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To pray or not to pray: Reflections on the intersection of prayer and medicine

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Abstract

Recent medical studies documenting the influence of prayer in our physical lives challenge mainstream Christians to rethink their ideas and practice of prayer. A new model of prayer questions dysfunctional images of prayer based on 1) the doctrine of divine omnipotence, 2) the rewards-punishments notion of health and illness, and 3) linear notions of the power of prayer. Relational, holistic, and multidimensional images of God, human existence, and the effects of prayer provide the basis for a constructive theology of prayer. Ironically, the fact that prayer is not omnipotent makes it possible to practice prayer in a technological context.

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References

  1. Larry Dossey.Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1993, p. 141.

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  2. Ibid., p. xv.

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  6. For a more extensive discussion of the metaphysics and spirituality of health, see Bruce G. Eppley,At the Edges of Life: Toward a Holistic Vision of the Human Adventure. St. Louis: Chalice Press, 1992, pp. 67–136.

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  7. Romans 17:28.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.

    Bruce G. Epperly Ph.D. (Director of Protestant Ministry and Adjunct Professor in Theology and Community Medicine)

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  1. Bruce G. Epperly Ph.D.
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Epperly, B.G. To pray or not to pray: Reflections on the intersection of prayer and medicine. J Relig Health 34, 141–148 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02248770

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02248770

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