Theology of Health and Disease

Medical anthropology is a helpful tool for Christian healthcare providers serving cross-culturally. It is also key to exegesis of the of the Bible as it pertains to ancient understanding of illness and healing. I'd like to share some quotes and resources from articles, books, and websites related to medical anthropology. "One of the aims of medical anthropology is to disentangle the closely interwoven natural-environmental, human-biological, and socio-cultural threads forming the behavioral and conceptual network of human responses to the experience of illness." (Pilch, 1995) "It is common for people around the world to assume that their medical system can actually cure people while other systems cannot. This universal ethnocentric view leads some doctors and nurses trained in modern scientific medical practices to reject off-hand the knowledge and methodology of folk curers, especially if they involve a personalistic explanation for illness. However, all medica...

In the introduction to his book, The Devil, Disease, and Deliverance , John Christopher Thomas says that most Pentecostals fall into one of three categories when it comes to the subject at hand in his book. Group 1 : These people see demonic activity behind every illness and misfortune. God/healing and the devil/sickness are black and white polar opposites. The lack of faith and/or the presence of sin may prevent healing, but it is always God's will to heal people. Group 2 : Believers may become sick from either demonic attack or from "natural causes." Sin and sickness entered the world through the fall of man and therefore believers and nonbelievers are just as likely to suffer. God might sometimes use suffering for his glory. It is always appropriate to pray, but it may not always result in healing. Group 3 : Apathetic "functional deists." These people believe in God and in Satan but have either become frustrated by the inability to know how to deal with...

Once during a class I was teaching at church I asked, "If Jesus of Nazareth had appeared on the ballot this year as a candidate for president of the U.S., and had won, and was now our president-elect waiting to take office in January, why would that be good news?" This is sort of a thought experiment to get people thinking about why Christ's enthronement is good news for the world today. There were plenty of great answers as they worked the question around in their minds, but my favorite, being a pharmacist, came from the back row: "Healthcare would be amazing!" Jesus showed up in the middle of human history preaching the good news that God's presidential administration (AKA kingdom) had come (Mark 1:15). And from what we read in the gospels, healthcare under Jesus was amazing. People were finding healing and wholeness left and right. The really unexpected thing about Jesus was that he ascended to heaven and left his followers in charge, encouraging us ...