A Brief Book Summary from Books At a Glance
by Flynn Evans
About the Author
Todd Miles (PhD, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is Professor of Theology at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon and Teaching Pastor at Gresham Bible Church. A former research engineer, he is married to Camille, with whom he has six children and five grandchildren.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: What Is Marijuana and How Does It Work?
Chapter 2: The Risks of Marijuana Use
Chapter 3: The Christian and the Law
Chapter 4: The Bible and Marijuana
Chapter 5: Discipleship and Marijuana
Chapter 6: How Does Medical Marijuana Work?
Chapter 7: Thinking Biblically About Medical Marijuana
Summary
Introduction
The church has traditionally avoided the question of marijuana use, but due to its increasing legality within the last decade, ignoring the issue is now unwise if not unfaithful. The fact that nothing explicitly in Scripture condemns or promotes it has also historically discouraged serious engagement with the topic. Yet since Scripture is sufficient for all matters of faith and practice, it necessarily has needed guidance for what to do about marijuana as far as Christians should be concerned. The heart of Christ is to help everyone come to know the way they ought to live in order to experience the fullness of the gospel.
To engage with the morality of marijuana use is an important way in which Christians can love God and their neighbors well. A robust commitment to the Bible means declaring all that its counsel has to tell a broken world. Although THC and CBD do possess certain medically-documented health benefits, Scripture’s proscription against drunkenness is ultimately applicable to the effects of marijuana intoxication as well.
Chapter 1: What Is Marijuana and How Does It Work?
The skyrocketing use of recreational marijuana among young men and women especially makes a clear position on the matter vitally important to ministering amongst the next generation. There are obviously adiaphora, or “things indifferent,” upon which Christians can respectfully disagree without compromising the essence of the faith. Nevertheless, the explicit absence of an issue in Scripture does not mean an implicit absence of relevant insight and application.
Concerning marijuana, it is important to not simply to copy and paste the relevant biblical passages on alcohol onto it but understand what it actually is in the first place. Coming from the cannabis or hemp plant, it can be consumed in a variety of ways. THC is an agonist for cannabinoid receptors in the brain that imitates the molecule that activates them, causing a brief but an intense spike in dopamine and thus temporary euphoric pleasure. The psychoactive aspect of THC affects sense perception and one’s mental disposition. Yet it also impacts the hippocampus, leading to potential memory loss, decreased ability to problem solve, impaired motor skills, and generally a distorted awareness of the external world.
Marijuana throughout the 1960s and 70s was much weaker than what is available today. Whereas it is somewhat easier to expect what alcohol will do to an individual based upon a host of physiological factors, no such consistency exists for marijuana due to the high variability of THC levels amongst various available strains. . . .
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