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METHODIST VIEWS OF PERSONAL AND SOCIAL HEALTH
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Introduction
The
foundations of Methodism were laid by John (1703-1791) and Charles Wesley (1707-1788)
in the late 1720s as they organized Holy Clubs meant to recapture disciplines,
spiritual practices, and ethical precepts deemed neglected by the Anglican Church
in England. Originally seeking to recover
the life and thought of the early Christian church, this Wesleyan minority was
attempting not to break away from the Church of England but rather to stir it
to life. However, the passions and actions
of John Wesley precipitated a formal break from this parent tradition by Methodists
in America in 1791 and similar groups in England shortly thereafter.
Methodism had the largest religious membership in the United States by
the mid-nineteenth century. It counted 5.5 million worldwide adherents
among its ranks by 1900. However, it has been divided along economic,
racial, political and ideological lines for most of its American history. Fifty
percent of the world's contemporary Methodists now belong to the United Methodist
Church (Vanderpool, 1986, pp. 317-318). United
Methodists fit squarely within the mainline Protestant tradition and unite with
Lutherans, Reformed believers, Episcopalians and others around issues such as
the sufficiency of scripture and salvation by grace through faith.
Yet this tradition is distinctive among its Protestant brethren because
of an emphasis on humanity’s freedom to resist or accept salvation, a believer’s
ability to know salvation through an experience of inner transformation, and
notions of perfection related to an individual’s capability to love God with
all his or her being and to love neighbors as themselves.
Methodism is a denomination
that emphasizes the heart when seeking to relate to God.
Developing a love of God is its primary focus. The denomination's
emphasis on the heart has served to engender a strong sense of humanitarianism
and concern for the suffering of others. John Wesley and his successors
always displayed an interest in developing health and well-being in oneself
and society. Wesley turned to the Christian doctrine of creation and doctrine
of grace to anchor the core of his teachings.
Therefore, these doctrines serve to illustrate Methodism’s view of health
and well-being.
The doctrine of creation forms the centerpiece of Methodist beliefs about
spirituality and health. This doctrine states that before the Fall, Adam
and Eve lived in Paradise, where there was no sickness, pain, or death. Paradise
also represented a universal wholeness. There
existed interconnectedness among all parts of the natural world--a sentiment
expressed when creation was finished on the sixth day and God "saw everything
that he had made, and indeed, it was very good" (Genesis 1:31, NRSV).
In light of this viewpoint,
creation is viewed as good, natural, and right. This led Wesley to see the natural sciences
as something to be embraced. Scientists and physicians were capable of
discovering the secrets that lay in nature (i.e. the order underlying all of
creation). Moreover, this order was oriented ultimately toward happiness
and well-being. As Wesley stated, “the great Creator made nothing to be
miserable, but every creature to be happy in its kind” (1831, vol. 2, p. 183).
Thus Methodism has, throughout its history, remained open to advances
in the science as further steps in a movement to restore the harmony of original
creation.
Another aspect of
this original order is the idea that men and women are created in the image
of God. This is reflected on three levels--human
beings embodying a natural image of God, a political image of God, and a moral
image of God. The natural image of
God reflects the capacity of humans to understand the world around them and
to exert free will in response to the challenges that life presents.
Freedom and liberty, and the consequent choices they entail, are key
elements of this natural image of God. The
political image affirms the idea that humans are stewards of creation--i.e.
the natural environment. With this comes
a consequent responsibility to care for and maintain proper harmony among all
things. The moral image is taken by
Wesley to simply mean the capacity to love.
Love is the bedrock of Methodist ethical thought.
Rather than turning to reason to try and establish absolute principles
as the primary means for guiding behavior, Methodists begin by developing and
emphasizing a loving concern for others.
According to this doctrine,
when Adam and Eve ate from the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, they were cast
out of Paradise. Thus, humans fell into a state of disharmony
with the rest of creation. Part of this
disharmony was reflected in a schism between the soul and the body. However, the soul was not severed from the
body. Life became filled with pain, sorrow, and death.
But through God’s grace, the original integrity of creation could be
restored and salvation provided the way to reestablish this order. This was made possible through the coming of
Christ. The Fall had prevented men and
women from discovering, and thus acting, within their created nature. Christ came to open the way for men and women
to discover and act as was established at the moment of divine creation.
This presaged the process of the cosmos moving towards a new creation. Such a transformation entails a change from
disharmony to harmony, ugliness to beauty, and an end to sickness, pain, and
death. And every Christian, on an individual
level, embodies this overall process.
In Methodism, the focus of
the Doctrine of Creation is not on determining when and how creation took place.
Rather, it is on discovering and outlining what moral and religious implications
arise out of the concept that men and women were created in the image of God.
This doctrine serves to provide a guide for religious behavior in the
present and a map toward the ultimate end in which all of present creation is
stumbling in its present pain and disharmony.
In terms of defining well-being, it posits a physical, psychological,
emotional, and spiritual harmony that exists within the individual and that
situates persons in harmony with the rest of creation.
According to the doctrine of grace, God offers men and women a way to
recapture their originally created nature through divine grace.
The process by which this is achieved is illustrated within the metaphor
of taking a journey. One Methodist theologian, Albert Outler, described
it as an “incredible journey from the barely human to the truly human to the
fully human” (cited in Holifield, 1986, p. 167).
An important theme that runs through this metaphor is that while a person
must freely choose this path, progress is viewed as a gift from God and not
as a result of personal achievement. The
metaphor of the journey is chosen to reflect the idea that salvation is a process
of doing, not a destination to be achieved.
It is also recognized that for most people, progress usually happens
in incremental steps (although room is left open for epiphanies). There are four major steps or transformations in this journey: prevenient grace, justification by faith, rebirth,
and sanctification.
Prevenient grace is
an invitation put forth by God to accept the gifts of salvation.
One’s ordinary free will lacks the ability to even begin this journey.
It is only the individual that understands and receives this gift of
grace and has the power to set out on the journey towards salvation. In Methodist thought, this grace lies within
every individual, no matter if he or she was born Christian or non-Christian.
Thus, in order to discover it, one must understand that this gift lies
within oneself and then freely embrace it.
In bestowing this gift, God retains a respect for the integrity of man
and woman in God's image--i.e. possessing free will and understanding.
Thus God does not force acceptance. Wesley preferred to illustrate
God's role as that of drawing forth or wooing the soul.
Because one contains the gift of prevenient grace, one could thus respond
to a divine calling with faith and love. Once
this is accomplished, the second step in the journey--justification by faith--becomes
possible.
Justification by faith entails
repenting for sins. Knowing that one
has acted from a base nature, one must have faith in God that God will forgive
and love. It is faith alone that allows
a person to take this leap, drop his or her defenses, and open up to God.
Faith is viewed as more than simply a belief in God. It also reflects a trust and confidence in
God. This is a trust that God loves
humankind, as shown by the divine incarnate in Christ who died to save humanity
from sin. And, it is a confidence that
God is present in our world and always reordering it towards a new creation. Wesley viewed justification by faith as a movement
from being burdened with sin to being restored to God’s favor. This shift
from faithlessness to faith is considered a profoundly healing and restorative
act.
Consequently, this transformation
was so extraordinary that Wesley likened it to a rebirth:
If any doctrines within the whole
compass of Christianity may be properly termed fundamental, they are doubtless
these two: the doctrine of justification, and that of the new birth: the former
relating to that great work which God does for us; the latter, to the
great work which God does in us, in renewing our fallen nature (1831,
vol. 1, p. 399).
Although these two events are considered
to happen concurrently, Wesley considered rebirth to be the fruit of justification.
Like a baby being born, one goes from being unable to see or hear to arriving
in a world open to all senses. The sinful soul is transformed from having
the potential for life to God granting it life. This process then sets the stage for the next step in the journey.
Rebirth puts one on the path to sanctification--a process that involves
the Christian being gradually restored to the full image of God as established
in creation.
Christian growth or advancement
along the path of sanctification involves the enrichment of one’s capacity to
love. Faith is therefore subordinate to love. Love is the ultimate goal and a way of being
likened to the harmony wrought in creation. Wesley stated that love was
“the end, the sole end, of every dispensation of God, from the beginning of
the world to the consummation of all things” (cited in Outler, 1964, p. 227). Faith serves as the means to accomplish this
end through restoring man and woman from their fallen nature.
As with justification, this capacity to love is not seen as a personal
achievement but rather as a gift bestowed by God through the life, death, and
resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This complex doctrine
requires a bit of elaboration. On the one hand, Methodist theology says that the capacity to love
God and one’s neighbor is a gift bestowed by God and must be arrived at through
faith. On the other hand, they emphasize
that this position does not mean that people who are not Christians do not posses
the ability to love. They merely state that this journey or pathway to
love only applies to themselves, and that as Methodists, whatever capacity they
have in this regard is not reflective of their accomplishments but rather is
a divine gift.
Wesley viewed sanctification
as a healing and restorative process. This
healing encompassed spiritual diseases such as sloth or pride. In addition to bringing healing to the soul, he also felt that sanctification
could bring health to the mind and body. Methodism does not view the soul as separate
from the body. Therefore, the spiritually restorative process of soulful
sanctification can bring benefits to both the mind and the body.
Wesley captures this notion as follows:
The love of God, as it is the
sovereign remedy of all miseries, so in particular it effectually prevents all
the bodily disorders the passions introduce, by keeping the passions themselves
within due bounds. And by the unspeakable
joy and perfect calm, serenity, and tranquility it gives the mind, it
becomes the most powerful of all the means of health and long life (Wesley,
1768, p.32).
Wesley often spoke of love’s restorative properties.
He described them as the medicine of life; as the never-failing remedy
for the ills of a world in disharmony; and as the balm for all the miseries
and vices experienced by men and women. Thus, love is a powerful antidote for many ills, and those who embrace
sanctification wholeheartedly receive many restorative benefits. However,
because the soul is in union with the body, one is not immune to sickness altogether.
The body must encounter the disorder inherent in the world.
The benefits of engendering
this capacity to love not only serve to provide a sense of inner tranquility,
but also find expression through a person’s character and outward conduct.
A sanctified Christian is motivated to perform good works--which are
viewed as a service to God. This service
is not looked upon as a mere obligation however.
As good works stem from a heightened capacity to love, they are often
characterized in terms of mercy. As John Wesley stated, “All works of
mercy, whether they relate to the bodies or souls of men, such as feeding the
hungry, clothing the naked, entertaining the stranger, visiting those that are
in prison, or sick or variously afflicted”
arise from and serve the soul's ability to love (cited in Outler, 1964,
p. 280).
God bestows this gift of love
and serves as its foundation. There is no love that is separate from one’s love of God. Thus, love for one’s neighbor, or the virtue
that stems from that love, is an expression of one’s love for God. The English Methodist Hugh Price Hughes described
this dynamic in the following way: "We are Christian just so far
as the Love of God has been reproduced in us; just so far as we love one another
in the very same way in which God, that is Christ, loves us” (cited in Holifield,
1986, p. 118). Holiness is therefore
described as the expression of an ability to love through the disposition of
good works. Happiness is found in a
love of God and an orientation that draws one’s attention away from self and
directs it outward toward God, toward others, and toward all creation. Holiness
engenders happiness through the fulfillment and self-transcendence found within
love and its expression.
The four steps outlined above
represent the path of salvation. It is important to note that for Wesley, salvation meant more than
a future in heaven. It is conceived
as a way-of-being in the world--a gradual journey from sinfulness to holiness
and from disunion to wholeness. Thus,
it is a process that continues throughout one’s lifetime. One does not attain salvation but rather experiences
it through the aforementioned steps.
Definitions of Health and Healing back to contents
Methodist descriptions of health have evolved over the years.
Initially, health was viewed in very individualistic terms.
Today it encompasses a more expansive view defined by one Methodist historian
as “the harmonious functioning of a unified person within a community of other
persons” (Holifield, 1986, p. 47).
Wesley’s views on health and
healing were guided by the doctrines described above.
He believed that in the original order of creation, humanity's nature
included harmonious functioning of the body.
Adam and Eve knew no pain, illness, or discomfort and thus were never
in need of remedies for illness. After
the Fall, God’s grace allowed the restoring of the created order to proceed.
One aspect of that restored order was physical health.
Healing of the body moved in accord with God’s movement of restoring
created order, and thus was something actively encouraged and sought. Consequently, on the path towards salvation one must attend to more
than just one’s soul--one’s must also consider the body.
However, one’s physical health is always subordinated to one’s spiritual
wholeness. For Wesley, good health was seen as one of
the many benefits accrued along the journey towards salvation but should never
be confused with the goal itself.
From the beginning, a social
component was present within the Methodist conception of health.
Wesley exhorted individuals to provide service to others. One form
this took was training deaconesses to visit the sick. However, it was
not until later that these forms of service changed from being perceived mainly
as acts of mercy to being viewed as representations of spiritual health and
growth. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, the environment
was given focus as containing disharmony and thus spreading sickness within
society. The concept of one’s interconnectedness to
others was given greater prominence. Thus,
Christians were prompted to not only restore order and health within oneself,
but to also aid society by struggling against social diseases such as poverty
and oppression. This change was reflected
in the adoption of a Methodist “Social Creed” in 1908. This creed committed
adherents to serve human need wherever it could be found.
These principles affirmed ideals of social health such as the regulation
of working conditions, the provision of protection and recreation for children,
and the safeguarding of workers from dangerous machinery, unsanitary working
conditions, injuries, and occupational diseases (Holifield, 1986, pp. 52-53).
Thus, the Methodist conception
of health has expanded much from the denomination's beginnings. It has moved from an idea of the absence of
impairment within one’s physical or mental functioning to the conception of
the harmonious functioning of a unified person within a community. One
is not to think of oneself as an isolated individual but rather interconnected
to others. Illness is now viewed as something to struggle
against both within one’s physical self and one’s social community.
Many of John Wesley’s successors
expanded upon his conception of health as stemming from the doctrine of creation.
For example, Russell Dicks, an American Methodist hospital chaplain (b.
1906), published a journal called Religion and Health and a series
of books of well-being (Holifield, 1986). His view of health and healing encapsulated
three main ideas. First, as pointed
out by Wesley, disharmony in one’s soul can translate into disharmony in one’s
body. Second, Dicks viewed God as ever-present
in the natural order (often depicting God as Nature) and thus continually working
towards the alleviation of disease and suffering through the restoration of
created order. As all are part of the
movement toward this order, every creature contained within itself an orientation
towards health. Understanding God through nature would enable
one to experience the constant healing presence of the divine. Third, trust in God was situated as a potent
precondition to healing. This trust
is displayed through the process of confessing one’s sins, abandoning a self-centered
outlook, and embracing a socially oriented reality.
This change in outlook opens one up to God’s healing presence.
The advent of psychological theory, and Methodism’s
embrace of advances in science, led to a further expansion of the denomination's
view of healing and health. Carroll Wise, a Methodist chaplain who also
taught pastoral theology and wrote Religion in Illness and Health (1942),
contributed towards expanding the conception of health to include the role of
religious symbols. He felt that attention
must be paid not only to the intellectual content of beliefs but also to their
emotional content when examining effects on health. Utilizing a modern definition of health--persons
as unified organisms within a greater community--Wise viewed religious symbols
as having the potential to reveal a disposition and facilitate an orientation
to a unified self. Religious symbols
accomplished this by uncovering truths about reality. These truths serve as markers allowing one
to constantly reorient oneself. Since this reorientation is directed toward wholeness and harmony,
it will provide insights into health and religion that serve to enhance one’s
well-being.
Erastus Evans and William Strawson,
members of the Methodist Society for Medical and Pastoral Practice in England,
also spoke about the nature of God’s presence in healing (Holifield, 1986).
While stating that spiritual disharmony negatively affected a person’s
ability to move toward unified wholeness, they emphasized that religious faith
did not offer the physician a set of techniques to apply in treatment of sickness. They did maintain, however, that God is present
at all levels in the natural order. Thus,
effective healing relied upon attuning oneself to the divine forces at work
in healing. This is accomplished through
trust and confidence in God.
Wesley's original focus upon
salvation is always maintained within these elaborations on healing and health.
While it is one’s Christian calling to struggle against all forms of suffering,
one’s focus is always to remain upon the journey toward salvation. In this context, health and well-being are
two different concepts. Well-being represents
progress along the journey toward salvation. Health and healing remain byproducts of this
journey:
When growth, whether spiritual or
psychological, becomes an end consciously sought, the end proves elusive, for
a self-arranged growth remains within the narrow boundaries of the self that
arranges it. But when the self is drawn
outside itself, when the journey focuses the gaze on the truth rather than the
traveler who seeks the truth, then the truth can indeed make one whole. And when that wholeness brings health and healing,
the traveler will be grateful for the gift (Holifield, 1986, p.60).
The doctrine of creation and the Fall dictates that sickness is disorder,
and thus contrary to God’s created order. Salvation represents a journey towards
reorienting oneself to this original order.
Illness is to be always struggled against because it interferes with
this journey. The Doctrine of Grace
suggests that each human being is bestowed with an impulse toward created order,
which includes within it health and healing.
This impulse is realized through enhancing one’s capacity to love God
and creation. However, it is also recognized
that we currently exist in a disordered
world, and thus are subject to the sicknesses resulting from this disordered
state.
Drawing from the doctrine of creation, it becomes clear that God
does not will suffering on humankind. Suffering,
sickness, and death arise out of disorder in the natural world and must be struggled
against. There are two types of suffering
--suffering of others and society, and personal suffering.
Each engenders its own response.
Sanctifying grace
emboldens the heart towards works of mercy.
Most often this means a concern for the health of the poor.
Their condition is viewed by Methodists as stemming from environmental
disorder--societal ills such as rampant greed, pollution, and intolerance.
Methodists thus do not condemn the poor for their suffering or see it
as stemming from retribution. Methodists
engage in ministering to the poor as a way to help restore God’s created order.
They look upon this service to others as a means to demonstrate their
love of God. As Wesley first emphasized,
each person was created in the image of God: natural, political, and moral. Today’s Methodists phrase this concept as the
inviolability of each person. In 1962,
they defined this notion in their outline of Christian ethics: “The first
principle is the dignity and worth of the human person as a child of God” (Holifield,
1986, p. 119).
Methodists therefore
have a long history of creating institutions to care for the downtrodden.
This started with Wesley organizing women as deaconesses to visit the
sick in London hospitals. In the late 1800s, American Methodists organized
a medical missionaries overseas. During this same time, many Methodist hospitals were built across
America. They also have a long history
of attending to children with special needs. And more recently, they have devoted much attention towards establishing
hospital chaplains and providing hospice care.
Suffering experienced personally
must be struggled against because it is not part of the created order.
God does not stand aloof during one’s ordeal or make one suffer in vain. Christ suffered in order to more fully identify
with humanity. Thus, God provides opportunities for one’s suffering to be invested
with meaning. The Methodist theologian
Leslie Weatherhead addressed this topic at length in The Will of God
(1944). He described God’s will as
the created order, which involved humankind living in mutuality and happiness. But God also gave men and women free will. As evidenced by the Fall, this has the potential
to create suffering. When human free
will disrupted God’s design, God did not revoke it.
Rather, God works within the suffering and hence, provides the opportunity
to have it invested with meaning.
Thus, suffering opens
the way to allow one to better understand Christ’s tribulations. This can lead to developing a stronger connection
with others who suffer, enhancing one’s capacity to love God through taking
actions to end other’s pain. Therefore, while suffering is not to be sought
but rather overcome, the overcoming of suffering may produce insight--drawing
one’s heart from self-absorbtion to a love of God. Suffering is by no means meant to be the common
way to develop a love of God. But allowance is made for the experience to
serve as a way to deepen one’s ability to empathize. Therefore, even suffering can be used to further
the journey of salvation and sactification.
Conclusion
Physical Health back to contents
No
major figure in Protestant history has more enthusiastically joined the concerns
of pastor and physician than John Wesley. He was actively involved with
the theory and practice of medicine. Indeed, he traveled from England
to the British colony of Georgia to spread the Christian message and to serve
those who had no regular doctor. Wesley published the influential book
Primitive Physick in 1747. It was reprinted over sixty times by
1880. In this text, he urged weekly visitations of the sick to his followers
and explored alternatives to the conventional medical practices of his day.
This work offered advice meant for popular rather than professional consumption
in order to restore apostolic approaches for physical, mental, spiritual, and
social health. For Wesley, salvation entailed "a restoration of the
soul to its primitive health"--a state of harmony prior to human corruption
by original sin (Wesley, 1831,vol 5, p. 493).
As was typical of clerics during
the eighteenth century, Wesley ultimately attributed all types of disease to
sinfulness. However, this condition was not one of total human depravity. Because
the soul and body were inherently linked, spiritual prescriptions could alleviate
diverse forms of illness. Health was seen as a journey that involved justification
by the grace of God, a rebirth of faithfulness, a process of sanctification
through which the Christian spirit was gradually restored, and a renewal of
the capacity of love. This final step entailed emulation of divine love,
a process described by Wesley as "the most powerful of all the means of
health and long life" (Wesley, 1768, p. xii).
By popularizing
phrases such as "cleanliness is next to godliness" (Holifield, 1986,
35), Wesley offered a critique of unhealthy habits and squalid social environments
unmatched by any other Protestant reformer. Early Methodists heeded such
injunctions by advocating for disciplines or "regimens" of hygiene,
diet, sleep, and leisure. Temperance in alcohol consumption was central
to this agenda. Holistic spiritual therapies for both bodily and psychological
ills were recommended by Methodist clergy in the United States who frequently
acted as physicians for their congregations. Methodism took hold most
thoroughly on the American frontier and met with its greatest evangelical success
among those who seldom had access to professional medical doctors. For
example, vital figures in the history of the American Methodist church such
as Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke viewed the prescription of medical remedies
as a pastoral duty. By 1880, however, Methodism had become the statistically
dominant religion in the United States and reduced its focus from John Wesley's
medical theories and therapies. Yet, historical charitable concerns for the
sick and the poor were not forgotten.
The building of Methodist-sponsored hospitals began in 1882
with Seney Methodist Episcopal Hospital in Brooklyn. By 1960, seventy-six general
hospitals were being operated by Methodists-a number second only to Lutheranism
among Protestant denominations in America (Muelder, 1961, pp. 308-311). Temperance
remains a primary concern and is exemplified by the continued sacramental consumption
of grape juice instead of wine and ongoing condemnations of tobacco and illegal
drug use.
The United Methodist Health Ministry Fund (UMHMF)
serves as an example of the denomination's continued focus upon issues of physical
health and the integration of these concerns into a holistic model of wellness.
Founde in 1986, the UMHMF provides support to Kansas-based projects that
promote the gamut of health concerns. Strategic iniatives for 2003-2006
reflect the Fund's emphasis on the physical domain of health. Primary
objectives for this period include: improvement of oral health, increasing healthy
lifestyles through physical activity and healthy food choices, and improvement
of access to health care. Although this list is oriented around issues
of bodily well-being, the UMHMF, like the United Methodist Church itself, advances
a multifacted definition of health that incorporates complete physical, mental,
spiritual, and social well-being.
Mental Health back to contents
Wesley believed that consuming tea or liquor, sleeping
too long, or failing to exercise could lead to mental disorders such as nervousness
or depression since physical and mental health were viewed as inextricably intertwined. He often recommended spiritual therapies for
both bodily and psychological ills. Claiming that one could achieve “unspeakable Joy and perfect Calm”
via God’s love, he wrote, “Grief, Desire, Hope deferred, make the heart sick,
with a sickness that drugs cannot cure . . . What but the love of God, that
sovereign balm for the body as well as the mind?” (Wesley, 1774, p. 10).
Wesley was a believer in miraculous healings; he never hesitated to recommend
“that medicine of medicines, prayer” as a supplement to folk remedies and regimens
(Wesley, 1773, p. 156). And while the contemporary United Methodist
Church is divided concerning the efficacy of faith healing, the Holiness and
Pentecostal traditions--offshoots of Methodism--continue to welcome this practice
and perspective (Vanderpool, 1986, p. 338).
In modern times, this
connection is represented by the idea that spiritual malaise can impact one’s
mental health. The love of God is seen
as working within the love of interpersonal relationships. One’s journey towards salvation, and the consequent
loving relationships one forms, serve to facilitate a sense and awareness of
wholeness. This in turn can produce
profound psychological healing. Though as is the case with regimens, preservation
of one’s psychological health as prevention is prioritized over seeking healing
after mental illness occurs.
Contemporary Methodist understandings
of mental health have been greatly informed by the disciplines of psychology
and pastoral care. After World War II, pastoral theologians such Howard
Clinebell, Jr., Carroll A. Wise, and Paul E. Johnson explored the relationship
between psychology and theology. By integrating the thoughts of John Wesley
with psychotherapuetic notions such as the unconscious, represssion and sublimation,
and insticts toward sexuality and aggression, these thinkers have offered Methodist-derived
visions of mental health that confront issues of freedom and dependency, stagnancy
and growth, and the necessity of human-human and divine-human relationships
for psychological wellness.
On a more practical level, Methodist concerns for mental
health have been made manifest in a variety of ways. For example, twenty-first
century Methodists sponsor end-of-life progams based upon "dying with dignity";
support for persons whose marriages are in peril; provide pastoral crisis intervention
for congregants with mental illness; and many other similar initiatives. Furthermore,
members of the United Methodist Church are very active in interdenominational
efforts to facilitate mental wellness such as Pathways
to Promise--an interfaith technical assitance and resource center that offers
liturgical materials, program models, and networking information to promote
a caring ministry for people with mental illness and their families.
Social Health back to contents
Methodist prohibitions and injunctions have
also facilitated social wellness. Methodists led the prohibition charge
in late nineteenth century America as alcohol became identified with numerous
social and physical harms. They viewed intoxication as an illustration
of the wages of sin. They linked it with crime, delinquency, and suicide.
By advocating temperance, nineteenth-century Methodists viewed love of
God and holy living as essential for physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. After 1892, judgments against the habitual use of tobacco were added
to the “special advices” section of the official Doctrines and Discipline
of the Methodist Church. Even after
the repeal of the prohibition amendment in 1933, the dangers of alcohol and
cigarettes continued to top the church’s wellness agenda and remain priorities
in the modern day.
Harkening upon the benevolent
concerns of their founder, Methodists joined other late nineteenth and early
twentieth century mainline Protestants in their embrace of the Social Gospel.
This movement sought to inculcate society with the ethics of Jesus and
the Hebrew prophets through its focus upon issues of health, crime, labor relations,
poverty, and racism. Mainline Protestant traditions during this era implemented
an applied Christianity to assist those in need. Methodists often spearheaded
these initiatives.
Although American Social Gospel
activities somewhat subsided in the second decade of the twentieth century,
Methodism has perpetuated many of these concerns. For instance, John Wesley's
interest in the plight of orphans has continued to be of primary importance
for the church. By the mid-twentieth century, Methodists in the United
States operated sixty-five child-care facilities with an emphasis upon short-term
treatment and the placement of children in supervised foster homes. Methodism's
focus upon social health also extends to end-of-life issues such as hospice
care and ministry to the dying. As of 1986, the United Methodist
Church sponsored thirty-two hospice facilities. Finally, programs for
those in need or the disadvantaged have continued throughout the twentieth century.
Such initatives include: worldwide relief programs for those made
homeless or hungry by disasters; localized soup kitchens and night shelters;
shelters for abused women and children; efforts to include disabled persons
within caring communities; and outreach to people in prison (Holifield, 1986,
pp. 173-175).
The social health emphases of
contemporary United Methodism are best expressed in the denomination's central
teaching, The Book of Discipline (2000). This work includes a section
entitled "Our Social Creed" that commits the Church to "the rights
of men, women, children, youth, young adults, the aging, and people with disabilities
. . . and to the rights and dignity of racial, ethnic, and religious minorities."
Furthermore, the it promotes "the right and duty of persons to work
for the glory of God and the good of themselves and others" and "the
elimination of economic and social distress." Finally, it pledges
dedication "to peace throughout the world, to the rule of justice and law
among nations," to "individual freedom for all people of the world"
and "the preservation, enhancement, and faithful use by humankind"
of "God's handiwork" (United Methodist Church, 2000, 166). Thus,
John Wesley's conception of holistic health endures as twenty-first century
United Methodism continues to assert its founder's emphasis upon love as the
remedy for all social ills. For according to Wesley, love is "the
medicine of life, the never-failing remedy, for all the evils of a disordered
world, for all the miseries and vices of men" (1872, vol. 11, p. 45).
Spiritual Health back to contents
John Wesley’s health advocacy was an essential element in his understanding
of sanctification and Christian perfection. By emphasizing the purity
and holiness of body and mind, he equated healthy states with the manifestation
of pious and virtuous desires. By practicing a complete love of God, and thus
freeing oneself from anger, doubt, and despair, adherents would become empowered
through grace to live peacefully and altruistically. Thus, through a combination of simple,
practical, physical disciplines, the cultivation of mental states wrought with
love and purposefulness, and reliance upon the supernatural intervention of
the divine, one could lead a life imbued with personal, communal, social, and
spiritual wellness.
In the modern day, the United
Methodist Church perpetuates many of its earlier health emphases.
Contemporary Methodists maintain a focus upon Wesleyan views of perfection
and hope to manifest perfect love in this life through the power of God.
According to Howard Clinebell, Jr., a Methodist minister, counselor,
and founder of the Clinebell Institute (a center for religion and wholeness),
spiritual hungers must be satisfied in "open, loving, growing, life-celebrating,
esteem-strengthening, and reality respecting ways." Only with this
groundwork laid can spirituality in turn nourish "physical, mental, and
interpersonal health" (1992, p. 25).
Thus, an emphasis upon
growth of the soul through the development of appropriate piety remains an overarching
concern for Methodist conceptions of holistic health.
Wesley’s expansive notion of well-being endures, as contemporary adherents
continue to echo their founder’s claim that “It is a double blessing if you give yourself up to the Great Physician, that He may heal soul and body together. And unquestionably this is His design. He wants to give you . . .both inward and outward health” (Wesley, 1931, vol. 6, p. 327).
References
Holifield, E. B. (1986). Health
and medicine in the methodist tradition: Journey toward
Crossroad Publishing Company.
Outler, A. (1964). John Wesley. New York: Oxford University Press.
United Methodist Church. (2000). The book of discipline of the United Methodist Church - 2000. Nashville: United Methodist Publishing House.
Vanderpool, H. (1986). The Wesleyan-Methodist
tradition. In R.L. Numbers and D.W. Amundsen (Eds.)
Caring and curing: Health and
medicine in the western religious traditions (pp. 317-353). New York: Macmillan.
Wesley, J.
(1768). Primitive physick: Or,
an easy and natural method of curing most diseases. Bristol: William
Pine.
Wesley, J. (1773). The
works of the Rev. John Wesley. Bristol: William Pine.
Wesley, J. (1774). The
works of the reverend John Wesley. Bristol: William Pine.