The Torch, Spring/Summer 2010

COVER: MARCIN SADŁOWSKI | ISTOCKPHOTO AND CHAD JACKSON | CEDARVILLE UNIVERSITY Our nation’s recent controversy over health care reform has evoked emotional responses and a host of opinions. With so many factors to consider, the answers seem confusing at best and nonexistent at worst. Seeing the health care debate from a biblical perspective requires us to evaluate our priorities and viewpoints and learn from those who bring valuable insight to complicated issues. A balanced perspective — one informed by both reliable evidence and biblical teaching — is not easy to attain. It requires critical thinking, humble dialogue, and prayerful consideration. However, our responsibility as American citizens and followers of Christ demands our active involvement in this process. This issue of Torch provides various lenses from which to examine the health care debate. Faculty members at Cedarville University provide well- informed perspectives to help guide our thinking. We’ll hear from a doctor, history professor, pharmacist, nurse, philosopher, and political scientist. One of our own graduates — a health policy advisor on Capitol Hill — helps us understand the health care reform bill and how it will affect our nation. Although you may not agree with everything you read, I trust you will recognize our commitment to analyzing all things through the light of Scripture. Our goal is not to provide cut-and-dried answers. Rather, we seek to make sense of the complexity, respond to important questions, and consider various perspectives from which to wrestle with this topic. As you explore this issue of Torch , may you be informed by the content and encouraged by the opportunities. More importantly, may we be challenged to think and live more like Christ as we engage these complicated issues from a biblical worldview. William E. Brown, Ph.D. President of Cedarville University Examining Health Care Making Sense of Today’s Critical Issues From a Biblical Perspective