Science & Scripture · Medicine

Palsy — a condition involving uncontrollable tremors or paralysis — can be cured by a verbal command from another person.

Medicine 97 passages in this field

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What current science says

Palsy is a broad term covering conditions like cerebral palsy, Bell's palsy, and various forms of paralysis — all involving dysfunction in the nervous system. After eight years of immobility, the patient would face severe muscle atrophy, joint contractures, pressure sores, cardiovascular deconditioning, and osteoporosis. Modern treatment for palsy involves physical therapy, occupational therapy, botulinum toxin injections, and sometimes deep brain stimulation for tremors. Each of these targets specific neurological mechanisms. Telling someone to get up doesn't repair damaged basal ganglia or regrow atrophied muscle fibers — it just tells them something their nervous system already can't do.

What the text says

This comes from Acts 9:33-34. A man bedridden for eight years with palsy is told to 'arise and make thy bed,' and he immediately does — eight years of neurological dysfunction reversed by a sentence.

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