Religion and illness: an outline of their relationship

Religion serves at least three functions for the sick or dying patient. (1) It provides a theoretical framework in which to make sense of illness and mortality by understanding them as punishment, education, purification, sacrifice, or mystery, and it does so without denying the reality of these experiences. (2) It provides such practical resources for coping with sickness, suffering, and mortality as prayer, social support, and ritual actions aimed at forgiveness, transcendence, and healing. (3) It gives hope in the face of inevitable death. The particular clinical benefits of religion, both physical and psychologic, as well as its possible distortions, are known anecdotally. Empirical studies are needed to test these impressions.