Illness, the problem of evil, and the analogical structure of healing: on the difference Christianity makes in...

Area of Science:

• Bioethics
• Theology
• Philosophy of Medicine

Background:

• The current medical approach often isolates sickness, suffering, and death.
• There is a need to contextualize medical practice within a broader understanding of human existence and purpose.
• The problem of evil is often experienced through the disruptions caused by illness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a Christian bioethic that incorporates theological concepts into medical practice.
• To explore how illness experience can illuminate the problem of evil and point towards redemption.
• To propose a framework for spiritual healing within the medical context.

Main Methods:

• Theological reflection on the nature of sickness, suffering, and death.
• Philosophical analysis of the human life-world and the concept of the analogia entis.
• Integration of Christian concepts of redemption and renewal into bioethical considerations.

Main Results:

• Illness disruptions can be understood as manifestations of the problem of evil.
• The disease-oriented approach to medicine can serve as an analogy for spiritual healing.
• A Christian ethic of care emerges from appreciating the analogical structure of healing.

Conclusions:

• A Christian bioethic requires situating medical care within redemption and human renewal.
• Illness experience, when interpreted theologically, can reveal deeper spiritual truths.
• The analogia entis provides a model for integrating medical and spiritual healing, forming a basis for an ethic of care.