Ezekiel was an epilepsy victim

[scapularkid8]

Some Biblical and secular scholars believe Ezekiel was an epilepsy victim, causing him to be stricken with hypergraphia (the intense urge to write), hyper-moral awareness/religiosity, and seeing strange visions. They claim the beginning of the book when he is on the bank of the river in Babylon when he saw his vision of the Wheel is actually a seizure.

Regardless of whether or not this is true that he was an epileptic (this is not the point of discussion of this thread), I am curious to know what people think about God working through medical afflictions to cause His changes in the world. (In Ezekiel’s case, prophecy)

 

[CMBlaise]

I’ve always thought that God works through natural phenomenon in supernatural ways. I think I may have even heard this theory about Ezekiel before.

I remember once hearing a scientific explanation of all the plagues of Egypt as being connected to a volcanic eruption, which I found particularly interesting. I believe that whoever was articulating the theory was attempting to make the plagues seem less miraculous, but I just interpreted them as God using the Earth to do His will.

God seems to me to be present in the world in a way that is only clear to those that are looking for him. Because of this, I think that God probably does work through diseases because it obscures his agency to a certain degree, allowing us the freedom to see him if we choose to, or to ignore him if we don’t.

 

[I_Fortuna]

Some Biblical and secular scholars believe Ezekiel was an epilepsy victim, causing him to be stricken with hypergraphia (the intense urge to write), hyper-moral awareness/religiosity, and seeing strange visions. They claim the beginning of the book when he is on the bank of the river in Babylon when he saw his vision of the Wheel is actually a seizure.

Regardless of whether or not this is true that he was an epileptic (this is not the point of discussion of this thread), I am curious to know what people think about God working through medical afflictions to cause His changes in the world. (In Ezekiel’s case, prophecy)

So? Does that mean that my cousin who has epilepsy is not capable of anything but visions brought on by a seizure? Does that mean he is incapable in any area? Maybe it is best he does not fly an airplane but mostly it changes nothing. In fact, he has an enormously high I.Q.

I don’t think that seizures invalidate what Ezekiel saw and prophecied. And, we don’t know for a fact that he had this condition. God apparently chose him for a special purpose and mission.

 

[Non_Serviam]

We know that Moses had a speech impediment (Exodus 4:10) and was still used by God.

 

[scapularkid8]

So? Does that mean that my cousin who has epilepsy is not capable of anything but visions brought on by a seizure? Does that mean he is incapable in any area? Maybe it is best he does not fly an airplane but mostly it changes nothing. In fact, he has an enormously high I.Q.

I don’t think that seizures invalidate what Ezekiel saw and prophecied. And, we don’t know for a fact that he had this condition. God apparently chose him for a special purpose and mission.

I wasn’t …
Nevermind.
The thread is about questioning if and how God works through handicaps, not whether Ezekiel’s prophetic discourse is invalidated because of his possible condition.