Cancer Quote by Mark A. Noll
““But in their defense of the supernatural, fundamentalists and their evangelical heirs resemble some cancer patients. In facing a drastic disease, they are willing to undertake a drastic remedy. The treatment of fundamentalism may be said to have succeeded; the patient survived. But at least for the life of the mind, what survived was a patient horribly disfigured by the cure itself.””
About This Quote
Source Book: The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, Mark A. Noll, 1994
Fundamentalist belief can become distorted when extreme measures meant to cure it end up damaging rational thought.
In simple terms: Extreme cures can scar the mind.
Beware of over‑correcting ideas.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- academic debate
- public policy
- personal belief revision
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How can we protect reason while respecting faith?
- What limits should we set on corrective measures?
The analogy may oversimplify complex theological issues.