Posted on 09/10/2015 5:59:44 PM PDT by Steelfish
How Ben Carson Saved a Four-Year-Old Boy’s Life
by Elaina Plott. September 10, 2015.
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.
As far as believing in the Same Jesus as everyone else I have mixed feelings on that. They believe in the Jesus that was born of Mary and all that is said of Him in the Bible, they believe He is God, The Son and that He Has a Father Elohim. Before Nicea there was a lot of discussion on the topic, the Mormon Bishops at the meeting would have been kicked out and banished or worse had they been there then but they would not have been alone.
I don't know exactly what the definition of cult is but I would be reluctant to call them a cult, I would call them a sect.
I, too, did an in-depth study years ago of various cults, and you are correct - 7th Day Adventists have similar teachings as Jehovah Witnesses, especially when it comes to the deity of Christ and that he was God in the flesh.
I don’t give one hairy shit about what denomination or faith a politician ascribes to; far more important to me is how that faith manifests itself in their life. We’ve had Quaker presidents, Bapist presidents, Anglican presidents, a Catholic president, and none of the above presidents. The most important founders were either Unitarians (like John Adams) or even deists (like Madison and Jefferson) who had a less-than-conventional view of Christianity; meanwhile, some of our worst presidents (like Harding and Wilson) claimed fairly red-blooded American Christian sects.
I’ll take a man of non-traditional religious beliefs - so long as those beliefs form an ethos based in humility, honor, and integrity - over a nominal Christian any day of the week.
I'm just wondering... If Carson somehow wins the nomination despite your NO vote, would you vote for him in the general election, vote for the Democrat, vote for someone else, or not vote at all?
I know lots of people who have saved lives.
None of them should be President, and neither should Carson the gun-grabber. I wouldn’t vote for him if 1,000 tear-jerker stories were published in the media. A pox on all these politicians. They are the ones who have run America into the ground.
I’d have to see how he campaigned. But you’re hallucinating, anyhow. If Ben were ever the nominee the sharks would eat him alive. If they were able to get Trump out of the way, Carson would just be a bon-bon for dessert.
If Carson is elected, won’t no more of our children die!
You must have some chip on your shoulder about Seventh day Adventists, since you go to such trouble to post total lies. I’m not going to argue with you, except to keep posting that you are telling abject lies, and obviously have some angry agenda.
Thou shalt not lie.
and Dr. Ben Carson is a godly man. I’m not in favor of him for president, but he is a godly man.
I *am* a Seventh day Adventist, and we listen to what Ellen White has to say, I suppose you might find some Adventist that puts her writings on a level with Jesus, but that’s still not true. You studied cults. Oh wow, some armchair expert. You’re still lying and misrepresenting Adventist beliefs, totally.
Lying.
Not. I’m sorry for whatever way you were raised that makes you think Adventism is a cult. It’s not.
Not swimming on Sabbath does not make you a cult. (NO HAVING FUN ON SABBATH!!!) When I say I’m sorry, I really mean I’m sorry. Not that I have any fault in the matter, but that I regret that ...whatever...happened to you.
Not bad for someone Trump called, “...perhaps – you know – an okay doctor…we’re not talking about a great – he was an okay doctor.” </sarcasm>
Do you believe Jesus is an angel or God?
Nothing that I have ever found on Seventh Day Adventist shows that they have the same belief in the Trinity as Orthodox Christians. There seems to be a parallel between Jehovah’s Witnesses and Adventists belief about Jesus Christ. JW’s believe Jesus was the archangel Michael.
You also have your own translation of the Bible that includes the teachings of Ellen G. White, as if her teachings were scripture. In the same way, Jehovah’s Witnesses have their New World Translation that changes the scripture to deny the Divinity of Christ. The were once led by a man named Russell, who was also a false prophet.
By definition, a cult always diminishes Jesus and does not recognize him as God.
Anyone interested can find all the information they care to read on Seventh Day Adventism and decide for themselves.
By definition, a cult is any belief that diminishes the divinity of Christ. Jesus was not an angel. He created the angels. Cults often teach that Jesus was an archangel.
Cults have their own translations of the Bible. The Adventist use their translation “The Clear Word” that includes the teachings of Ellen G. White, with no distinction between her words and scripture.
Well, I think it matters if a person is following a false prophet whose word takes precedent over scripture. Such is the case with Adventists. That was a concern with Romney, as well.
Thanks for the comments. I can only speak for myself, but if someone is following the teachings of a false prophet, we don’t need them leading the country.
It would be like exchanging a Muslim for another kind of evil.
That is not true either, we use the same Bible as other protestant religions. Many won’t use anything except the King James, some use the NIV and I personally prefer the NKJ.
Jesus is God. I believe, as many Adventists do, that the Bible might call Jesus Michael, but that doesn’t mean he’s an angel only. He’s God, and the Son of God.
You can read ABOUT Adventists, by disgruntled misinformationists, or you can talk to Adventist members. You cling to lies and repeat them, so we know what that is.
Most Adventists are much gentler than I am. I call a spade a spade. I’m quite outspoken. LOL
Do you consider Ellen G. White to be a Prophetess? Does your interpretation of the Bible adhere to her teachings? If you use the Bible, what role does the White translation , The Clear Word, play in your faith?
Mark Levin is a conservative Jew; de facto, then, he doesn’t acknowledge the divinity of Christ or the inspired nature of the New Testament - both of which SDA’s do. Yet there is no man I wish to the office of president more than he. Surely you feel at least somewhat in agreement with that, or am I wrong? If not I hope you can point out a difference, because I’m not really seeing one.
The Jews were blinded for our sake. It is an entirely different thing to call ones self Christian, but to preach “another Jesus” other than the one that Paul preached. It is also another thing to add to and take away from Scripture by adopting a translation of the Bible that adopts the false teachings of Ellen G. White.
Saved a life? Isn’t that his job?
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