Religion, Health and Suffering

First Published in 1999. The interaction between religion and medicine is universal throughout recorded history. They meet at the great turning points of life: at birth, at moments of acute suffering and at death. Not only are priest and doctor often needed at the same time and place, the two roles have also been combined in ancient and modem societies. This volume looks at whether healers and religions have worked in harmony or been in conflict, as well as their frequent and substantive interaction. An International Workshop lies behind this volume and one of the distinctive features of this project is that it brought together scholars of religion, historians of medicine, anthropologists and medical practitioners.

John R. Hinnells, Roy Porter

INTRODUCTION; SECTION I: Cross-Cultural Studies: HEALTH AND SUFFERING IN ZOROASTRIANISM; THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE PHYSICAL BODY: HEALTH, SUFFERING AND KARMA IN HINDU THOUGHT SUFFERING AND SANCTIFICATION IN CHRISTIANITY; CAN GOD INFLICT UNREQUITED PAIN ON HIS CREATURES? MUSLIM PERSPECTIVES ON HEALTH AND SUFFERING; RELIGION, HEALTH AND SUFFERING AMONG CONTEMPORARY TIBETANS; SIKH PERSPECTIVES ON HEALTH AND SUFFERING: A FOCUS ON SIKH THEODICY; HEALTH AND SUFFERING IN BUDDHISM: DOCTRINAL AND EXISTENTIAL CONSIDERATIONS; RELIGION, HEALTH AND SUFFERING FROM FOLK MEDICINE TO BIOETHICS IN JUDAISM; SECTION II: Non-European Health Systems: CHINESE HEALTH BELIEFS; MEDICINE AND MARTYRDOM: SOME DISCUSSIONS OF SUFFERING AND DIVINE JUSTICE IN EARLY ISLAMIC SOCIETY; APPEASING THE SPIRITS: HEALING STRATEGIES IN POSTWAR SOUTHERN MOZAMBIQUE; MISCARRIAGES OF JUSTICE: DEMONIC VENGEANCE IN CLASSICAL INDIAN MEDICINE; SECTION III: Pre-Modem Western Medicine: COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES ON MEDICINE AND RELIGION IN THE ANCIENT WORLD; PAIN IN HIPPOCRATIC MEDICINE; MEDICINE FOR THE SOUL: THE MEDIEVAL ENGLISH HOSPITAL AND THE QUEST FOR SPIRITUAL HEALTH; FEAR, ANXIETY AND THE PLAGUE IN EARLY MODERN ENGLAND: RELIGIOUS AND MEDICAL RESPONSES; SECTION IV: Modem Medicine: WESTERN MEDICINE AND PAIN: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES; BEYOND THE FRONTIERS OF SCIENCE? RELIGIOUS ASPECTS OF ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE; AGENCY AND COMMUNITY: THE LOCATION AND DISPERSAL OF INVIDIA; A GENERAL PRACTITIONER IN THE INNER CITY-THE REALITIES AND THE DIFFICULTIES; CONCLUSION: SUFFER MANY HEALERS