2003 Synod Assembly

Bible Study: Dr. Frederick Gaiser

Added 12:00 p.m., Saturday, May 3, 2003

"Healing is an important biblical theme in both the Old and New Testaments," began Dr. Gaiser. As one who has long had an interest in healing, Gaiser was an obvious choice to lead the Bible Study. Along with an academic background, his prior work as a pharmaceutical chemist and his experiences in Africa have broadened his understanding regarding the place of healing today.

Dr. Gaiser led the voting members through the healing story of the man lame from birth found in Acts 3. After a careful reading of the text with commentary, Dr. Gaiser reflected on some of the dimensions of healing. One of those dimensions is the relation between faith and healing. "There’s always a relation between faith and healing in the Bible," he said. "But it's not always the same way twice."

He then stressed that we must recognize our place in the text because, "the story is written to elicit healing faith in us."

Finally, commenting on the fact that the lame man did not get the alms that he requested, Dr. Gaiser posed the question, "Do we [the church] give them what they want?" What is critical in answering that question, he said, is that "until we hear the story of Jesus we don’t know what we want or what is possible." This coincided with his earlier statement that a prayer said in the name of Jesus must be compatible with the gospel of Jesus.

Dr. Gaiser is professor of Old Testament at Luther Seminary and is also a member of the ELCA's Task Force on Health, Healing, and Health Care.

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