God, Faith, and Health: Exploring the Spirituality-Healing Connection

273 Pages·2001·3.06 MB·English

by  Jeff Levin

B u s i n e s s C u l i n a r y A r c h i t e c t u r e
C o m p u t e r G e n e r a l I n t e r e s t
C h i l d r e n L i f e S c i e n c e s B i o g r a p h y
A c c o u n t i n g F i n a n c e M a t h e m a t i c s
H i s t o r y S e l f - I m p r o v e m e n t H e a l t h
E n g i n e e r i n g G r a p h i c D e s i g n
A p p l i e d S c i e n c e s P s y c h o l o g y
I n t e r i o r D e s i g n B i o l o g y C h e m i s t r y
e
WILEY
B O O K
WILEY
JOSSEY-BASS
PFEIFFER
J.K.LASSER
CAPSTONE
WILEY-LISS
WILEY-VCH
WILEY-INTERSCIENCE
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God, Faith,
and Health
Exploring the Spirituality-
Healing Connection
Jeff Levin, Ph.D.
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
New York • Chichester • Weinheim • Brisbane • Singapore • Toronto
fcopyebk.qxd 3/20/01 10:33 AM Page 1
Copyright © 2001 by Jeff Levin. All rights reserved
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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To Lea, my precious one.
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Contents
Foreword by Larry Dossey, M.D. vii
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
Part 1 / The Health Effects of Public Religion 17
1. Religious Affiliation and a Healthy Lifestyle 19
2. Religious Fellowship and Spiritual Support 45
Part 2 / The Health Effects of Private Spirituality 71
3. The Emotional Impact of Worship 73
4. Religious Beliefs, Healthy Beliefs 97
5. Faith, Hope, and Optimism 125
Part 3 / God, Spirit, and the Future of Medicine 151
6. Energy, Consciousness, and Mysticism 153
7. To Heal Is Divine 181
8. From Body-Mind to Body-Mind-Spirit 205
References 225
Index 248
v
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Foreword
Future historians of medicine will describe the twentieth century as
the period in which spirituality, after a long absence, began to return
to healing, and they will mark Jeff Levin as one of the greatest archi-
tects of this development. It is rare that someone establishes a com-
pletely new field in medicine, but that is what Dr. Levin has done.
His scholarship has led to the emergence of what he calls “the epi-
demiology of religion,” which focuses on the relationship of religious
practices to health.
Most people outside of medicine take for granted the idea that
religious practices such as worship, prayer, and meditation are im-
portant for their health, and they often wonder what the fuss over
these issues is all about. But the fact is, unfortunately, that medical
science has long looked with disdain on the possibility of a spiritual
factor in health. For most of the twentieth century, we physicians
have insisted that health is determined solely by what the atoms and
molecules in the body happen to be doing, which is following the
so-called blind laws of nature. Generations of physicians have viewed
with skepticism and often with ridicule the possibility that our
patients’ religious views and spiritual practices might make a differ-
ence in their health. But today our patients are having the last laugh.
As Levin compellingly shows, people who follow a religious path are
more likely to enjoy greater longevity and a higher quality of health
than those who do not. To be sure, there is no guarantee of such a
benefit for any given individual, as Levin is careful to state. As with
all therapies doctors employ, these results are statistical in nature and
are based on averages.
Levin’s findings have created immense interest in the medical
profession because they rest on a powerful word: data. Almost no
one knew that this evidence existed before Levin unearthed it and
brought it to the attention of physicians. The reason it remained
vii
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viii FOREWORD
hidden was that we were blind to it, in spite of the fact that it was in
plain sight. Why was it so difficult to see?
As medicine became increasingly mechanical from the mid-
nineteenth century onward, most people believed that the future of
health care lay almost totally in a technical direction. As the break-
throughs steadily appeared—anesthesia, vaccines, antibiotics, surgi-
cal advances, and most recently, genetic manipulation—physicians
often felt that the victory celebration over disease might break out at
any moment. Against this backdrop, the evidence of a role for spiri-
tual factors in health was obscured. When it emerged through Levin’s
work, it was totally unanticipated and caught many by surprise. But
as this evidence has become widely known, medicine has steadily
warmed to it. One of the best indicators of its acceptance is that cur-
rently between one-third and one-half of the medical schools in the
United States have adopted courses exploring religious and spiritual
factors in health.
When a factor is discovered that positively affects the health and
longevity of human beings, it automatically becomes the re-
sponsibility of physicians to engage it and learn to use it for the ben-
efit of their patients. Failing to do so would be irresponsible, like
turning away from a new antibiotic or a new surgical procedure.
That is why Levin’s work is winning converts in medical schools,
hospitals, and clinics throughout the world.
Even so, there are, predictably, a few cynics who decry these
developments. Some doggedly insist, ostrichlike, that the evidence
Levin demonstrates does not exist. They insist that religion and sci-
ence do not mix, and that attempts to bring them together are, as
one skeptic put it, “horrendous and evil.” They see Levin’s efforts as
an attempt to steer medicine back to the Dark Ages. They take the
dour view that emphasizing spiritual factors in health will only make
people feel guilty when they get sick; that religion is too delicate and
personal for physicians to explore; and that these matters should
therefore be left to ministers and priests. There is a grain of truth in
these concerns—all therapies have side effects and can be abused—
but they appear increasingly hollow when put to the test in hospi-
tals, clinics, and physicians’ offices across the land. Studies continue
to show that the benefits of applying these findings far outweigh the
potential problems involved. Many who object to Levin’s findings
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FOREWORD ix
seem to do so because of deeply held suspicions and prejudices
against religion, which was illustrated in the comment of one skep-
tic who said, “This is the sort of thing I wouldn’t believe, even if it
were true.”
Are these issues too personal for health care professionals to
become involved in? The lessons of the past can help allay such wor-
ries. Not too long ago, physicians believed they should not inquire
about the sexual practices and drinking habits of their patients. But
as evidence mounted that these were important health issues, physi-
cians began to inquire about them with the appropriate sensitivity.
Today it would be considered malpractice to avoid these areas. In
the same way, physicians can learn to interact skillfully and gently
regarding their patients’ spiritual life, to the benefit of their health.
Perhaps the major challenge we face is how to avoid trivializing
religious and spiritual practices. When laypersons and professionals
discover the impact of these measures on health, they may begin to
regard them as the latest item in the medical tool kit. Seen in this
way, prayer becomes merely the latest aspirin, the newest penicillin.
Prayer and spiritual practices have far greater benefits, I believe, than
aiding physical health. They are our bridge to the Absolute, how-
ever named—God, Goddess, Allah, Universe, Tao. In my view, this
benefit of religion dwarfs any physical advantage it may convey.
Levin’s contributions just might lead to a respiritualization not
just of medicine but of science in general. The idea that science can
be conducted as a sacred, holy pursuit is foreign to most scientists;
but in the early days of experimental science, a different view existed.
The British chemist Robert Boyle, for example, the author of Boyle’s
Law, called scientists “priests of nature.” He believed experiments
were so sacred that they should be performed on Sundays, as part of
the scientist’s Sabbath worship.
This book should come with a warning: it can be a shock to any-
one confronting this field for the first time. I shall never forget my
own surprise when I first stumbled across a scientific study of inter-
cessory prayer in hospitalized patients with heart attacks. It never
occurred to me that religious practices such as prayer could be
assessed like a new drug. At the time, I did not pray for my patients,
and soon I found myself facing an ethical and moral dilemma. If this
study was reliable, how could I justify not praying for my patients?