Religion, health, and suffering

How do different religions explain illness and suffering? These essays, by religious practitioners, physicians, and historians of medicine, medical history, medical anthropology, and religion, survey different religions, citing common practice and official doctrine, and discuss traditional as well as alternative medicines in multi-religious societies. Addressing such issues as general practice, psychiatric illness, and attitudes toward pain, this book will be of interest in such fields as history, religious studies, and practical care.