Book Discussion: Essential Readings in Medicine and Religion
Gary Ferngren, Ph.D., Professor of History; Sandy and Elva Sanders Eminent Professor, Oregon State University
Ekaterina Lomperis, MDiv, PhD Candidate, University of Chicago
Daniel Kim, MA, MPH, PhD Candidate, University of Chicago Divinity School
The panel will discuss a new book, Essential Readings in Medicine and Religion, edited by Gary B. Ferngren and Ekaterina N. Lomperis, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017. Our volume is one of only a few new books in the field of medicine and religion published in 2017. It will be of interest to teachers, students, medical practitioners, academics, and religious leaders interested in the intersection of medicine and religion.
This volume, intended as a companion volume to Ferngren’s earlier Medicine and Religion: A Historical Introduction (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014), traces the history of the relationship of medicine to religion in the Western world from the earliest ancient Near-Eastern societies to the twenty-first century, through a selection of annotated primary sources. While there are many books that deal with medicine and religion, and still more that explore, or describe, the larger subject of spirituality and healing, broad historical surveys of the subject are relatively uncommon. Because the original volume covered such a wide chronological expanse, the volume lacked the space to include any but a few primary texts. It is to remedy this deficiency that the authors decided to edit a second volume that incorporates a much more comprehensive selection of original sources,
There already exist several excellent collections of sources for the history of medicine, but none focuses specifically on the intersection of medicine and religion. Our volume provides a much broader selection of primary sources that range in length from a paragraph to several pages and that focus specifically on their intersection. It divides the material into eight chapters that parallel the eight chapters in the earlier volume, Medicine and Religion. Each chapter begins with a brief introduction that provides a historical context for the period covered in each chapter. There does not exist, to our knowledge, a comparable collection of sources, in English, at any rate.
In describing the relationship of medicine and religion through 5000 years of human history, we have attempted to illustrate several common areas of intersection that are found in nearly every culture, and to use them as a topical list for understanding how they have complemented one another. We reject the modern Enlightenment-based view that medicine is incompatible with religious approaches or explanations. We include sources that indicate that religion played a large part, not merely in healing, but in offering theological explanations for suffering as well as spiritual consolation that medicine alone did not have the resources to provide. In sum, our volume examines the foundations of medicine and religion and directly engages this year’s Conference theme.
During our panel we would highlight a number of sources and themes included in our book, followed by a response, and a conversation with the audience.
Ekaterina Lomperis, MDiv, PhD Candidate, University of Chicago
Daniel Kim, MA, MPH, PhD Candidate, University of Chicago Divinity School
The panel will discuss a new book, Essential Readings in Medicine and Religion, edited by Gary B. Ferngren and Ekaterina N. Lomperis, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017. Our volume is one of only a few new books in the field of medicine and religion published in 2017. It will be of interest to teachers, students, medical practitioners, academics, and religious leaders interested in the intersection of medicine and religion.
This volume, intended as a companion volume to Ferngren’s earlier Medicine and Religion: A Historical Introduction (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014), traces the history of the relationship of medicine to religion in the Western world from the earliest ancient Near-Eastern societies to the twenty-first century, through a selection of annotated primary sources. While there are many books that deal with medicine and religion, and still more that explore, or describe, the larger subject of spirituality and healing, broad historical surveys of the subject are relatively uncommon. Because the original volume covered such a wide chronological expanse, the volume lacked the space to include any but a few primary texts. It is to remedy this deficiency that the authors decided to edit a second volume that incorporates a much more comprehensive selection of original sources,
There already exist several excellent collections of sources for the history of medicine, but none focuses specifically on the intersection of medicine and religion. Our volume provides a much broader selection of primary sources that range in length from a paragraph to several pages and that focus specifically on their intersection. It divides the material into eight chapters that parallel the eight chapters in the earlier volume, Medicine and Religion. Each chapter begins with a brief introduction that provides a historical context for the period covered in each chapter. There does not exist, to our knowledge, a comparable collection of sources, in English, at any rate.
In describing the relationship of medicine and religion through 5000 years of human history, we have attempted to illustrate several common areas of intersection that are found in nearly every culture, and to use them as a topical list for understanding how they have complemented one another. We reject the modern Enlightenment-based view that medicine is incompatible with religious approaches or explanations. We include sources that indicate that religion played a large part, not merely in healing, but in offering theological explanations for suffering as well as spiritual consolation that medicine alone did not have the resources to provide. In sum, our volume examines the foundations of medicine and religion and directly engages this year’s Conference theme.
During our panel we would highlight a number of sources and themes included in our book, followed by a response, and a conversation with the audience.