passion for truth

Four hundred years on from the publication of the King James Bible, holding to the truths revealed in Scripture is as vital and challenging as ever. Many of the phrases in the well-known King James translation mirror those of William Tyndale, who was the first to translate Scripture from original Hebrew and Greek directly into English. This edition's 'Heroes + Heretics' tells the story of his passion for Scripture and truth, which ultimately cost him his life.

How does a passion for truth translate into our study and work today? What happens when standing up for the truth leads us into conflict with authority? Karim Fouad Alber's article explores our dealings with medical school authorities when truth may conflict with them. Of course to know the truth, we have to study. I hope that the cross-word and Bible quiz will encourage you to open your Bibles and look up passages you may not have read before. Reviews of two more of the '12-12' series of books are here to encourage you to read and buy!

Sometimes our passion for gospel truth brings us into conflict with those who believe spirituality has no place in medicine. Bernard Palmer's short article reminds us that everyone has spiritual needs, and that addressing these should be part of medical care.

It's all too easy to separate our spiritual and medical lives. Sunday can become very different from the other days of the week. Sometimes we can leave God out of our medical study altogether; at other times our studies can become a god. Alex Bunn's article on the spirituality of 'Monday to Saturday' dispels any myth that medicine is not part of God's work for us.

Integrating our spiritual and medical lives needs work – it is all too easy to fall into 'spiritual schizophrenia', where our faith bears no relation to our work. CMF exists to help us to help each other ensure that our faith and work are fully integrated. 'Why join CMF?' explains how CMF does this. We hope it will enthuse old members, and encourage recruitment of new ones.

This issue of Nucleus also contains three examples of CMF's wider work beyond the London office and local meetings. Tobi Adeagbo reports on Christian medical ethics teaching taking place as a special study module in her medical school; Clare Bird reports on UCCF's Forum conference and the importance of good relations between university CUs and CMF groups, and Victoria Parsonson brings us a specially extended 'A day in the life' with an account of a recent day on the mission field in Madagascar.

I hope that as you read these articles, you'll capture something of Tyndale's passion for Scripture. I hope you'll be inspired to ensure that scriptural principles are fully integrated in every aspect your life, and have the courage to stand up for such principles when they are under threat.