certain stimuli that other people do not react to at all. Some people have diabetes, which is caused by the immune system inappropriately attacking cells in the pancreas and destroying them. Some people have rheumatoid arthritis, which is caused by the immune system acting inappropriately in the joints. In many different diseases, the cause is actually an immune system error. 
• Finally, we sometimes see the immune system because it prevents us from doing things that would be otherwise beneficial. For example, organ transplants are much harder than they should be because the immune system often rejects the transplanted organ.


Basics of the Immune System

Let us start at the beginning. What does it mean when someone says "I feel sick today?" What is a disease? By understanding the different kinds of diseases it is possible to see what types of disease the immune system helps you handle. When you "get sick", your body is not able to work properly or at its full potential. There are many different ways for you to get sick -- here are some of them: 

• Mechanical damage - If you break a bone or tear a ligament you will be "sick" (your body will not be able to perform at its full potential). The cause of the problem is something that is easy to understand and visible. 
• Vitamin or mineral deficiency - If you do not get enough vitamin D your body is not able to metabolise calcium properly and you get a disease known as rickets. People with rickets have weak bones (they break easily) and deformities because the bones do not grow properly. If you do not get enough vitamin C you get scurvy, which causes swollen and bleeding gums, swollen joints and bruising. If you do not get enough iron you get anemia, and so on. 
• Organ degradation - In some cases an organ is damaged or weakened. For example, one form of "heart disease" is caused by obstructions in the blood vessels leading to the heart muscle, so that the heart does not get enough blood. One form of "liver disease", known as Cirrhosis, is caused by damage to liver cells (drinking too much alcohol is one cause). 
• Genetic disease - A genetic disease is caused by a coding error in the DNA. The coding error causes too much or too little of certain proteins to be made, and that causes problems at the cellular level. For example, albinism is caused by a lack of an enzyme called tyrosinase. That missing enzyme means that the body cannot manufacture melanin, the natural pigment that causes hair colour, eye colour and tanning. Because of the lack of melanin, people with this genetic problem are extremely sensitive to the UV rays in sunlight. 
• Cancer - Occasionally a cell will change in a way that causes it to reproduce uncontrollably. For example, when cells in the skin called melanocytes are damaged by ultraviolet radiation in sunlight they change in a characteristic way into a cancerous form of cell. The visible cancer that appears as a tumor on the skin is called melanoma. 
• Bacteria -Your body is a multi-cellular organism made up of perhaps 100 trillion cells. The cells in your body are fairly complicated machines. Each one has a nucleus, energy production equipment, etc. Bacteria are single-celled organisms that are much simpler. For example, they have no nucleus. They are perhaps 1/100th the size of a human cell and might measure 1 micrometer long. Bacteria are completely independent organisms able to eat and reproduce; they are like fish swimming in the ocean of your body. Under the right conditions bacteria reproduce very quickly: one bacterium divides into two separate bacteria perhaps once every 20 or 30 minutes. At that rate, one bacterium can become millions in just a few hours.
• Viruses - A virus is a different breed altogether. A virus is not really alive. A virus particle is nothing but a fragment of DNA in a protective coat. The virus comes in contact with a cell, attaches itself to the cell wall and injects its DNA (and perhaps a few enzymes) into the cell. The DNA uses the machinery inside the living cell to reproduce new virus particles. Eventually the hijacked cell dies and bursts, freeing the new virus particles; or the viral particles may bud off of the cell so it remains alive. In either case, the cell is a factory for the virus.

When a virus or bacteria (also known generically as a germ) invades your body and reproduces, it normally causes problems. Generally the germ's presence produces some side effect that makes you sick. For example, the strep throat bacteria (Streptococcus) releases a toxin that causes inflammation in your throat. The polio virus releases toxins that destroy nerve cells (often leading to paralysis). Some bacteria are benign or beneficial (for example, we all have millions of bacteria in our intestines and they help digest food), but many are harmful once they get into the body or the bloodstream.

Viral and bacterial infections are by far the most common causes of illness for most people. They cause things like colds, influenza, measles, mumps, malaria, AIDS and so on. The job of your immune system is to protect your body from these infections. The immune system protects you in three different ways:

1. It creates a barrier that prevents bacteria and viruses from entering your body.
2. If a bacteria or virus does get into the body, the immune system tries to detect and eliminate it before it can make itself at home and reproduce.
3. If the virus or bacteria is able to reproduce and start causing problems, your immune system is in charge of eliminating it.

The immune system also has several other important jobs. For example, your immune system can detect cancer in its early stages and eliminate it in many cases.


Components of the Immune System

One of the interesting things about the immune system is that it has been working inside your body your entire life but you probably know almost nothing about it. For example, you are probably aware that inside your chest you have an organ called a "heart". Who does not know that they have a heart? You have probably also heard about the fact that you have lungs and a liver and kidneys. But have you even heard about your thymus? There's a good chance you don't even know that you have a thymus, yet its there in your chest right next to your heart. There are many other parts of the immune system that are just as obscure, so let us start by learning about all of the parts. 

The most obvious part of the immune system is what you can see. For example, skin is an important part of the immune system. It acts as a primary boundary between germs and your body. Part of your skin's job is to act as a barrier in much the same way we use plastic wrap to protect food. Skin is tough and generally impermeable to bacteria and viruses. The epidermis contains special cells called Langerhans cells (mixed in with the melanocytes in the basal layer) that are an important early-warning component in the immune system. The skin also secretes antibacterial substances. These substances explain why you don't wake up in the morning with a layer of mould growing on your skin; most bacteria and spores that land on the skin die quickly. 

Your nose, mouth and eyes are also obvious entry points for germs. Tears and mucus contain an enzyme (lysozyme) that breaks down the cell wall of many bacteria. Saliva is also anti-bacterial. Since the nasal passage and lungs are coated in mucus, many germs not killed immediately are trapped in the mucus and soon swallowed. Mast cells also line the nasal passages, throat, lungs and skin. Any bacteria or virus that wants to gain entry to your body must first make it past these defenses. 

Once inside the body, a germ deals with the immune system at a different level. The major components of the immune system are: 

• Thymus 
• Spleen 
• Lymph system 
• Bone marrow 
• White blood cells 
• Antibodies 
• Complement system 
• Hormones 

We will now look at each of these components in detail.

Lymph System

The lymph system is most familiar to people because doctors and mothers often check for "swollen lymph nodes" in the neck. It turns out that the lymph nodes are just one part of a system that extends throughout your body in much the same way your blood vessels do. The main difference between the blood flowing in the circulatory system and the lymph flowing in the lymph system is that blood is pressurized by the heart, while the lymph system is passive. There is no "lymph pump" like there is a "blood pump" (the heart). Instead, fluids ooze into the lymph system and get pushed by normal body and muscle motion to the lymph nodes. This is very much like the water and sewer systems in a community. Water is actively pressurized, while sewage is passive and flows by gravity. 

Lymph is a clear liquid that bathes the cells with water and nutrients. Lymph is blood plasma, i.e. the liquid that makes up blood minus the red and white cells. Think about it: each cell does not have its own private blood vessel feeding it, yet it has to get food, water, and oxygen to survive. Blood transfers these materials to the lymph through the capillary walls, and lymph carries it to the cells. The cells also produce proteins and waste products and the lymph absorbs these products and carries them away. Any random bacteria that enter the body also find their way into this inter-cell fluid. One job of the lymph system is to drain and filter these fluids to detect and remove the bacteria. Small lymph vessels collect the liquid and move it toward larger vessels so that the fluid finally arrives at the lymph nodes for processing. 

Lymph nodes contain filtering tissue and a large number of lymph cells. When fighting certain bacterial infections, the lymph nodes swell with bacteria and the cells fighting the bacteria, to the point where you can actually feel them. Swollen lymph nodes are therefore a good indication that you have an infection of some sort. 

Once lymph has been filtered through the lymph nodes it re-enters the bloodstream. 


Thymus

The thymus lives in your chest, between your breast bone and your heart. It is responsible for producing T-cells (see the next section), and is especially important in newborn babies; without a thymus a baby's immune system collapses and the baby will die. The thymus seems to be much less important in adults; for example, you can remove it and an adult will live because other parts of the immune system can handle the load. However, the thymus is important, especially to T cell maturation (as we will see in the section on white blood cells below).


Spleen

The spleen filters the blood looking for foreign cells (the spleen is also looking for old red blood cells in need of replacement). A person missing their spleen gets sick much more often than someone with a spleen.


Bone marrow

Bone marrow produces new blood cells, both red and white. In the case of red blood cells the cells are fully formed in the marrow and then enter the bloodstream. In the case of some white blood cells, the cells mature elsewhere. The marrow produces all blood cells from stem cells. They are called "stem cells" because they can branch off and become many different types of cells; they are precursors to different cell types. Stem cells change into actual, specific types of white blood cells.

White blood cells

White blood cells are described in detail in the next section.


Antibodies

Antibodies (also referred to as immunoglobulins and gammaglobulins) are produced by white blood cells. They are Y-shaped proteins that each respond to a specific antigen (bacteria, virus or toxin). Each antibody has a special section (at the tips of the two branches of the Y) that is sensitive to a specific antigen and binds to it in some way. When an antibody binds to a toxin it is called an antitoxin (if the toxin comes from some form of venom, it is called an antivenin). The binding generally disables the chemical action of the toxin. When an antibody binds to the outer coat of a virus particle or the cell wall of a bacterium it can stop their movement through cell walls. Or a large number of antibodies can bind to an invader and signal to the complement system that the invader needs to be removed. 

Antibodies come in five classes: 

• Immunoglobulin A (IgA) 
• Immunoglobulin D (IgD) 
• Immunoglobulin E (IgE) 
• Immunoglobulin G (IgG) 
• Immunoglobulin M (IgM) 

Whenever you see an abbreviation like IgE in a medical document, you now know that what they are talking about is an antibody. 


Complement System

The complement system, like antibodies, is a series of proteins. There are millions of different antibodies in your blood stream, each sensitive to a specific antigen. There are only a handful of proteins in the complement system, and they are floating freely in your blood. Complements are manufactured in the liver. The complement proteins are activated by and work with (complement) the antibodies, hence the name. They cause lysing (bursting) of cells and signal to phagocytes (see later) that a cell needs to be removed.


Hormones

There are several hormones generated by components of the immune system. These hormones are known generally as lymphokines. It is also known that certain hormones in the body suppress the immune system. Steroids and corticosteroids (components of adrenaline) suppress the immune system.

Tymosin (thought to be produced by the thymus) is a hormone that encourages lymphocyte production (a lymphocyte is a form of white blood cell - see below). Interleukins are another type of hormone generated by white blood cells. For example, Interleukin-1 is produced by macrophages (see later) after they eat a foreign cell. IL-1 has an interesting side-effect; when it reaches the hypothalamus it produces fever and fatigue. The raised temperature of a fever is known to kill some bacteria.


Tumor Necrosis Factor 

Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) is also produced by macrophages. It is able to kill tumor cells, and it also promotes the creation of new blood vessels so it is important to healing.


Interferon

Interferon interferes with viruses (hence the name) and is produced by most cells in the body. Interferons, like antibodies and complements, are proteins, and their job is to let cells signal to one another. When a cell detects interferon from other cells, it produces proteins that help prevent viral replication in the cell.


White Blood Cells

You are probably aware of the fact that you have "red blood cells" and "white blood cells" in your blood. The white blood cells are probably the most important part of your immune system. And it turns out that "white blood cells" are actually a whole collection of different cells that work together to destroy bacteria and viruses. Here are all of the different types, names and classifications of white blood cells working inside your body right now: 

• Leukocytes 
• Lymphocyte 
• Monocytes 
• Granulocytes 
• B-cells 
• Plasma cells 
• T-cells 
• Helper T-cells 
• Killer T-cells 
• Suppressor T-cells 
• Natural killer cells 
• Neutrophils 
• Eosinophils 
• Basophils 
• Phagocytes
• Macrophages 

Learning all of these different names and the function of each cell type takes a bit of effort, but you can understand scientific articles a lot better once you get it all figured out! Here's a quick summary to help you get all the different cell types organized in your brain. 


Leukocytes

All white blood cells are known officially as leukocytes. White blood cells are not like normal cells in the body; they act like independent, living single-cell organisms able to move and capture things on their own. White blood cells behave very much like amoeba in their movements and are able to engulf other cells and bacteria. Many white blood cells cannot divide and reproduce on their own, but instead have a factory somewhere in the body that produces them. That factory is the bone marrow. 

Leukocytes are divided into three classes: 

• Granulocytes - Granulocytes make up 50% to 60% of all leukocytes. Granulocytes are themselves divided into three classes: neutrophils, eosinophils and basophils. Granulocytes get their name because they contain granules, and these granules contain different chemicals depending on the type of cell. 
• Lymphocyte - Lymphocytes make up 30% to 40% of all leukocytes. Lymphocytes come in two classes: B cells (those that mature in bone marrow) and T cells (those that mature in the thymus). 
• Monocyte - Monocytes make up 7% or so of all leukocytes. Monocytes evolve into macrophages.

All white blood cells start in bone marrow as stem cells. Stem cells are generic cells that can form into the many different types of leukocytes as they mature. For example, you can take a mouse, irradiate it to kill off its bone marrow's ability to produce new blood cells, and then inject stem cells into the mouse's blood stream. The stem cells will divide and differentiate into all different types of white blood cells. A "bone marrow transplant" is accomplished simply by injecting stem cells from a donor into the blood stream. The stem cells find their way, almost magically, into the marrow and make their home there. 


Different Roles

Each of the different types of white blood cells have a special role in the immune system, and many are able to transform themselves in different ways. The following descriptions help to understand the roles of the different cells. 

• Neutrophils are by far the most common form of white blood cells that you have in your body. Your bone marrow produces trillions of them every day and releases them into the bloodstream, but their life span is short -- generally less than a day. Once in the bloodstream neutrophils can move through capillary walls into tissue. Neutrophils are attracted to foreign material, inflammation and bacteria. If you get a splinter or a cut, neutrophils will be attracted by a process called chemotaxis. Many single-celled organisms use this same process; chemotaxis lets motile cells move toward higher concentrations of a chemical. Once a neutrophil finds a foreign particle or a bacteria it will engulf it, releasing enzymes, hydrogen peroxide and other chemicals from its granules to kill the bacteria. In a site of serious infection (where lots of bacteria have reproduced in the area), pus will form. Pus is simply dead neutrophils and other cellular debris. 
• Eosinophils and basophils are far less common than neutrophils. Eosinophils seem focused on parasites in the skin and the lungs, while Basophils carry histamine and are therefore important (along with mast cells) to the causing of inflammation. From the immune system's standpoint inflammation is a good thing. It brings in more blood and it dilates capillary walls so that more immune system cells can get to the site of infection. 
• Of all blood cells, macrophages are the biggest (hence the name "macro"). Monocytes are released by the bone marrow, float in the bloodstream, enter tissue and turn into macrophages. Most boundary tissue has its own devoted macrophages. For example, alveolar macrophages live in the lungs and keep the lungs clean (by ingesting foreign particles like smoke and dust) and disease free (by ingesting bacteria and microbes). Macrophages are called langerhans cells when they live in the skin. Macrophages also swim freely. One of their jobs is to clean up dead neutrophils; macrophages clean up pus, for example, as part of the healing process. 
• The lymphocytes handle most of the bacterial and viral infections that we get. Lymphocytes start in the bone marrow. Those destined to become B cells develop in the marrow before entering the bloodstream. T cells start in the marrow but migrate through the bloodstream to the thymus and mature there. T cells and B cells are often found in the bloodstream but tend to concentrate in lymph tissue such as the lymph nodes, the thymus and the spleen. There is also quite a bit of lymph tissue in the digestive system. B cells and T cells have different functions. 
• B cells, when stimulated, mature into plasma cells; these are the cells that produce antibodies. A specific B cell is tuned to a specific germ, and when the germ is present in the body the B cell clones itself and produces millions of antibodies designed to eliminate the germ. 
• T cells, on the other hand, actually bump up against cells and kill them. T cells known as Killer T cells can detect cells in your body that are harboring viruses, and when it detects such a cell it kills it. Two other types of T cells, known as Helper and Suppressor T cells, help sensitise killer T cells and control the immune response.

T Cells

Helper T cells are actually quite important and interesting. They are activated by Interleukin-1, produced by macrophages. Once activated, Helper T cells produce Interleukin-2, then interferon and other chemicals. These chemicals activate B cells so that they produce antibodies. The complexity and level of interaction between neutrophils, macrophages, T cells and B cells is really quite amazing.

Because white blood cells are so important to the immune system, they are used as a measure of immune system health. When you hear that someone has a "strong immune system" or a "suppressed immune system", one way it was determined was by counting different types of white blood cells in a blood sample. A normal white blood cell count is in the range of 4,000 to 11,000 cells per microliter of blood. 1.8 to 2.0 helper T-cells per suppressor T-cell is normal. A normal absolute neutrophil count (ANC) is in the range of 1,500 to 8,000 cells per microliter. 

One important question to ask about white blood cells (and several other parts of the immune system) is, "How does a white blood cell know what to attack and what to leave alone? Why doesn't a white blood cell attack every cell in the body?" There is a system built into all of the cells in your body called the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) (also known as the Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA)) that marks the cells in your body as "you". Anything that the immune system finds that does not have these markings (or that has the wrong markings) is definitely "not you" and is therefore fair game. Encyclopedia Britannica has this to say about the MHC:

"There are two major types of MHC protein molecules--class I and class II--that span the membrane of almost every cell in an organism. In humans these molecules are encoded by several genes all clustered in the same region on chromosome 6. Each gene has an unusual number of alleles (alternate forms of a gene). As a result, it is very rare for two individuals to have the same set of MHC molecules, which are collectively called a tissue type.

MHC molecules are important components of the immune response. They allow cells that have been invaded by an infectious organism to be detected by cells of the immune system called T lymphocytes, or T cells. The MHC molecules do this by presenting fragments of proteins (peptides) belonging to the invader on the surface of the cell. The T cell recognizes the foreign peptide attached to the MHC molecule and binds to it, an action that stimulates the T cell to either destroy or cure the infected cell. In uninfected healthy cells the MHC molecule presents peptides from its own cell (self peptides), to which T cells do not normally react. However, if the immune mechanism malfunctions and T cells react against self peptides, an autoimmune disease arises."

Vaccinations

There are many diseases that, if you catch them once, you will never catch again. Measles is a good example, as is chicken pox. What happens with these diseases is that they make it into your body and start reproducing. The immune system gears up to eliminate them. In your body you already have B cells that can recognize the virus and produce antibodies for it. However, there are only a few of these cells for each antibody. Once a particular disease is recognized by these few specific B cells, the B cells turn into plasma cells, clone themselves and start pumping out antibodies. This process takes time, but the disease runs it course and is eventually eliminated. However, while it is being eliminated, other B cells for the disease clone themselves but do not generate antibodies. This second set of B cells remains in your body for years, so if the disease reappears your body is able to eliminate it immediately before it can do any harm to you. 

A vaccine is a weakened form of a disease. It is either a killed form of the disease, or it is a similar but less virulent strain. Once inside your body your immune system mounts the same defense, but because the disease is different or weaker you get few or no symptoms of the disease. Now, when the real disease invades your body, your body is able to eliminate it immediately. Vaccines exist for all sorts of diseases, both viral and bacterial: measles, mumps, whooping cough, tuberculosis, smallpox, polio, typhoid, etc. 

Many diseases cannot be cured by vaccines, however. The common cold and Influenza are two good examples. These diseases either mutate so quickly or have so many different strains in the wild that it is impossible to inject all of them into your body. Each time you get the flu, for example, you are getting a different strain of the same disease. 


AIDS

AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is a disease caused by HIV (the Human Immunodeficiency Virus). This is a particularly problematic disease for the immune system because the virus actually attacks immune system cells. In particular, it reproduces inside Helper T cells and kills them in the process. Without Helper T cells to orchestrate things, the immune system eventually collapses and the victim dies of some other infection that the immune system would normally be able to handle. 


How Antibiotics Work

Sometimes your immune system is not able to activate itself quickly enough to outpace the reproductive rate of a certain bacteria, or the bacteria is producing a toxin so quickly that it will cause permanent damage before the immune system can eliminate the bacteria. In these cases it would be nice to help the immune system by killing the offending bacteria directly.

Antibiotics work on bacterial infections. Antibiotics are chemicals that kill the bacteria cells but do not affect the cells that make up your body. For example, many antibiotics interrupt the machinery inside bacterial cells that builds the cell wall. Human cells do not contain this machinery, so they are unaffected. Different antibiotics work on different parts of bacterial machinery, so each one is more or less effective on specific types of bacteria. You can see that, because a virus is not alive, antibiotics have no effect on a virus. 

One problem with antibiotics is that they lose effectiveness over time. If you take an antibiotic it will normally kill all of the bacteria it targets over the course of a week or 10 days. You will feel better very quickly (in just a day or two) because the antibiotic kills the majority of the targeted bacteria very quickly. However, on occasion one of the bacterial offspring will contain a mutation that is able to survive the specific antibiotic. This bacterium will then reproduce and the whole disease mutates. Eventually the new strain is infecting everyone and the old antibiotic has no effect on it. This process has become more and more of a problem over time and has become a significant concern in the medical community. Given this imperfect result, it does not seem likely that a form of spiritual antibiotic was Jesus' preferred form of bacterial elimination! 

One other factor suggesting this may not be a non-Adamic approach to bacterial defence, is that the body is also home to millions of ‘friendly' bacteria, e.g. those aiding the digestive processes in the gut. Today's antibiotics represent deadly ‘friendly fire' on those helpful bacteria which the medical profession, correctly, have decided represent acceptable losses to protect the greater good of the patients' overall well-being. I suspect it would prove quite difficult, even for God, to manufacture a chemical that was clever enough to differentiate friendly from enemy bacteria, so I expect the specific antigen cure described previously is the preferred route for non-Adamic bodies.


Immune System Mistakes

Sometimes the immune system makes a mistake. One type of mistake is called autoimmunity: the immune system for some reason attacks its own body in the same way it would normally attack a germ. Two common diseases are caused by immune system mistakes. Juvenile-onset diabetes is caused by the immune system attacking and eliminating the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. Rheumatoid arthritis is caused by the immune system attacking tissues inside the joints. 

Allergies are another form of immune system error. For some reason, in people with allergies, the immune system strongly reacts to an allergen that should be ignored. The allergen might be a certain food, or a certain type of pollen, or a certain type of animal fur. For example, a person allergic to a certain pollen will get a runny nose, watery eyes, sneezing, etc. This reaction is caused primarily by mast cells in the nasal passages. In reaction to the pollen, the mast cells release histamine. Histamine has the effect of causing inflammation, which allows fluid to flow from blood vessels. Histamine also causes itching. To eliminate these symptoms the drug of choice is, of course, an antihistamine. 

The last example of an immune system mistake is the effect the immune system has on transplanted tissue. This really is not a mistake, but it makes organ and tissue transplants nearly impossible. When the foreign tissue is placed inside your body, its cells do not contain the correct identification. Your immune system therefore attacks the tissue. The problem cannot be prevented, but can be diminished by carefully matching the tissue donor with the recipient and by using immunosuppressing drugs to try to prevent an immune system reaction. Of course, by suppressing the immune system these drugs open the patient to opportunistic infections.

4. Perfect Removal and/or Prevention of Cancerous Growths 

As we saw above, telomerase enables correct cell replication and therefore providing longevity in the host. Telomerase largely exists in cancerous cells and not normal somatic body cells thereby enabling rapid cancerous growth and restricting normal cell replication to create the aging process. God must have reversed its non-Adamic function which would have originally enabled correct somatic cell replication and prevented cancerous cell reproduction. In normal cells, the p21 gene acts like a brake to block cell cycle progression in the event of DNA damage, preventing the cells from dividing and potentially becoming cancerous. If cancers were prevented by the reversal of the telomerase factor above then the p21 gene could be completely removed to enable perfect and swift (instant?) healing. So God must have introduced the p21 gene into the Adamic body to prevent its full healing ability whilst providing some constraint on the growth of cancerous cells otherwise there would have been nothing to prevent cancerous growth ravaging all human bodies which presumably would have reduced our Adamic life-expectancy to well below the current theoretical 120 year limit. 

So we have two key genetic changes necessary to turn Adamic bodies back into the perfect non-Adamic bodies that we will gain in the Kingdom: the addition of telomerase to and the removal of the p21 gene from all our normal body cells. Can this be the greater meaning of the two phased cure of the blind man account in Mark 8:22-26 which we looked at previously in this paper? Adam's body must have been the perfect non-Adamic human body prior to his fall from grace. As a first generation non-Adamic man his body must have been perfect so that no genetic disorders of any kind would have been present in his body. So in ‘zapping' his genes to make him Adamic, God would only have to effect the telomerase and p21 gene factors to create an aging (and thereby dying) body that had its healing abilities reduced. It is not likely that God would have introduced any other specific gene disorders into Adam's DNA since the aging process alone would have been responsible for this during Adam's lengthy lifetime and during the subsequent generations of Adamic man: 

17 and of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou dost not eat of it, for in the day of thine eating of it -- dying thou dost die.' (Genesis 2).

The above scripture is taken from Young's Literal Translation since the Hebrew word to die ‘muwth' is contained twice in this verse. Most translations take this to mean emphasis whereas Young's more literal, and in this case correct, translation takes this to mean that Adam would start to die (dying thou dost die) on the day he ate of the forbidden fruit rather than die on that day since we are told that Adam lived nearly nine hundred years after he ate the fruit:

5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died. (Genesis 5)

Now mankind today has faulty genetics in more ways than merely these two issues of aging and cancer since genetic replication faults have developed through the generations which have lead to all the genetic problems that we face today (somewhat worse even than the state of physical man that Christ healed some two thousand years ago). So the provision of a fix to make today's Adamic body become non-Adamic is significantly more complex than merely switching the telomerase and p21 gene factors back to their Adamic states. Many other levels of genetic damage need to be fixed and in fixing these during His ministry, Jesus would have had to heal each patient with their own perfect unique genetic fix but without changing the telomerase aging factor. These cures, being immediate in effect, are now beginning to sound even more miraculous to me than when I began this quest. They required, at the very least, the selective changing of all the faulty genetic characteristics in the body's cells that would lead to the illness cured but without touching those which were necessary to identify the uniqueness of each particular body. Earlier in the research process I wondered if some kind of spiritual virus was used to transport the new DNA chains to each cell as per the current methods of gene therapy. Now I know that Jesus' curing approach for all Adamic man's illnesses can be explained by the mechanism described under the Final Conclusion section above. 

Earlier, in the previous section of this paper, I noted that our evolutionist friends believe that the p21 gene was added through evolution. Errr...what happened to natural selection and survival of the fittest? So it seems that evolution enabled most species to develop an anti-healing property by adding a gene!!!!!!! Well that makes perfect sense...not. How far will allegedly intelligent mankind go to support the totally discredited theory of evolution with the sole purpose of denying his maker? It is clearly much more logical to consider that God added the p21 gene as an element of His punishment on Adam and his heirs.

1. Indefinite Life Expectancy

Telomeres are repeating DNA sequences that are not actually needed (or indeed used) for cell replication. They protect chromosome code chain ends to reduce chain damage upon replication thereby increasing the levels of perfect replication and the consequent reduction of the aging process. In our Adamic bodies the telomeres shorten with each replication. Once they are shortened beyond a critical level then they are no longer able to replicate thereby initiating the aging process.

Telomerase is an enzyme, found in our Adamic bodies, which adds additional DNA chains to the telomeres to ensure the longevity of the replication process. Telomerase is found in fetal tissues, adult germ cells, and (perversely if not Satanically) tumor cells. How on earth can evolutionists, who believe in natural selection through the survival of the fittest, explain that one? As a curse from God upon Adamic mankind it makes perfect sense apart from the fact that the divine irony is quite delicious.Telomerase activity is regulated during development and has a very low, almost undetectable activity in somatic (body) cells. Because these somatic cells do not regularly use telomerase, they age. The result of aging cells is an aging body. If telomerase is activated in a cell, the cell will continue to grow and divide perfectly. This "immortal cell" theory is important in two areas of research: aging and cancer.

I would assume therefore that, in a non-Adamic body, the telomeres in somatic cells are not compromised by a shortening at each replication by the presence of telomerase; this would enable indefinite life in a non-aging body. One could therefore deduce that God removed the telomerase from Adam's normal body cells (and those therefore of all his descendents) to induce the aging process in our Adamic bodies. Given that the Adamic body has gone through several phases of longevity, according to the Lords' Witnesses' understanding: ([Introduction 15] 120, 240, 480, 960 and indefinite lifespan humans), it would seem that this removal of telomerase was achieved in several phases over the ages by reducing the level of telomerase present in our somatic body cells until reaching today's level of zero, equating to a maximum life expectancy of 120 years. Ironically it seems that telomerase is present in cancerous cells thereby imparting immortality to those cells enabling them to grow uncontrollably into deadly malignant tumours. A non-Adamic body presumably will only allow telomerase to be present in normal body cells but would have the enzyme absent from any cancerous cells thereby ensuring that the cancer cannot spread. However, I would expect that in a non-Adamic body there is zero chance of a cancerous cell being created in the first place and therefore the presence of telomerase or absence in that cell would only represent a theoretical perspective.

At the risk of repeating myself I find it is interesting that God saw fit to not only curse mankind with the aging process, but also with the prospect of malignant cancers to further decrease man's normal lifespan and increase his misery on earth by using the very mechanism on cancerous cells that would provide a non-aging healthy body if present in normal body cells. If it were not so sad this provides a delicious irony but also a clear message to anyone with the requisite biochemical knowledge that there is a mechanism available naturally that could support immortal man if implemented appropriately. How many biochemists are there though that would recognise this irony as a message from our God I wonder? I found the following web-site to be very clearly written on the current state of knowledge of cellular aging: Telomeres and Telomerase

Image provided by www.BiblePictureGallery.com

3. Perfect Self-Healing Abilities

The p21 gene blocks cell generation to prevent cancerous cell growth but it also prevents the complete healing process. When removed it enables perfect cell re-growth allowing limbs to be re-grown. It enables creation of new cell growth and not scarring and incomplete repair to existing damaged tissue. Researchers have found that the gene p21 appears to block the healing power still enjoyed by some creatures including amphibians but lost through evolution to all other animals. The word ‘evolution' here is used by those so-called ‘scientific' researchers; as you might imagine I cannot resist commenting on this latter point a little further on in this paper. By turning off p21, the complete healing process can be miraculously switched back on. 

Academics from The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia found that mice lacking the p21 gene gain the ability to regenerate lost or damaged tissue. Unlike typical mammals, which heal wounds by forming a scar, these mice begin by forming a ‘blastema', a structure associated with rapid cell growth. According to the Wistar researchers, the loss of p21 causes the cells of these mice to behave more like regenerating embryonic stem cells rather than adult mammalian cells. This means they act as if they are creating rather than mending the affected body part. 

Their findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provide solid evidence to link tissue regeneration to the control of cell division. They turned off the gene in mice which had damaged ears and they regrew them. While they say it is early days, there is nothing theoretically different about applying the same process to humans. 

Professor Ellen Heber-Katz, the lead scientist, said: "Much like a newt that has lost a limb, these mice will replace missing or damaged tissue with healthy tissue that lacks any sign of scarring. While we are just beginning to understand the repercussions of these findings perhaps, one day, we will be able to accelerate healing in humans by temporarily inactivating the p21 gene. In normal cells, p21 acts like a brake to block cell cycle progression in the event of DNA damage, preventing the cells from dividing and potentially becoming cancerous. We propose that any future therapy would involve turning off p21 transiently during the healing process and only locally at the wound site. This might be done through locally applied drugs. This should minimise any side effects." 

This certainly sounds like one of the main mechanisms that Christ might have used during His healing ministry. In particular this might have been the key for fixing Malchus' ear although he was probably more of a rat than a mouse!

2. Perfect Prevention or Removal of Hereditary Health Defects

Have people ever said to you, "It's in your genes?" They were probably talking about a physical characteristic, personality trait, or talent that you share with other members of your family. We know that genes play an important role in shaping how we look and act and even whether we get sick. Now scientists are trying to use that knowledge in new ways, such as preventing and treating health problems.

What Is a Gene?

To understand how genes work, we need to review some biology basics. Most living organisms are made up of cells that contain a substance called deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). DNA is wrapped together to form structures called chromosomes. Most cells in the human body have 23 pairs of chromosomes, making a total of 46. Individual sperm and egg cells, however, have just 23 unpaired chromosomes. Each human being receives half of our chromosomes from our mother's egg and the other half from our father's sperm cell. A male child receives an X chromosome from his mother and a Y chromosome from his father; females get an X chromosome from each parent.

So where do genes come in? Genes are sections or segments of DNA that are carried on the chromosomes and determine specific human characteristics, such as height or hair color. Because each parent gives us one chromosome in each pair, we have two of every gene (except for some of the genes on the X and Y chromosomes in boys because boys have only one of each). Some characteristics come from a single gene, whereas others come from gene combinations. Because every person has from 25,000 to 35,000 different genes, there is an almost endless number of possible combinations! These combinations make each of us physically unique warts and all. Would a purely random process ensure that each one of us looked different from everyone else? Surely this is the work of a designed process that would ensure each individual's physical individuality would match their spiritual individuality. Another point for the evolutionists among you to ponder! 

Genes and Heredity

Heredity is the passing of genes from one generation to the next. We inherit our parents' genes. Heredity helps to make each of us the person we are today: short or tall, with black hair or blond, with green eyes or blue.

How Do Genes Work?

DNA contains four chemicals (adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine - called A, T, C, and G for short) that are strung in patterns on extremely thin, coiled strands in the cell. Each cell in the human body contains about 6 feet of DNA thread, for a total of about 3 billion miles (if all your DNA threads were stretched out straight) of DNA inside you! The DNA patterns are the codes for manufacturing proteins, which are chemicals that enable the body to work and grow. Genes hold the instructions for making protein products (like the enzymes to digest food or the pigment that gives eyes their colour). As cells duplicate, they pass this genetic information to the new cells. Genes can be dominant or recessive. Dominant genes show their effect even if there is only one copy of that gene in the pair. For a person to have a recessive disease or characteristic, the person must have the gene on both chromosomes of the pair.

What Are Genetic Disorders?

Cells can sometimes contain changes or variants in the information in their genes. This is called gene mutation, and it often occurs when cells are aging or have been exposed to certain chemicals or radiation. Fortunately, cells usually recognize these mutations and repair them by themselves. Other times, however, they can cause illnesses, such as some types of cancer. If the gene mutation exists in egg or sperm cells, children can inherit the mutated gene from their parents. Researchers have identified more than 4,000 diseases that are caused by genetic variants. Having a genetic mutation that may cause disease, however, does not always mean that a person will actually get that disease. Because we inherit a gene from each parent, having one disease gene usually does not cause any problems because the normal gene can allow your body to make the normal protein it needs.

On average, people probably carry from 5 to 10 variant or disease genes in their cells. Problems arise when the disease gene is dominant or when the same recessive disease gene is present on both chromosomes in a pair. Problems can also occur when several variant genes interact with each other - or with the environment - to increase susceptibility to diseases. If a person carries the dominant gene for a disease, he or she will usually have the disease and each of the person's children will have a 1 in 2 (50%) chance of inheriting the gene and getting the disease. Diseases caused by a dominant gene include achondroplasia (a form of dwarfism), Marfan syndrome (a connective tissue disorder), and Huntington disease (a degenerative disease of the nervous system).

People who have one recessive gene for a disease are called carriers, and they don't usually have the disease because they have a normal gene of that pair that can do its job correctly. When two carriers have a child together, however, the child has a 1 in 4 (25%) chance of getting the disease gene from both parents, which results in the child having the disease. Cystic fibrosis (a lung disease), sickle cell anemia (a blood disease), and Tay-Sachs disease (which causes nervous system problems) are caused by recessive disease genes from both parents coming together in a child. Some recessive genetic variants are carried only on the X chromosome, which means that usually only guys can develop the disease because they have only one X chromosome. Girls have two X chromosomes, so they would need to inherit two copies of the recessive gene to get the disease. X-linked disorders include the bleeding disorder hemophilia and color blindness.

Sometimes when an egg and sperm unite, the new cell gets too many or too few chromosomes. Most children born with Down syndrome, which is associated with mental retardation, have an extra chromosome number 21.

Changing Genes

Sometimes scientists alter genes on purpose. For many years, researchers have altered the genes in microbes and plants to produce offspring with special characteristics, such as an increased resistance to disease or pests, or the ability to grow in difficult environments. We call this genetic engineering.

Gene therapy is a promising new field of medical research. In gene therapy, researchers try to supply copies of healthy genes to cells with variant or missing genes so that the "good" genes will take over. Viruses are often used to carry the healthy genes into the targeted cells because many viruses can insert their own DNA into targeted cells. However there are problems with gene therapy. Scientists have not yet identified every gene in the human body or what each one does. Huge scientific efforts like The Human Genome Project and related projects have recently completed a map of the entire human genome (all of the genetic material on a living thing's chromosomes), but it will take many more years to find out what each gene does and how they interact with one another. For most diseases, scientists do not know if and how genes play a role. Plus, there are major difficulties inserting the normal genes into the proper cells without causing problems for the rest of the body. Still, for many people who have genetic diseases, gene therapy holds the hope that they - or their children - will be able to live better, healthier lives.

Whilst gene therapy appears to be the main hope in today's medical profession of mending some of the above types of genetic condition this will not likely follow the medical approach adopted by the Holy Spirit in fixing them during Christ's ministry except perhaps in result only. The Holy Spirit presumably works by the instant repair or replacement of damaged or mutated genetic material to a non-Adamic state since the provision of a non-Adamic body presumably means a perfect set of Genes/DNA and chromosomes so that hereditary health defects just do not feature.

Reference Section: Adamic v non-Adamic Bodies

What are the key differences between an Adamic and a non-Adamic human body? In the writer's expectation the non-Adamic body has the following key qualities which are missing from the imperfect Adamic bodies which we possess today:

1. indefinite life expectancy; 
2. no genetic disorders; 
3. total self-healing capability; 
4. mechanisms to prevent cancerous growths; 
5. perfectly deadly and immediately acting immune system.

Below I cover each of these topics together with the current views about the theoretical medical prospects for the human re-engineering of our Adamic bodies back to the state God originally intended in each of these areas. The end point of all this is to demonstrate that for God to provide us with perfect and non-aging non-Adamic bodies in the Kingdom represents a very small set of biological design changes. These following sections necessarily require some biological scientific knowledge for a full understanding. However, since the writer did not have this knowledge prior to writing this paper, it is my hope that, in explaining these matters to myself, I will also prove able to explain them to others with a similar lack of previous knowledge of the relevant topic areas.

The Sick Brought to Jesus at Sunset in Capernaum

Image provided by www.BiblePictureGallery.com

Adam and Eve Driven from Eden - CF Vos

Jewish Lords' Witness

​Date of Publication: 27th August 2010

15. Healing a man born blind

(John 9:1-41):

1 Now as he was passing along he saw a man blind from birth. 
2 And his disciples asked him: "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, so that he was born blind?" 
3 Jesus answered: "Neither this man sinned nor his parents, but it was in order that the works of God might be made manifest in his case. 
4 We must work the works of him that sent me while it is day; the night is coming when no man can work. 
5 As long as I am in the world, I am the world's light." 
6 After he said these things, he spit on the ground and made a clay with the saliva, and put his clay upon the [man's] eyes 
7 and said to him: "Go wash in the pool of Si•lo'am" (which is translated ‘Sent forth'). And so he went off and washed, and came back seeing. 
8 Therefore the neighbors and those who formerly used to see he was a beggar began to say: "This is the man that used to sit and beg, is it not?" 
9 Some would say: "This is he." Others would say: "Not at all, but he is like him." The man would say: "I am [he]." 
10 Consequently they began to say to him: "How, then, were your eyes opened?" 
11 He answered: "The man called Jesus made a clay and smeared [it] on my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Si•lo'am and wash.' I therefore went and washed and gained sight." 
12 At this they said to him: "Where is that [man]?" He said: "I do not know." 
13 They led the once-blind man himself to the Pharisees. 
14 Incidentally it was Sabbath on the day that Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. 
15 This time, therefore, the Pharisees also took up asking him how he gained sight. He said to them: "He put a clay upon my eyes, and I washed and have sight." 
16 Therefore some of the Pharisees began to say: "This is not a man from God, because he does not observe the Sabbath." Others began to say: "How can a man that is a sinner perform signs of that sort?" So there was a division among them. 
17 Hence they said to the blind man again: "What do you say about him, seeing that he opened your eyes?" The [man] said: "He is a prophet." 
18 However, the Jews did not believe concerning him that he had been blind and had gained sight, until they called the parents of the man that gained sight. 
19 And they asked them: "Is this YOUR son who YOU say was born blind? How, then, is it he sees at present?" 
20 Then in answer his parents said: "We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 
21 But how it is he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. ASK him. He is of age. He must speak for himself." 
22 His parents said these things because they were in fear of the Jews, for the Jews had already come to an agreement that, if anyone confessed him as Christ, he should get expelled from the synagogue. 
23 This is why his parents said: "He is of age. QUESTION him." 
24 Therefore a second time they called the man that had been blind and said to him: "Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner." 
25 In turn he answered: "Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that, whereas I was blind, I see at present." 
26 Therefore they said to him: "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" 
27 He answered them: "I told YOU already, and yet YOU did not listen. Why do YOU want to hear it again? YOU do not want to become his disciples also, do YOU?" 
28 At this they reviled him and said: "You are a disciple of that [man], but we are disciples of Moses.
29 We know that God has spoken to Moses; but as for this [man], we do not know where he is from." 
30 In answer the man said to them: "This certainly is a marvel, that YOU do not know where he is from, and yet he opened my eyes. 
31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is God-fearing and does his will, he listens to this one. 
32 From of old it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of one born blind. 
33 If this [man] were not from God, he could do nothing at all." 
34 In answer they said to him: "You were altogether born in sins, and yet are you teaching us?" And they threw him out! 
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and, on finding him, he said: "Are you putting faith in the Son of man?" 
36 The [man] answered: "And who is he, sir, that I may put faith in him?" 
37 Jesus said to him: "You have seen him and, besides, he that is speaking with you is that one."38 Then he said: "I do put faith [in him], Lord." And he did obeisance to him. 
39 And Jesus said: "For [this] judgment I came into this world: that those not seeing might see and those seeing might become blind." 
40 Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and they said to him: "We are not blind also, are we?" 
41 Jesus said to them: "If YOU were blind, YOU would have no sin. But now YOU say, ‘We see.' YOUR sin remains." (John 9)

This is a very lengthy account with many lessons in it for all of us; however, I want to concentrate purely on the physical healing aspects therein. As per the previous example of healing a blind man we have the use of Jesus' spit coming into play as a (perhaps) necessary part of the cure albeit with the mixing of it with mud and the eventual washing off to restore the man to full sight. This time we are not told of any necessary re-focussing requirement to follow, so we must assume that was not necessary in this case. Also we are told that this man had been blind from birth which presumably means that the previous example was of a man who had once been able to see and then had lost his sight, a point that we have already been able to establish above. All this suggests that the congenital cause of this man's blindness had no aging aspect, e.g. AMD did not contribute to this man's poor eyesight. 

Compared withn the previous example of blindness this may also be a case of Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA). As an inherited disease it can also cause total blindness from birth. Having looked at the multifarious causes of congenital blindness this appears to be a good candidate for this poor man's condition since it seems to be one of the few causes of total blindness from birth. The majority of congenital blindness conditions are either not total or only onset later on in life, i.e. not from birth. LCA is a result of recessive mutations in certain genes, which have to be present in both the father and mother and come together by chance, leaving the child without an essential component for their vision. There are currently no medical treatments for LCA. 

The disease occurs because the photo receptors, the light sensors in the eye, do not work. These consist of rod and cone cells. Rod cells "see" in black and white, in dim light; cone cells "see" in colour, in bright light. When LCA attacks, neither type of cell works. As LCA acts so early in life, it is important to know, for any sort of treatment, whether these cells never develop properly, whether they are present but not working, or whether they start out properly but deteriorate very rapidly. Several genes have been identified as being at work in the processes of the disease, with more still to be pinned down.

Now my (admittedly medically naïve) opinion on the matter is that these last three accounts, incorporating Jesus' saliva in the cure, with a two-phase cure in the second of these accounts, were witnessed and recorded in scripture to demonstrate to this writer and the reader that cures for the ailments of the Adamic body come in two flavours: DNA fixing and physical healing. The other healing scriptures in this paper do not need to have either a two phase cure or the use of Jesus' saliva since enough information on the available types of cure has been captured in these three accounts alone. This information was either not witnessed or recorded for the other cases. In the greater meaning we can also draw the inference that there are two items that God altered in changing Adam's body from its original non-Adamic form into the Adamic form that we know today: DNA and the p21 gene plus telomerase to provide the non-aging element. Telomerase did not feature in Jesus' cures since even He did not have telomerase in His somatic cells being a non-Adamic but aging human. Any improvement in the Adamic human immune system would no doubt follow as a direct result of the perfecting of the DNA. All of Adam's DNA characteristics were perfect at the time of his fall. His DNA would have been compromised throughout his lengthy lifetime and this is what he would have passed on to his children, culminating in many generations of genetic fault inclusion right up to present times.

Regarding the salesmanship mentioned in an earlier account, verse 3 is interesting in that Jesus states that this man was made blind so that His curing work would be seen. These miracle cures were fully intended by God to be witnessed by the maximum number of people possible to spread the faith in Him and His Son as far and as wide as possible.