Search The Scriptures: A Physician Examines Medicine in the Bible

by Robert B. Greenblatt, Ralph McGill (Foreword)

184 pages Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Enlarged 3rd edition (March 1977) English 0397590601 978-0397590605 Product 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches Shipping 15.2 ounces

127 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1963

About the author

An endocrinologist, he taught for decades at the Medical College of Georgia (now known as Augusta University). The Greenblatt Library at the school was named after him the year after his death.

Reviews

[Tucker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A famous endocrinologist's pet project, first published in 1963, to give hormonally-aware interpretations of Bible stories. Esau, for example, was probably hypoglycemic, or why would he have spontaneously sold his birthright for a bowl of lentils?

The chapter on eunuchs is informative to those in need of a six-page historical overview and it does not malign the victims.

The chapter on "transvestism" is more judgmental, claiming that crossdressing, a "serious problem of behavior," is "unhappily" on the rise in the US and Europe due to "the force of psychologic conditioning" and that it is an "undesirable by-product" of changes in social "mores and manners." He believes that early intervention is necessary and adds that "sex transformation through surgery" isn't the answer. Gratuitously, without context or follow-up, he reports that one unnamed Southern aristocratic man was recently found dead while wearing women's clothes; the murder weapon was one of his own stiletto heels that had been ripped off his body. This three-sentence digression comes across as a victim-blaming scare tactic to corral readers' opinions rather than as enlightenment about endocrinological or Biblical issues.

[Margaret Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Greenblatt undertakes an interesting exploration of human afflictions described in the Bible—both the Old and New Testaments—and applies possible diagnoses from the perspective of twentieth century medical advancement. He compares how plants of ancient use for alleviation of pain or other ailments remain effective as synthesized pharmaceuticals in modern therapies. And, since he wrote as an endocrinologist, he puts much emphasis upon the evolution of learning how to measure, and thus understand more fully, the crucial endocrine system of the human body. Lastly, as he relates how far science has progressed from Biblical times to cure diseases and mend wounds to extend lives, he advocates continuing mindfulness for the emotional aspect of suffering as well, whether or not the new science will be sufficient for any given case.

I found the book a worthy reflection on the history of medicine.