Did Jesus Blind Paul?
And Does this Prove that God Inflicts
Sickness?
By Troy J. Edwards
It
is well-known by the most casual Bible reader (or church attendee) that Paul
was an enemy of the church before becoming one of the greatest servants of Jesus
Christ. Furthermore, most are familiar with the circumstances of his
conversion. However, let us refer to Luke’s account as a reminder:
Acts 9:1-9
1 And Saul, yet
breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord,
went unto the high priest,
2 And desired of
him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way,
whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
4 And he fell to
the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me?
5 And he said, Who
art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard
for thee to kick against the pricks.
:6 And he trembling
and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto
him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must
do.
7 And the men which
journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.
8 And Saul arose
from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led
him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.
9 And he was
three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.
There
is no telling what revelation and insight we would have missed if Paul had not
had this experience. Paul became history’s most dedicated and lifelong servant
of Christ. He contributed to over two-thirds of the New Testament and his
divinely inspired letters are the most read and most taught within the modern
church.
A
Natural Reaction to Bright Light
However,
I am often more perplexed by how some use the account of Paul’s experience to
teach their pet doctrine that God is the afflicter of sickness and disease.
Some theologians refer to this account to proclaim the idea that God directly
afflicts people with sickness and handicaps, that sickness is His will, and
that He has a purpose in it. Atheists like to refer to this passage to show how
cruel the God of the Bible is in order to excuse their hateful vendetta against
Him.
Listening
to these people would lead one to believe that it was Jesus primary intention
to blind Paul despite there being no evidence of such intent. In Acts 9 we are
given two simple facts:
·
And as he journeyed, he came near
Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven
(Acts 9:3)
·
And he was three days without sight,
and neither did eat nor drink. (Acts 9:9)
In
a later account Paul explains that it was indeed due to the glory of that light
that He was unable to see:
And when I could not
see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were
with me, I came into Damascus. (Acts 22:11)
Some
things that are not said in Scripture are just as important as what is
said. Notice that Paul did not say, “God appeared to me and blinded me
in order to humble me.” Paul simply stated that Christ appeared in His bright
glory and as a natural (rather than “intentional”) consequence of that
glory he was blinded.
Medical
Science and “Flash Blindness”
Paul
never accused God of intentionally blinding him though we do not doubt that God
was aware of how the manifestation of His glory would affect Paul’s sight. A
quick search of the internet concerning “light causing blindness” yields a
number of web pages that explain a term called, “flash blindness.”
One
dictionary explains that “flash blindness” is, “Impairment of vision resulting
from an intense flash of light. It includes temporary or permanent loss of
visual functions and may be associated with retinal burns” (Dictionary of
Military and Associated Terms). WebMD, in their, “Corneal Flash Burns Overview”
further explain:
Eyes, particularly the
cornea (the clear window of tissue on the front of the eyeball), can be damaged
easily by exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun and from other sources
of ultraviolet light, such as a welder's arc, a photographer's flood lamps, a
sun lamp, or even a halogen desk lamp. The cornea takes the brunt of the damage
if proper eye protection is not worn, such as dark glasses or goggles while
skiing in bright sun. A corneal flash burn (also called ultraviolet keratitis)
can be considered to be a sunburn of the eye surface. – https://www.webmd.com/eye-health/corneal-flash-burns#1
(Last accessed: April 15, 2020)
Certainly,
Paul was blinded by this light and suffered what modern medical professionals
refer to as “flash blindness”. This also explains the statement in Acts 9:18
when after his healing, “there fell from his eyes as it had been
scales” or, as another translation reads, “something like scales
fell from Saul’s eyes” (An Understandable Version).
In
his commentary on Acts 9:18 Adam Clarke writes, “he had been so dazzled with
the brightness of the light that we may suppose the globe of the eye, and
particularly the cornea, had suffered considerable injury” (Adam Clarke’s
Commentary on the Bible). Clarke then explains that after Paul’s healing, “the
opaque matter separated from the cornea, in the form of thin laminae or scales.”
Regardless, these were not literal scales. Albert Barnes writes:
“As the blindness had
been caused by the natural effect of the light, probably on the optic nerve, it
is manifest that no literal removing of scales would restore the vision. We are
therefore to lay aside the idea of literal scales falling to the earth. No such
thing is affirmed, and no such thing would have met the case.” (Albert Barnes’
Notes on the Bible)
Greek
scholar, A. T. Robertson wrote, “Luke does not say that actual ‘scales’ fell
from the eyes of Saul, but that it felt that way to him as his sight returned”
(Word Pictures in the New Testament). Therefore, it was not as if God
intentionally blinded Paul by miraculously putting scales on his eyes. All that
Paul suffered was a natural reaction to the Lord’s bright glory.
Blindness
is Not the Narrative’s Focus
We
are told in Scripture, “…. God is light, and in him is no darkness at all”
(1 John 1:5). While “light” and “dark” are primarily metaphorical references
(“good” and “evil”) they also tell us how God will manifest Himself in a
physical form. When He appears to the sinful human being, He appears as light
which can be blinding, thus causing “flash blindness”.
But
do we find anything in the account to support the idea that all blindness and
other handicaps are distributed by God? There are many people born blind. Did
God meet them inside their mother’s womb, shine His glory upon them in order to
ensure their blindness?
Many
other causes contribute to people becoming blind or handicapped? Yet, how does
any of these connect to what happened to Paul as if the blindness of Paul is
meant to be the focus of the whole story of his conversion?
The
blinding of Paul is certainly not the focus. Paul relates this account
to King Agrippa, but in this retelling he makes no mention of his blindness:
At midday, O king, I saw
in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round
about me and them which journeyed with me. (Acts 26:13)
Note
that Paul says nothing about His blindness here. This is because the blindness
is not the focus of the story. The focus of Paul’s story is His commission to
preach the gospel to the gentiles. Paul never, ever preached about His
encounter in order to make a case for God being the author of sickness,
disease, and handicaps.
One
should rightfully ask why “sickness is God’s will” theologians (as well as
atheists) emphasize a point in this story that Paul never places a major
emphasis on. Furthermore, why do these theologians draw an application from
this that is never taught or intended by Paul (or Luke who recorded the
account)?
Sickness
and Handicaps are Not God’s Will
Finally,
if this account proves that sickness and handicaps are the “will of God” then
it does a very poor job of making that case.
And Ananias went his way,
and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul,
the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath
sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the
Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been
scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. (Acts
9:17-18)
And one Ananias, a devout
man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt
there, Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive
thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.
(Acts 22:12-13)
After
only three days Paul was healed of his blindness. This is the part that the
“sickness is God’s will” theologians usually don’t mention or lay any real
emphasis on. There are people who have been blind or suffered from a handicap
all of their lives. Paul was only blind for three days. Therefore,
Paul’s story is not applicable to them.
If
anything, this story proves that sickness and handicaps are not the will of God
for anyone. While Paul was blinded due to the brightness of Christ’s glory
(thus suffering from “flash blindness”), He was healed in three days, thus
showing God’s ultimate will for Paul’s physical condition. We can conclude
from this account that health and wholeness, not blindness and sickness, is the
ultimate will of God for every man.
Learn more truth about passages of
Scripture that appear to make God the author of sickness, disease and handicaps.
Get our upcoming revised edition of our book, “Does God Send Sickness?”:
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