Christ the Physician: A Theological Framework for Healing in Catholic Health Care-Reference-Cited by-同舟云学术

Christ the Physician: A Theological Framework for Healing in Catholic Health Care

Published:2023-08-08 Issue: Volume: Page:
ISSN:0024-3639
Container-title:The Linacre Quarterly
language:en
Short-container-title:Linacre Q

Author:

Thomas Columba¹²^ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception, Dominican House of Studies, Washington, DC, USA

2. Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA

Abstract

The metaphor of Christ the physician features prominently in the gospels and the preaching of the Church Fathers, emphasizing that Jesus’ work of healing extends beyond bodily ills to spiritual healing as well. Given that the end of medicine is “health,” which involves wholeness of body and soul, Christ is uniquely able to accomplish this in us—beginning with grace in our souls in this life, and culminating in the resurrection of the body and restoration of body and soul in glory at the end of time. Drawing on the thought of the Church Fathers and Thomas Aquinas, this paper considers how Catholic health care is distinctly positioned to continue Christ's work of bodily and spiritual healing through medical and sacramental approaches—as we await our perfect and ultimate healing upon Christ's return in glory.

Funder

McDonald Agape Foundation

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Subject

Health Policy,Philosophy

Link

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/00243639231189328

Reference33 articles.

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2. The Concept of ‘Christus Medicus' in St. Augustine

3. Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics

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