Here is a spiritual conundrum posed by a reader named Joe:

I’m looking for doctrinal statements that deal with the human physical fragility and its source. Is human fragility (sickness, disease, etc.) a consequence of original sin? Is human fragility a consequence of the curse to the ground. (ie. The ground is cursed, we grow food from the ground, we eat cursed ground food and we eat animals that eat cursed-ground food, we therefore are processing cursed-ground foods and we get sick and have diseases). I hope you get my drift and may have some helpful insight or direct me to a reliable resource. Thank you for your time and I really appreciate your message “Curses or Consequences…”

Wow! Great question, Joe!

And since it’s such a huge question, I’ll give you the short version first:

Like human beings themselves, human fragility, sickness, and disease is a result of a highly complex interaction of many physical and spiritual causes, both individual and societal, from the past, the present, and (strange as it may seem) even the future.

If a person is sick—especially if it is a serious illness—there is no single, simple cause, nor is there a single, simple solution. All sickness and disease is systemic. Even if it may appear to affect only one part of the body, in fact it both affects and is affected by the entire body, mind, and spirit of the person who is sick.

It also both affects and is affected by the person’s physical, social, and spiritual environment. We humans are social creatures embedded in a human environment. We are also biological creatures embedded in a physical environment. Our physical and spiritual environments have a profound effect on our sickness and health.

Because of this highly complex source of human frailty, sickness, and disease, we both do and do not bear responsibility for our own weakness and disease as individuals. By taking responsibility for what we can take responsibility for, we can indeed improve our physical and mental health.

And yet, there will always be factors beyond our control influencing us. Even if we were to live a near-perfect life and lifestyle, we could still suffer from human frailties and diseases because of the rather toxic physical and spiritual environment in which we live. Being sick is not something to beat ourselves up about. It does not necessarily mean that we are bad people or that we are being punished for our sins.

But it does mean that we have work to do, both individually and as a society.

Now for the long version, including responses to your specific doctrinal and Bible-based questions.

For more on human fragility, sickness, and disease, please click here to read on.