Or Food Epistemology
Once upon a time, three pigs grew tired of their reputation for being snouts that would eat anything. The first little pig read a book about organic food and determined that would be the road to good health. The second little pig read a book about juicing and started juicing everything in sight. The third little pig lost confidence in big business and decided to only buy from local farmers.
Soon the big bad wolf caught wind of their newly found health habits and became concerned that the new nutrition plans might lessen the juiciness of his dinner plans. Before he went to huffing and puffing, he enrolled each in a number of health newsletters – which all contradicted each other. At first, the little pigs appreciated the abundance of free advice but soon grew frustrated as it seemed that no food was safe. What were they to do? Would science save them? Could their church help? Or should they just give up and go back to their old ways of eating anything thrown at them?
Today’s parent faces similar challenges. Low fat diets, high fat diets, gluten free diets, unrefined diets, non-GMO diets, organic diets, and numerous others vie for their allegiance — all promising health and vitality. Each approach might seem excessively burdensome at first blush were it not for our nation’s health crisis. The voices of science, rather than settling the questions, usually confuse things more by arguing for different approaches by using different studies as proof. Whereas experts can’t agree, the church is either silent or echoes the experts, only adding a few Biblical proof-texts. Parents are left feeling confused, anxious and guilty, not knowing who to trust.
Can a fancy word like epistemology help parents sort through the confusion? Epistemology is simply the study of how we know what we know. Understanding how we should evaluate the various dietary options serves one in sifting through the claims. It goes beyond the constantly changing advice of secular science. It provides some principles of discernment that can calm the nerves and guide one through the conflicting claims.
Three principles can serve as sources or guides to sifting through all the health claims. First, God provides guidance in two forms of revelation, special (the Bible) and general (science/reason). Second, parents must look at the potential motivations of the person or group making the claim. Third, while some health claims are presented as universal, many should actually be individualized.
God has provided parents with two sources of revelation for health and tells us repeatedly in one of those, the Bible, that he wants us to have knowledge and wisdom (just look at Proverbs). The other revelation source given by God is general revelation which we can study with our reasoning ability, giving us science. These two sources, when each are rightly studied will agree for they both come from God.
2 Timothy 3:16 explains that the Bible is profitable for our living. Several health promoting authors have taken this seriously and examined the Bible’s guidance in regards to nutrition and healthy living. They also discuss how science appears to be confirming the benefits of some of the Old Testament dietary laws for health (We are no longer under these laws in regards to spiritual health, but some of their physical benefits seem to continue.). Thus, the Bible can be a useful source of guidance for parents if they are careful in their application. They should remember that we often don’t know exactly which foods are meant by ancient Hebrew terms and that the primary intent of the Bible is not dietary advice.
Though God has given parents both the Bible and science/reason to guide their decisions, parents must also recognize that mankind is both limited and fallen. Mankind will never know everything with perfect certainty. Even the most conscientious parent, may find they must adjust their family’s diet over the course of time as they learn more – no person has complete and exhaustive perfection in their understanding. Likewise, science has definite limits, but its practitioners don’t always recognize their own limits, which can lead them to make claims beyond appropriate bounds. Science also comes to us through sinners who sometimes intentionally mislead (in order to sell us their product or gain a reputation) or sometimes unintentionally mislead (caught up in the excitement or themselves deceived by a false worldview).
Parents can practice sound discernment and resist much of the error by a few principles once they recognize this. They can study what God has said about nutrition in the Bible. They can take all claims with a “grain of salt”. They can examine who is making the claim and the potential limitations or biases of that person. They can seek out truth from various sources hopefully finding a doctor who can help guide them. And as always, they can pray for wisdom as James 1:5-8 instructs us all to do.
Beyond these two principles, one more can allay some of the parental anxiety and guilt. Not all health advice applies to all people. Whereas God’s plan of salvation applies to all equally, each person has health needs that differ from those of others. While the Bible warns all equally against drunkenness and gluttony, the Bible does not directly address peanut allergies, gluten sensitivity, or diabetes. Each person should care for the body that God gave them and do all for the glory of God (Colossians 3:23), but only those who learn through reason/science that their bodies cannot tolerate such foods need to avoid them. Parents must discern what their families need by studying their family’s health and applying the wisdom given them by God to each situation. Don’t let someone bind you to a specific diet just because it works for their family and don’t you bind others to your diet. Christians must strive for fellowship at all times rather than allowing food choices to divide (I Corinthians 1:10).
All agree that our nation’s health is deteriorating – even if they disagree as to why. In order to combat this, parents can practice these principles in order to protect or restore their health and the health of their family. The Bible and God’s gift of our reasoning/science should guide us. We must recognize the limits of man’s knowledge and the effects of sin on that knowledge. We must separate health advice that is individual versus that which is for all. In all this we should avoid division over food issues. As Christians we have a responsibility to care for God’s gift of life in ourselves and our children. As Christians, we can do all things through him who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13)- in a spirit of Christian unity.
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
