This painting depicts Moses and the brazen serpent from Numbers 21: 5–9. The bronze serpent heals those bitten by poisonous snakes sent by God as a punishment for speaking out against Him and Moses.
ACTIVE MUSEUM / ACTIVE ART / Alamy Stock Photo
What can be done when our bodies break down because of sickness, injury, or disease? How has the Bible shaped the quest to alleviate suffering?
Physical healing is a prominent theme throughout the Bible, particularly in the New Testament. Genesis describes death and suffering as a consequence of human disobedience to God. In the Gospels, healing formed an integral part of Jesus’s ministry.
For some of history’s greatest physicians, these and other biblical passages helped to cultivate a sense of wonder about the human body as well as compassion for those who suffer.
“Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Leviticus 19:18
This Byzantine fresco from the Hagia Sophia depicts the story of Jesus healing the blind man in John 9.
AYTUG ASKIN / Alamy Stock Photo
Early Christians lived in a world where medical theory was largely shaped by the work of Greek physicians such as Hippocrates and Galen. Some of these ideas are even reflected in the Bible.
Accordingly, illness and disease were thought to be caused by an imbalance in four bodily fluids, or “humors,” which were blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile. A person’s humors could be thrown off balance in many ways, from one’s diet to even the positions of the moon or stars.
Galen’s writings were copied and studied by faith communities throughout Europe and the Mediterranean, serving as the basis of study for physicians for over 1,000 years.
“But when he heard it, he said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.’”
Matthew 9:12
This illustration from Andreas Vesalius’s great work, Fabrica, helped shine new light on the intricacies of the human body.
GL Archive / Alamy Stock Photo
In the 1530s, Andreas Vesalius, a Flemish physician and devout Catholic, made remarkable discoveries that began to overthrow Galen’s long reign over anatomy and medicine.
Vesalius sought to create the first detailed maps of the human body. Like all physicians, he held Galen in high regard. Yet, throughout his studies, he found discrepancies between the complex networks of nerves, veins, and muscles he observed and the ancient Greek writings.
For Vesalius, the human body reflected God’s wisdom as the architect of life. While the humoral theory of medicine lingered until the 1800s, Vesalius’s work paved the way for other pioneering physicians.
“God, the supreme Architect, in his wisdom formed material [bones] of this temperament, placing it beneath the surface as a foundation for the whole body.”
Andreas Vesalius, De humani corporis fabrica, 1543
This Byzantine fresco from the Hagia Sophia depicts the story of Jesus healing the blind man in John 9.
AYTUG ASKIN / Alamy Stock Photo
Early Christians lived in a world where medical theory was largely shaped by the work of Greek physicians such as Hippocrates and Galen. Some of these ideas are even reflected in the Bible.
Accordingly, illness and disease were thought to be caused by an imbalance in four bodily fluids, or “humors,” which were blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile. A person’s humors could be thrown off balance in many ways, from one’s diet to even the positions of the moon or stars.
Galen’s writings were copied and studied by faith communities throughout Europe and the Mediterranean, serving as the basis of study for physicians for over 1,000 years.
“But when he heard it, he said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.’”
Matthew 9:12
This illustration from Andreas Vesalius’s great work, Fabrica, helped shine new light on the intricacies of the human body.
GL Archive / Alamy Stock Photo
In the 1530s, Andreas Vesalius, a Flemish physician and devout Catholic, made remarkable discoveries that began to overthrow Galen’s long reign over anatomy and medicine.
Vesalius sought to create the first detailed maps of the human body. Like all physicians, he held Galen in high regard. Yet, throughout his studies, he found discrepancies between the complex networks of nerves, veins, and muscles he observed and the ancient Greek writings.
For Vesalius, the human body reflected God’s wisdom as the architect of life. While the humoral theory of medicine lingered until the 1800s, Vesalius’s work paved the way for other pioneering physicians.
“God, the supreme Architect, in his wisdom formed material [bones] of this temperament, placing it beneath the surface as a foundation for the whole body.”
Andreas Vesalius, De humani corporis fabrica, 1543
