Christianity
How Christianity Transformed Healthcare
Today we all regard compassion, justice and freedom as fundamental to human flourishing. These ideals are based on the biblical worldview: every person has been created in the image of God. Supremely, Christians affirm the dignity of every human life because God himself, in Christ, became flesh. Christ was incarnate from the moment of conception.…
Read MoreLooking death in the eye – reflections of a Christian doctor
Death is an infinite mystery. There are few who can speak of it in the first person and few accounts of those who have recovered from a confirmed diagnosis of clinical death. Billy Graham said, ‘I am convinced that only when a man is prepared to die is he also prepared to live.’ My personal…
Read MoreIntegral mission through palliative care in Nepal
When the first mission workers arrived in Nepal in 1954, Leprosy was endemic and caused much suffering with high levels of disability, social stigma and ostracism from the community. With its mission to serve the poorest and most marginalised, International Nepal Fellowship (INF) opened Green Pastures Leprosy Hospital in 1957. Whilst Leprosy remains an important…
Read MoreFaith, health and collaborative love – Pandemic partnership for health professionals and the church
This article is republished with kind permission from the Lausanne Movement website where it is also available in French, Spanish and Portuguese. The impact of the church on health and development is much greater than it appears. There are two main reasons for this: First, Christians working at the front line are so busy that…
Read MoreHow do we strengthen church and mission hospitals?
Recently listening to Peter Saunders share about the Mission Hospital (MH) database project in a MedSend conference (see video here), and David Stevens sharing in a webinar on ‘Strengthening Mission Hospitals’ has challenged further exploration of the question, how do we strengthen church and mission hospitals? In this short post, I reflect on some lessons…
Read MoreThe Wounded Healer
The term ‘wounded healer’ is thought to have originated in Greek mythology with the physician Asclepius, a Greek doctor who in recognition of his own wounds, established a sanctuary at Epidaurus where others could be healed of their wounds. In the twentieth century it was taken up by the Swiss psychoanalyst CG Jung and became one…
Read MoreThe Hubris of Babylon in Healthcare
Wherever you find books about both genomic editing and AI in healthcare, you will also find hubris. Hubris is the polite word used in academia to describe the arrogance and overinflated self-importance so prevalent in that world. ‘The greatest story ever told.’ ‘A new phase of evolution’ and so on. It’s all a one -way…
Read MoreDoes God promise to protect Christians from COVID-19?
Some Christians refuse all vaccines on the basis that they are somehow not natural or that they believe God will protect them from diseases. Some argue that God determines how long we should live so we cannot ‘save’ our lives. But we do things all the time to try and reduce our risk of disease…
Read MoreSome brief Christian considerations on the COVID-19 vaccines
En français After almost a year of socio-political disruption caused by the SARS-CoV-2 RNA virus, some vaccines have received emergency approval for use in the vulnerable and general population. Some countries have received and have begun to vaccinate their people, while others are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the vaccines. Christians and Christian faith communities…
Read MoreA heavenly reason to care for bodies
‘Why be a doctor? Why should I bother to heal and cure bodies if everyone is going to die in the end? Why don’t I become an evangelist instead?’ I was leading a discussion group for medical students when one of them asked these questions. At first, her line of reasoning seemed logical. If the…
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