How Ben Carson Saved a Four-Year-Old Boy’s Life

Thirty years ago, Dr. Ben Carson removed a tumor from Christopher Pylant’s brain. Neither man has ever forgotten it. In nearly all of his speeches on the campaign trail, Ben Carson sketches the following scene: When a four-year-old boy was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 1985, doctors across the city of Atlanta told his parents to prepare for the end. But the couple, armed with what Carson calls “an unshakeable faith,” journeyed with their son from Georgia to Johns Hopkins University’s Pediatric Neurosurgery Center in Baltimore. There, after troubling scans and an unsuccessful operation, even Carson warned the couple there was little hope for their son. In Carson’s telling, the parents responded firmly, “The Lord is going to heal him, and he’s going to use you to do it.” Carson went on to remove the tumor.

He calls the event a “revelation.” The patient, Christopher Pylant, calls it a “miracle.” Now 34 years old and living in Lakeland, Fla., Pylant has devoted his life to God. A graduate of Southeastern University with a degree in practical theology, he ministers to Christian congregations and youth groups across Florida. Two years ago, he published a book, along with his late father, Neal Pylant, called A Touch from Heaven: A Little Boy’s Story of Surgery, Heaven and Healing. Carson wrote the foreword. “I feel very honored that Dr. Carson tells my story,” Pylant says. “I feel blessed to be a part of his life, to have even a small portion of the impact on him that he’s had on me.” Since his surgery 30 years ago, Pylant says the two have maintained a “great rapport.” When he graduated high school, Pylant says he sent Carson a photograph that Carson later kept on the desk in his office.

A few months ago, Carson e-mailed Pylant to tell him personally that God had called him to run for president. Pylant’s story, and Carson’s use of it, illustrates one part of Carson’s appeal to voters: He talks about how his faith has affected his life and career in language so personal that those who hear him can’t help but be touched by it. And in doing so, he’s also able to showcase his unique accomplishments:

At the Fox News debate last month, tucked quietly alongside his competitors, Carson reminded voters that, with the help of God, he was the only man on the stage to have separated Siamese twins. ADVERTISING Pylant says it’s difficult to imagine that anyone close to him might become president of the United States, but that with Carson, the suggestion seems natural. Pylant says the man who saved his life is uniquely equipped to take on the “issues that matter” — religious freedom, the rise of ISIS, and the debt crisis. “He wants to make America great again.” Pylant says, unintentionally borrowing Donald Trump’s campaign slogan. He pauses. “I don’t mean that in the way that Donald Trump does. . . . I don’t mean he’s just concerned about bringing wealth and status to America.”

Carson, he says, “wants to rebuild the foundations of this country” and to “restore its principles,” fostering a spiritual and moral renewal. Carson talked about Pylant’s story publicly long before he started delivering stump speeches. In his 1996 book Think Big, he recites a thornier version of the tale than the one heard by audiences at venues like the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Road to the Majority Conference this spring and on the soapbox at the Iowa State Fair last month. He admits to telling the Pylants there was no hope for their son after an initial, unsuccessful attempt to biopsy the tumor. He recalls thinking the couple were “religious fanatics,” and counseling them to resign themselves to the hopelessness of the situation. “Maybe you shouldn’t question the reason for these things,” he told them.

The Pylants urged him to do more scans, and he obliged. That’s when he discovered that the tumor was in fact outside of the brain stem, something he had not initially seen through the gray mass. Armed with the knowledge that the tumor was operable after all, he was able to successfully remove it.

Carson writes in Think Big of how the Pylant case led him to understand that, though he called himself a Christian physician, he placed more faith in his own hands than God’s. “It was as if I had prayed for God’s help but either did not expect it, did not appreciate it when it was at work, or unconsciously denied the divine intervention,” he writes. “It has become abundantly clear to me that the Lord was letting me know through that experience with Christopher Pylant that He is there for me, available to be used if I call on Him. I have called on God much more frequently since that experience.”

What survives 30 years later, Pylant says, is not the pain of his illness nor the trauma of undergoing two operations, but rather Carson’s warmth and reassurance. “I don’t remember much other than this one moment, when he came into my room and sat next to me and my parents on the bed and touched my shoulder. There was a kindness and gentleness in his eyes that has never left me,” he says. “God will equip him with all he needs to complete whatever task is in front of him. My life is the greatest witness I have to that.” Pylant’s last checkup at Johns Hopkins was two decades ago. He says he is “healthy and strong,” and needs no medication or regular medical care. “I’m thriving,” he says. “God has been sustaining me for many years.” If anything will keep Carson from the White House, Pylant says, it’s his humble spirit. Indeed, in comparisons with the other anti-establishment candidates in the race, some have predicted that Carson’s soft-spokenness would prove his downfall.

Yet his numbers continue to rise. In the latest RealClearPolitics polling average, he sits in second place behind Donald Trump, with 13.5 percent of the vote. “It’s true that he doesn’t have the political experience,” Pylant says. “But even if he’s not willing to say it, he definitely has all the capabilities. And God will equip him with all he needs to complete whatever task is in front of him. “My life is the greatest witness I have to that.” Ben Carson with Christopher Pylant —

Elaina Plott is a William F. Buckley Fellow in Political Journalism at the National Review Institute.

Here is a little more information that Seventh Day Adventist do not believe in the Orthodox Doctrine of the Trinity.

Does Seventh-day Adventism Teach the Trinity?

SDA scholars admit that Adventism has a different “Trinity” doctrine than orthodox Christianity! See also: Helpful Christian Quotes on the Trinity

SDA “Trinity” Audio Exposé - hear the SDAs in their own words! (See the sources for the audio compilation here.)

Also, you can view this webpage in PDF format, by clicking here. (Note: not all of the links will work in the PDF version, and neither will RefTagger.)

Jump down to subsections of this page:

What Does Adventism’s Clear Word “Bible” Teach About the Trinity?
Ellen White’s Teaching
Denial of Christ’s Omnipresence
Denial of the Incorporeality of God
Conclusion

Does the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and their prophetess Ellen G. White, teach the Biblical, orthodox doctrine of the Trinity? As we will see, the answer to that question is, “No”—despite the fact that the SDA Church now uses the term “Trinity.” (As for Ellen G. White, she was careful never to use the term in all of her published writings—a remarkable feat, considering her extensive plagiarism.) The reality is that Seventh-day Adventism is actually anti-Trinitarian and teaches Tritheism (three gods), just like the Mormons do.

First, here is a good description of the Christian definition of the Trinity:

“In Christianity, the doctrine of the Trinity states that God is one being who exists, simultaneously and eternally, as a mutual indwelling of three persons: the Father, the Son (incarnate as Jesus of Nazareth), and the Holy Spirit. Since the 4th century, in both Eastern and Western Christianity, this doctrine has been stated as ‘three persons in one God,’ all three of whom, as distinct and co-eternal persons, are of one indivisible Divine essence, a simple being. [...]” (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trinity&oldid=148650755)

The Biblical, orthodox doctrine of the Trinity teaches that there is only one God (which is affirmed throughout the Old and New Testaments). In other words, there is only one living Being that is God. As the Nicene Creed affirms, Jesus Christ is “of one Being with the Father.” God is one spirit, not three spirits. He is one being, not three beings. Otherwise, we would have three gods.

In the early days of Seventh-day Adventism, they (including their prophetess Ellen G. White) taught some form of Arianism—denying the eternality of Jesus Christ, denying the personality of the Holy Spirit, and teaching bitheism, or two gods: the eternal Father and the non-eternal Son. Eventually, “the Holy Spirit” got added into this “Godhead” as one of “three living persons of the heavenly trio”1 and one of “the three holiest Beings in heaven”2—and the current SDA teaching of Tritheism (that there are three divine beings in “the Godhead” who are “one” only in purpose, character, etc.) was born. In other words, Adventism’s teaching of polytheism is foundational, fundamental, and continuing—and goes deep into the roots/foundation of Adventism, which was established by their “pioneers” (including their prophetess Ellen G. White). The SDA Church gradually adopted the use of the term “Trinity” to describe this tritheistic view of the Godhead, eventually culminating in the official General Conference session endorsement, in 1946, of a statement of beliefs that incorporated the word “Trinity.”3 Beginning in 1980, the SDA Church finally stated (although, in reality, disingenuously as we’ll see later) in their official statement of “Fundamental Beliefs” that Christ is “eternal.”4

So while they now, officially, use the term “Trinity,” in reality they deny the Trinity and actually teach Tritheism, just like the Mormons do. The Mormons will also use the term Trinity, as does modalist preacher T.D. Jakes. But that does not make any of them Trinitarian, any more than the Jehovah’s Witnessess using the terms “Jesus Christ” or “Son of God” means that they believe in the real Jesus of the Bible. They have simply redefined Christian terms—and so have the Mormons, T.D. Jakes, and the Seventh-day Adventists, with regard to the term “Trinity.” In fact, as we will see later on, even the SDA Church’s own theologians/scholars admit that Adventism teaches a different “Trinity” doctrine than the historical, orthodox Christian doctrine of the Trinity. Now, let us explore what Adventism teaches about this essential point of doctrine.

As mentioned above, the SDA Church uses the word “Trinity” (once—as the title of belief #2) in their current official statement of 28 “Fundamental Beliefs” (although in some instances, the statement of beliefs is published with the word “Godhead” substituted for the word “Trinity”). Here is belief number 2, as found at the official SDA website (adventist.org):

“2. Trinity:
There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three co-eternal Persons. God is immortal, all-powerful, all-knowing, above all, and ever present. He is infinite and beyond human comprehension, yet known through His self-revelation. He is forever worthy of worship, adoration, and service by the whole creation. (Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 4:4-6; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 Tim. 1:17; Rev. 14:7.)” (http://www.adventist.org/beliefs/fundamental/index.html)

At first glance many may think that this statement appears to be orthodox-sounding. But we must investigate further to see what they actually mean by this statement. Just as Mormons claim to believe in “one God” but in reality teach Tritheism, this claim by the SDAs is not enough to make them Trinitarian. The statement can make evangelical Christians believe they are orthodox, while at the same time meaning something different within Adventism. (Anyone who is familiar with Adventism knows that this is exactly what they do on many different subjects—they have their own, different definitions for Christian terms.)

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Before looking at further SDA sources, let’s first look a little bit closer at this statement itself. Notice that it does not say that there is one God in three persons, but that the “one God” is “a unity of three co-eternal Persons” (capital ‘P’). Here is a hint of their teaching that “God” is a group/”trio” of three “divine Beings,” which we will see more of later. At first glance, the Fundamental Belief statement may appear to at least be compatible with orthodoxy. But in fact, what it says is not very orthodox at all, and their statement is actually heretical in itself. It states, “There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three co-eternal Persons.” Notice how their “one God” is defined as “a unity of three co-eternal Persons.” As Christians, we don’t worship “a unity of three”—we worship one living God (one indivisible simple Being who exists as three persons). They define “one God” as a “unity [group] of three” Persons. So even what their official statement is saying is that there is a “united group” or “family” of three “Persons”—and this group is called “God” and there is only “one” group. In fact, in some ways their current statement of Fundamental Beliefs is less orthodox than the pre-1980 statement of beliefs, even though that statement did not say Jesus is eternal. Interestingly, in 1980 they deleted their previous (1931) wording about Jesus, where they had said that he was “of the same nature and essence as the Eternal Father.” (Although, even that was deceptively stated—even back then they didn’t mean the same thing orthodox Christianity means, that God is one Being!) Also, since they define “God” as a group of three, then they are actually lying in this Fundamental Belief statement when they say that they believe that “God” is “ever present,” considering the fact that they deny that Jesus Christ is omnipresent (click here to jump down to the section “Denial of Christ’s Omnipresence”). In other words, since they redefine and (mis)use the word “God” as a collective (group) noun, then “God” would have to include all three in the “group/trio,” and yet they deny that Jesus is omnipresent. Looking at this Fundamental Belief statement further, notice that it also does not say that “God” (the “Trinity”) is the Creator. Under belief number 3, they say that the Father “is the Creator, Source, Sustainer, and Sovereign of all creation.” Under belief number 4, regarding the Son, they will only admit that, “Through Him all things were created...”; and under belief number 5 they say that the Holy Spirit was only “active with the Father and the Son in Creation.” This is in direct contradiction to God’s Word which says that Jesus is the Creator and Source and Sustainer of all creation. According to God’s Word, Jesus is the Sovereign God of the universe. The Biblical truth is that there is only one Being, only one God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—who is the Creator, Source, Sustainer and Sovereign of all creation. Also under belief number 3 (”Father”), they say: “The qualities and powers exhibited in the Son and the Holy Spirit are also revelations of the Father.” But, interestingly, they have no similar declarations in their belief statements about the “Son” and the “Holy Spirit.” So, in conclusion, as will be overwhelmingly confirmed as we go on, these official “Fundamental Beliefs” actually separate and divide the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit into multiple gods.5

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