Investigating Prayer Impact on Health and Quality of Life
From the ancients to the Renaissance, religion and medicine worked hand in hand to heal the people, until the scientific minds of the Enlightenment created a physical model of illness without a spiritual component. In this century, spirituality is gaining
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Ian N. Olver
Investigating Prayer Impact on Health and Quality of Life
Ian N. Olver Chief Executive Officer Cancer Council Australia NSW, Australia
ISBN 978-1-4614-4570-8 ISBN 978-1-4614-4571-5 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-4571-5 Springer New York Heidelberg Dordrecht London Library of Congress Control Number: 2012948281 © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Exempted from this legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the Copyright Law of the Publisher’s location, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Permissions for use may be obtained through RightsLink at the Copyright Clearance Center. Violations are liable to prosecution under the respective Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Preface
I have never accepted that science and religion cannot coexist. Indeed for centuries before the enlightenment, healthcare was within the domain of organized religion in the West. However in the seventeenth century they separated when Western medicine looked to science only to explain disease. Observation and experiment built a biological and physical model of disease. Slowly the impact of psychological wellbeing on heath became apparent. Now the importance of spiritual well-being is being explored. All of us who have questioned the meaning of our lives are contemplating the spiritual. Some choose to express their spirituality through the framework of organized religion while others seek more individual expression. Both science and spirituality share questions that are beyond human understanding. What existed prior to the singularity from
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