The Reformations of Medicine

The Reformations of Medicine is an investigation into Martin Luther's little-studied theologies of physical suffering, healing, and medicine and their constructive implications for contemporary endeavors to rediscover the spiritual dimensions of health care. Lomperis challenges the long-standing scholarly tradition which, by accentuating Luther's theological valorization of involuntary suffering, has sidelined Luther's views of the possibilities of resisting it. She contends that in instances of the suffering of the body, Luther advocated active outward resistance, including through the proper use of medicine, which he saw as a divinely preferred means for healing. In conversation with recent interpretations on Luther's program of reform as a "reformation of feeling" and "reformation of suffering," Lomperis posits that at the dawn of the scientific revolution, in light of new Protestant theological concerns, Luther similarly pursued a spiritual "reformation of healing" still pertinent to present-day interactions of medicine and religion.

Luther's commentaries on the Old Testament narrate both a sacred history of medicine and practical teachings with regard to human searches for healing. Lomperis demonstrates that Luther's guidance on the proper use of medicine was informed by his theological understanding of created means and especially his original theology of idolatry. Luther found in the Bible surprising examples that underscored the necessity of using medicine, while also requiring emotional detachment from its use and, instead, placing the hope for healing in God. Luther's exegesis presented the practice of medicine as deeply infused with spiritual meaning. Moreover, his theology of medicine disputed the long-standing tradition in Christian thought that viewed medical healing as spiritually inferior to supernatural, divine healing. Lomperis delineates how Luther's theology can serve as a resource for spiritually navigating the complexities of suffering in contemporary medical contexts and for reforming Christian spiritualities of medicine to promote more equitable and just health care systems.