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Journal of Religion and Health

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01.06.2008 | Original Paper

The Holistic Way: John Wesley’s Practical Piety as a Resource for Integrated Healthcare

verfasst von: Melanie Dobson Hughes

Erschienen in: Journal of Religion and Health | Ausgabe 2/2008

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Abstract

In the midst of the multifarious healthcare of the 21st century an Anglican clergyman from the 18th century named John Wesley can serve as a valuable resource for contemporary Christians seeking to faithfully live a life of well-being which incorporates different forms of medicine. In order to explore Wesley’s contributions to integrative care this essay will first situate Wesley in his 18th century context—a time period not completely unlike our own in which medicine was also experiencing dramatic shifts in practice and philosophy. In order to demonstrate his integration of the medical knowledge of his day the essay will look at Wesley’s own medical practices and his relationships to physicians as forging a “middle way” between physic and empiricism. The essay will examine Wesley’s theology as a practical piety which is grounded in a holistic sotieriology that sustains an integrative medicine (caring for body, mind, and spirit). Finally, the essay concludes with possibilities for integrated medicine in our own day as informed by a Wesleyan “way” of holistic practice.

These anecdotal stories come from real life experiences taken from my work as a pastor and my husband’s work as a medical student. Such a reaction typifies a defiant stance, in which Western physicians feel threatened by other alternative practictioners. Melinda Goldner, “The dynamic interplay between Western medicine and the complementary and alternative medicine movement: how activists perceive a range of responses from physicians and hospitals.” Sociology of Health and Illness, 26:6 (2004), p. 721.

Kylie O’Brien, “Complementary and alternative medicine: the move into mainstream health care.” Clinical and Experimental Optometry 84:2, 1 O’Brien (2004), p. 115. Up to 72% of patients don’t inform their doctor of their CAM use, despite the possibility of adverse reactions between drugs and herbal treatments. Yates et al. (2005), p. 810. Reasons given for this behavior include 1. the doctor doesn’t ask, 2. the patient doesn’t see the potential of CAM to really impact their protocol, 3. the patient doesn’t see the therapy they are using as CAM, 4. the patient has little confidence that the physician knows anything about CAM, or they are afraid of a negative response.

O’Brien (2004), p. 113. O’Brian reports that there is a high level of satisfaction with CAM use among patients, showing a satisfaction rate between 70 and 98%—with the 98% for Chinese medicine.

Parusnikova (2002), 1 (pagination as printed from science direct database). Allopathic medicine, which awards the degree MD (medical doctor) relies on surgical or pharmaceutical treatments to care for symptoms diagnosed in patients. Other systems of medicine, such as traditional Chinese or Indian (ayurvedic) have a premodern epistemology and often a cosmic etiology of disease.

M. Micozzi, Fundamentals of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (New York: Churchhill Livingstone, Inc. 1996) as quoted in deMaye-Caruth (2000), 2 (pagination as printed from proquest database) O’Brian (2004), p. 111 notes that there is disagreement in the use of the terms complementary, alternative, and integrative. Alternative generally refers to sole use of non-Western forms of medicine, complementary refers to the use of CAM, but generally in an allopathic paradigm, while integrative refers to use of both alternative and Western forms of medicine in ways that strive to respect the contributions of both.

Caspi et al. (2004), p. 65. “CAM therapies may be used instead of conventional therapies (therefore ‘alternative’) or in conjunction with them to supplement or augment the therapeutic outcome (hence complimentary).” O’Brien (2004), p. 112 offers a helpful charting of the major domains of CAM by NCCAM. Congress established the National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) in 1998 to research and study the safety and effectiveness of CAM.

Parusnikovam, appendix. These numbers are taken from a US national survey (Eisenberg, Davis, and Ettner 1998) which is commonly cited in medical journal articles. A review of six western countries concluded that alternative therapies are used frequently and increasingly, with figures on CAM usage in the 42% range. The highest incidence of CAM users is in Germany and Canada (70%). Data reporting is difficult because of methodological difficulties in gathering information about the use of CAM. There is a lack of agreement about what should be defined as alternative treatment (yes to homeopathy, naturopathy, Ayurveda and acupuncture... maybe to yoga, meditation, aromatherapy, and herbal tea?). There is also a lack of databases of alternative users. Parusnikovam, appendix.

The article by Caspi, Koithan, and Criddle cites a study by Austin JA. “Why patients use alternative medicine: results of a national study” JAMA 279 (1998) 1548–1553. Primarily, patients turn to CAM because of 1. dissatisfaction with conventional treatment, 2. need for personal control over health care, 3. philosophical congruence with world view. p. 75. This alternative world view which most often rejects allopathic medicine tends most commonly to be held by females who are highly-educated, wealthy, employed, and covered under private insurance plans. The world view is characterized by the word postmodern, which rejects scientific rationalism and supports individualistic perspectives. See also O’Brien (2004), pp. 112–113.

Melinda Goldner, “The dynamic interplay between Western medicine and the complementary and alternative medicine movement: how activists perceive a range of responses from physicians and hospitals.” Sociology of Health and Illness 26:6 (2004), pp. 719, 722. The different levels of reaction of Western medicine to CAM includes “defiance” (pursuing legislative and lawsuits to curtail the growth of CAM), “avoidance” (dismissing CAM as new-age hocus-pocus), “manipulation” (using CAM for economic opportunity), and “compromise” (working respectfully as healthcare teams).

Tonelli and Callahan (2001), pp. 1213–1220. See also O’ Brien (2004), p. 117. Other problems in these trials include inadequate sample sizes, inadequate placebos, and inappropriate research designs. Hsaio et al. notes that 80–90% of conventional medicine is not based on randomized controlled trials but on clinical experiences and intuitions. p. 11.

Caspi, Koithan, Criddle, p. 75. These authors’ article analyzes the decision paths of patients who select CAM for their treatment—they conclude that these decision paths are markedly different than those who simply choose allopathic treatment. Patients who combine CAM with allopathic treatment tend to be more active in the decision process and more compliant to their protocol. CAM users have a changed worldview which includes a holistic health philosophy and a valuation of unconventional lifestyles.

Boon et al. (2004), 8 (pagination as in proquest database).

Vanderpool (1986), p. 327.

Cook (1990), pp. 397–408. See also Porter (2003), pp. 45–50.

Porter (2003), pp. 64–75.

Cook (1990), p. 416.

Ibid, pp. 412–415. Cook notes that the study of natural philosophy became very fashionable among the upper classes, and Bacon himself advocated for medicine to include for the curing of disease and the preservation of health. p. 415. Many celebrated physicians studied this new learning and were also members of the Royal Society and or College of Physicians.

Porter (2000) has some fantastic illustrations in his book of “quacks” performing stunts with their “remedies.”

Ibid, pp. 392, 418. With little actual medical knowledge, quacks relied upon showmanship, charisma, dramatic public displays, pretentious pseudo-technicalities, slick talk, and sleight-of-hand to sell their products. Samuel Johnson defined “quack” as “a boastful pretender to arts which he doesn’t understand... a vain boastful pretender to physic.” In contemporary medicine, the term has emerged again by allopathic medicine to label those practicing ‘new age’ energy medicine.

Ibid, p. 421. Cook offers a much more detailed account of these guilds of medicine.

Porter and Porter (1989), p. 69.

Cook (1990), p. 424.

Porter and Porter (1989), p. 21.

Ibid, pp. 3, 6, 7. Samuel Johnson asked a friend seriously ill “Does the physician direct any regimen, or does Mr. Thrale regulate himself?’ One or the other was necessary: capitulating was inadmissible. p. 7.

Ibid, p. 23.

Ibid, pp. 35–36.

Maddox (2008) This pagination is from a manuscript copy. A shortened version of this piece by Maddox may be found in (Maddox 2007).

Ibid, p. 6. Other publications by Wesley on health which informed this paper include: Wesley (1748, 1760, 1774, 1782, 1784).

For information on Wesley’s practice of preventative care see Maddox (2008) “A Heritage Reclaimed.”

In this era before formal licensing and educational requirements for physicians, Wesley was easily more well-read and educated in medicine than some practicing physicians. Madden (2004b), p. 367. Maddox, “A Heritage Reclaimed” writes more on Wesley’s wise appropriate and adaptation of the medical knowledge of his day. Madden shows how Dr. Hawes’ accusations of Wesley as being a quack were based more on Wesley being of “the cloth” rather than a bona fide member of the medical professions. Hawes saw Wesley as audacious (and an economic threat). p. 369.

Wesley as quoted in Gadsby and Dewhurst (1999), p. 96.

Wesley (1791) republished (2003), p. xvii.

Vanderpool (1986), p. 324.

For more discussion, see Maddox (2008), pp. 33–34 and Vanderpool (1986), p. 324. Examples of Wesley’s use of herbs and essential oils along with simple food stuffs to promote healing in the Primitive Physic include (numbers indicate the numerical placement of remedies in the Physic): #37 oatmeal #40 ginger tea, and #49 frankincense.

Madden (2004b), p. 365. Wesley deployed his broad medical reading through these works so that he could offer care to a wider audience.

Madden (2004b), p. 367. Maddox, “A Heritage Reclaimed” writes more on Wesley’s wise appropriate and adaptation of the medical knowledge of his day. Though it is easy in the 21st century to disregard some of Wesley’s bizarre sounding remedies, it is important to remember that in his context, these remedies were life-giving. It is even more amazing that many of these remedies ring with truth for today.

Ibid, p. 369.

Ibid, p. 366.

Vanderpool (1986), p. 329.

Wesley (1791) republished (2003), pp. vi, xv.

Wesley (1774) This, and other writings of Wesley on health are being compiled into a forthcoming Vol. 17 of Wesley's Works. I used digital manuscript copies sent to me by Dr. Randy Maddox, who is working on the Vol. 17 project, p. 14.

Ibid, p. 8. Wesley believes it is hereditary because various people in his family suffered from it.

Madden (2004b), p. 378.

Farther Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion, Pt. I, Sect. 3, Works 11:106. Wesley understood salvation as much more than a forgiveness of sins. By rejecting an idea of salvation as primarily forgiveness of our guilt as sinners, Wesley urged the people of his day to “seek the benefits of truly holistic salvation, where God’s forgiveness of our sins is interwoven with God’s gracious healing of the damages that sin has wrought in our lives.”

Maddox (1994), p. 145. See also E. B. Holifield, “The Wesleyan-Methodist Tradition,” in Caring and Curing: Health and Medicine in the Western Religious Tradition (New York: Macmillan, 1986), p. 17. Wesley spoke of salvation with therapeutic metaphors. It is therapei psyches, God’s way of restoring a soul and body which are diseased.

Ibid, p. 71. Vanderpool (1986), p. 327. See also Holifield (1986), p. 13. Wesley saw the body as an exquisitely wrought machine and was deeply respectful of it. He thought it absurd to talk about a sinful body. p.16. This thought stems from his understanding of the doctrines of creation and original sin; Wesley emphasized the wholeness of the original created order—Adam’s original sin introduced disorder and disease into the creation, and introduced mortality into human life (which corrupts our faculties through the processes of aging), but it didn’t separate the unity of body and soul. See also Ott (1991). Wesley understood the body as being incorruptible in all its parts in the original creation—it was a free, well-working system. He suggested that in the eating of the fruit particles were released into the body that coated the finer vessels, thus laying a foundation for numberless disorders and disease. Maddox (1994), p. 78. Maddox states that human sin for Wesley rendered Adam and Eve biologically corruptible, giving them disease and mortality.

Holifield (1986), p. 15.

Maddox (1994), p. 146.

Maddox (2008), p. 8. Holifield (1986), p. 17.

Holifield (1986), pp. 22, 64, 70. Wesley understood that suffering was a part (not the purpose nor a barrier) of this journey towards holiness. It was not to be sought, but overcome; the law of love required that one battle against suffering, using the tools that medicine and preventative care could provide. Yet for Wesley, suffering did not negate happiness, but rather contained possibilities for the deepening of holiness—the love born of suffering could bear a meaning, even a joy in its depths, that resembled Christ.

Holifield (1986), p. 18.

Maddox (1994), p. 146. Wesley understood prevenient grace was a gracious gift of God through which people could be awakened to begin a journey to life and deliverance. Wesley, “ On Working Out Our Own Salvation,” Works 2: 235, 238. See also Holifield (1986), p. 22.

Ibid, p. 22.

Wesley, Plain Account of the People Called Methodists, XII.1–3, Works 9: 275–276 as quoted in Maddox (2008), p. 38. Wesley writes “I was still in pain for many of the poor that were sick: there was so great expense, and so little profit... I saw the poor people pining away, and several families ruined, and that without remedy. At length I thought of a kind of desperate expedient. “I will prepare, and give them physic myself.” ...I took into my assistance an apothecary, and an experienced surgeon, resolving at the same time not to go out of my depth, but to leave all difficult and complicated cases to such physicians as the patients should choose. ...I gave notice of this to the society; telling them that all who were ill of chronical distempers (for I did not care to venture upon acute) might, if they please, come to me at such a time; and I would give them the best advice I could, and the best medicines I had.”

Holifield (1986), p. 32. The Physic was sold cheaply, and the poor responded by making it a “best-seller”—the pamphlet sold far more than any other of his writings.

Holifield (1986), p. 23. He encouraged women to become these visitors, who were charged with the duty of seeing every sick person in their district three times a week; such acts of charity exhibited the fruits of faith.

This information came from conversations with Randy Maddox. Madden in “Medicine and Moral Reform” notes that many Anglican clergy were trained to provide medical advice in areas where healthcare was sparse. Page 2.

Madden (2004a), p. 9. See also Heller (1976), p. 363.

Ibid, 328. See also Holifield (1986), p. 22. “Wesley’s interest in health and medicine reflected his concern about the salvation of souls. ... [Christians] cared for the body because they cared for the soul.” On the journey of sanctification, Christians cared for the sick because it was the loving thing to do. For a more indepth discussion of Wesley’s commitment to preventative care through diet, exercise, sleep, and the cold regime, Maddox (2007).

Maddox (2008), p. 39.

Laffey (2001), p. 473.

Holifield (1986), p. 31. Though electricity would later be shown to have therapeutic benefits, it was only after more knowledge and research about it was garnered. Even Benjamin Franklin cautioned its usage.

Maddox, p. 41.

Madden (2004b), p. 372.

Starr (1982), p. 378.

Ibid, pp. 381–382.

Tonelli and Callahan (2001).

Parusnikova (2002).

Wesley, Journal, Vol. 7, 408, as cited in Ott (1991), p. 54.

Wesley (1774), p. 26.

Ibid, p. 48. This serves as remarkably pertinent advice for people today as well.

Wesley (1774). See editor James Donat’s discussion on p. 8. Wesley, out of his own experience with illness, does acknowledge that even the most diligent of persons with preventative care can still suffer under disease.

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Titel: The Holistic Way: John Wesley’s Practical Piety as a Resource for Integrated Healthcare
verfasst von: Melanie Dobson Hughes
Publikationsdatum: 01.06.2008
Verlag: Springer US
Erschienen in: Journal of Religion and Health / Ausgabe 2/2008
Print ISSN: 0022-4197
Elektronische ISSN: 1573-6571
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-007-9146-x

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The Holistic Way: John Wesley’s Practical Piety as a Resource for Integrated Healthcare

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