Theological Perspectives of Health and a Healthy Religion/Church

Paper: Theology of Pastoral Care and Counselling

Presenter: Vioto N Katty

Faculty: Dr. Shaji P. John

Introduction:

The word ‘Health’ denotes more than just a physical health which can be
assumed in its mere sense, it is a combination of all dimensions of life in its fitness. The term
‘Religion’ and ‘Church’ encompasses a whole variety of norms, values and perspectives
differing from people from all walks of life. The terms itself denotes a whole lot of ideas and
connotes different meaning depending upon the perception of the individual. Therefore, for the
accuracy and preciseness to the topic the word ‘Church’ throughout the paper is used to denote
both the terms. In this paper we shall look at the definition of health, theological perspectives
of health, biblical foundation of the word ‘church’, what defines a church and the theological
perspectives of a healthy church.

1. Definition of health

The WHO constitution defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social
well-being and not merely in the absence of disease or infirmity”. 1 In 1941, Henry Sigerist
stated that, “Health is… not simply the absence of the diseases; it is something positive, joyful
attitude toward life and a cheerful acceptance of the responsibilities that life puts on
individuals.”2

2. Theological perspective of Health

In Christian Perspective, health must be understood in terms of the goods and goals
toward which human life is directed, which must themselves be understood in terms of God’s
good purposes made known in Christ we are called to be healthy and resist disease, but
understanding what this entails in particular concrete situations requires skills and habits of
attentiveness to God's command, cultivated in the context of the Christian community and its
practices.3

In Christian theological perspective, we are not free to determine our own ends as a
matter of independent self-assertion, they are graciously given by God, our good and loving
Creator, and disclosed in and through Christ. Health is to be understood as God’s gift, the

1
WHO constitution in 1948.
2
H E Sigerist, Medicine and Human Welfare (New Haven: Yale University Press,1941), 100.
3
Neil Messer, Towards a Theological Understanding of Health and Disease, Journal of the Society of
Christian Ethics, (2011), 160.

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 strength to obey God’s liberating command to live the particular human kind of life for which
we have been made. Disease is “the weakness opposed to this strength,” an aspect of the evil
and chaos opposed to God’s good purposes in creation but at the same time “concealed under
this form the forerunner and messenger of the eternal life” promised by God, which is our truest
and fullest hope.4

2.1 Health in the OT

In the OT, health and healing were both applied to the individuals, except by some
metaphorical use by the prophets to describe the healing of the nation of Israel. They were seen
as evidence of God’s power and compassion for his people along with the blessing of flock and
herds. Sickness on the other hand was regarded as punishment in the Deuteronomic paradigm
of blessing and cursing (Deut 7-8). This view was challenged in the book of Job and question
the book of Psalms (eg. Psalms 73) but remined and important part of Old Testament legacy
regarding sickness.5 Shalom the Hebrew word for peace has many dimensions of meaning:
wholeness, well-being, salvation, peace and justice. Inquiry about a person’s welfare includes
everything that is necessary for healthy living; good health, a sense of well-being, good fortune,
the cohesiveness of the community, relationship to relatives and their state of being, and
anything deemed to be necessary to be in order. Shalom has moral connotations also; it is the
opposite of deceit (Psalms 34:13-14; Jer 8:22). It requires truth and transparency in relationship
with God and fellow Human beings. Living selfishly deprives the community of Shalom. When
a health care deprives the most vulnerable citizens from basic health care, it denies Shalom to
those people. Shalom means more than good health, and so they cannot be equated.6

2.2 Health in the NT

Healings done by Jesus and later the apostles are regarded as one of the signs of the
arriving Kingdom, and also as the compassion of Jesus toward human suffering. In the gospel
of John, these signs indicate that the Kingdom of God has full arrived by the coming of Jesus.
In some synoptic accounts (Mark 5:23 and Luke &:36), healing and saving come close to
meaning the same event, as in the use of the verb sodzo to denote healing, even though it is
usually translated ‘to save’. Healing is thus close to the centre the synoptic meaning of
salvation, although it can never be said to fully contain the meaning of salvation, or to be
indispensable to it. In Paul's writings, healing is viewed as one of the spiritual gifts among
others possessed by the believers (1 Corinthians 12:9).7

Scripture calls us to put our trust in God for day-to-day guidance and empowerment,
which brings wholeness of mind and body (Proverbs 3:5-8). Healing and refreshment of the

4
Neil Messer, Towards a Theological Understanding of Health and Disease Journal of the Society of
Christian Ethics, (2011), 171
5
J N Lapsley, “Salvation Healing and Health”, Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counselling edited by
Rodney J Hunter, (Nashville: Abingdon Press: 1990), 1107.
6
William M Swartley, Health, Healing and the Church’s Mission: Biblical Perspective and Moral
Priorities (Illinois: Inter Variety, 2013), 123.
7
J N Lapsley, “Salvation Healing and Health”, Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counselling edited by
Rodney J Hunter, (Nashville: Abingdon Press: 1990), 1108.

2
 body are the fruit of trusting in the Lord, which require fearing the Lord and turning away from
evil. But we cannot deduce that all sickness is the result of sin or failure to trust the Lord. Job
teaches us this point in the Old Testament and in the New Testament we see Jesus’s teaching
negating the disciple’s assumption that the man was not born blind because either he or his
parents had sinned. Christians have the reason to say no to any argument that uses suffering to
prove a person's guilt innocence. 8

2.3 Salvation and Healing

Old Testament thinking of salvation is corporate. Israelites connect this with their
deliverance experience from Egypt. Even though Prophets talk figuratively about the individual
health and healing more it speaks about community healing and health. For them health and
healing are the experience of ‘God’s power and compassion’. In the New Testament Greek
word for ‘save’ and ‘healing’ used interchangeably in some occasions. For instance, in Mk
5:23 and Luke 8:36 the verb ‘sodzo’ used to denote healing. Again the N.T references such as
Mk. 2:1-2, 2:17, 3:27, and 2 Tim.4:18 pictured Jesus as both Saviour and Healer. Paralytic’s
healing in synoptic gospels make it clear that healing the body and forgiveness of sins are
equal. 9 When we are regenerated in Jesus Christ, the principle of health and life is now at work
within us, and we grow in terms of the principle of wholeness - health and holiness in every
aspect of life. It follows from this that care for the body is a religious concern, and an important
part of our duty as Christians.10

2.4 Prayer and Health

Prayer is considered a particularly important intervention in spiritual care for those in

suffering. 11 According to George A. Buttrick, “The power of prayer in the realm of health has
hardly yet been tapped.” In a deep sense, this may be considered as the most basic contribution
of religion to health. For prayer is in fact the deepest well spring of religion. Prayer ought to
imply relaxation of the spirit which, if real, has an immediate influence on our physical
tensions. Real prayer brings the conviction of the strength to deal with life’s tensions. 12

One of the most relative uses of prayer is used by the Counsellor in the process of
healing. Researches and surveys indicate that the general population, clients, and many mental
health practitioners place on spirituality and on prayer. Integrating spirituality into counselling
procedures is widespread among Counsellors, with prayer being their spiritual intervention of

8
William M Swartley, “Health, Healing and the Church’s Mission: Biblical Perspective and Moral
Priorities”, (Illinois: Inter Variety, 2013), 126.
9
J N Lapsley, “Salvation Healing and Health”, Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counselling edited by
Rodney J Hunter, (Nashville: Abingdon Press: 1990), 1107.
10
Joe Boot, Health & Salvation (Windsor: Ezra Press,2012), 9.
11
Talita Prado, Emilia Carvalho & Silivia Caldaria, “The Effect of Prayer on Patient’s Health”,
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291344940 (Accessed on 5th Dec,2022)
12
Seward Hiltner, Religion and Health, (New York: The Macmillan Press,1947), 36.

3
 choice. Therefore, the ethical ramifications of incorporating spiritual interventions, particularly
prayer is considered as an important tool in the process of healing. 13

3. Definition of the church

The word Church comes from the Greek word ekklesia which is translated as the called-out
ones. This term was used in the Greek society to refer to a group of free citizens who were
called from their homes in matter of public interest.14

New Testament: More than one hundred different terms and metaphors are used in the
New Testament to describe the people of God. In Paul’s teaching the word ekklesia is a term
used to mean congregation, church, gathering or assembly. 15 This word ekklesia is used 114
times in the New Testament, out of which 110 times have been referred to the ‘called-out ones’
of Jesus. Jesus introduced ekklesia as His Church, which is not merely a gathering or an
assembly but a community summoned for worship and fellowship through gospel. 16

Old Testament: In the Old Testament we find that the Israelites were the ‘called-out
ones’ of the Lord often referred to as Kahal. All the twelve tribes of Israel would gather around
the tabernacle when the trumpet was blown for the ‘called-out ones’ to receive instructions,
commands and blessings. 17

4. Theological Perspectives of a Church

The word Church should not be referred to a building because the Church consists of people
built-together into a spiritual binding of God. When we understand the church to a mere
building, we miss the true essence of the church. It is also important to note that the church is
never used to refer to an organisation or sect. the church is the central authority to all the
churches in the New Testament which is bigger than any denomination or organisation. 18

4.1 Salvation and the Church

Salvation and the Church are inseparable because the Church is not an external aid to salvation
but an end to itself. Since faith is essential to gain salvation through grace, the understanding
of one’s faith is necessary. Faith is not purely passive but an activity based on one’s belief. Life
in the congregation is not added by confession of faith but it is the execution of the confession
of faith. Just as faith is confessed through speaking, so also, it is confessed through life in the

13
Ched Weld & Karen Eriksen, The Ethics of Prayer in Counselling Edited by Christopher Sink, (n.p.
2005), 20.
14
Bill Scheilder, The Local Church Today: A Biblical Study of its purpose and Ministry
(Secunderabad: Authentic Books, 2007), 47.
15
P T O’Brien, “Church” Dictionary of Paul and his Letters, edited by Gerald F Hawthorne & Ralph
P Martin (England: Intervarsity Press, 1993), 123.
16
Bill Scheilder, The Local Church Today: A Biblical Study of its purpose and Ministry
(Secunderabad: Authentic Books, 2007), 48.
17
Bill Scheilder, The Local Church Today: A Biblical Study of its purpose and Ministry
(Secunderabad: Authentic Books, 2007), 48.
18
Bill Scheilder, The Local Church Today: A Biblical Study of its purpose and Ministry
(Secunderabad: Authentic Books, 2007), 49.

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 fellowship of the believers. To experience one’s faith is to become an ecclesial being. 19 Henri
de Lubac in his theology stated that there is no salvation outside the Church, therefore in order
to be saved, one must believe, and the believers are called Christians. Christ himself, instituted
the Church, on the apostles as the foundation, and deposited in her, all that will enable people
to attain this salvation. The Church becomes an ark that carries people unto salvation. Just as
there was only one Ark, the one made by Noah, with which God saved the righteous Noah and
his household (Gen 7) so also is the Church instituted by Christ for the salvation of all men
who form one household of Christ.20

4.2 Theology and Pastoral Leadership

Christian Leadership in the early church is as much complex as it is today. Augustine

spent his days busied with the administration of the Cathedral staff, the celebration of liturgies,
the care for the poor, advocating prisoners and those on death-rows. Along with the usual
responsibilities of institutional management, which all pastors must learn to cope with, church
leaders in late antiquity administered an even greater degree of direct provision for the poor
and needy than most do today, due in large part to the differences in late-antique expectations
of patronage that performed many of the functions of the multiple governmental and private
institutions that exist in our own day. Pastors cared for the everyday and bodily needs of the
sick and the poor, widows, orphans, and prisoners from the church’s common resources, and
they exhorted individual Christians to care for one another. In the spiritual dimension, pastors
concerned themselves quite extensively with the moral development of their flocks. The
emphasis on moral transformation is especially visible in the sheer number of sermons devoted
to such themes by preachers like Origen, John Chrysostom, and Augustine. 21

Yet in all their concern for the physical and moral state of their flocks, it was a
theological rationale that guided and gave meaning to the many activities of early Christian
pastors. Among the many different theologians and church communities in the early church,
the central purpose of pastoral ministry was to shepherd God’s people toward their heavenly
life with Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, both now and in the age to come. Gregory
Nazianzen memorably summarizes the main purpose of pastoral ministry: “The aim of our
treatment (therapeia) is to provide the soul with wings, to rescue it from the world and give it
to God-to protect what is in God’s image if it abides, to take it by the hand if it is in danger, or
to restore it if it is ruined: to make Christ dwell in the heart by the Spirit, and in short to deify
and bestow heavenly bliss upon those who have pledged their allegiance to heaven.” For
Gregory, the chief function of Christian leadership is to guide the baptized through their

19
Miroslav volf, After our likeness: The Church as the image of Trinity (Michigan: WBE Publishing
Company,1998), 160-171.
20
Henry Nnamah, “The Church and Salvation in the Theology of Henri de Lubac”
https://www.academia.edu/42384305/The_Church_and_Salvation_In_the_Theology_of_Henri_de_Lubac
(Accessed on 5th Dec,2022)
21
Christopher Beeley, “Theology and Pastoral Leadership”
Theology_and_Pastoral_Leadership.pdf www.academia.com 16-17. (Accessed on 5th Dec,2022).

5
 ongoing transformation as they come to participate ever more deeply in the eternal life of the
Trinity. 22

4.3 Functions of the Church

The functions of the Church are determined not by the needs of any particular historical
situations, but by its divine commission. However, it is also true that every fresh experience
through which people passes may contribute to a new understanding of God’s purpose for the
Church. If God is the Living God, we must expect that through an honest facing of the demands
of the contemporary situation new light will be bestowed. It is an encouragement to hope for
this that we are permitted to seek for light in an oecumenical fellowship in which the churches
may contribute to the common deliberations the gifts of its distinctive tradition and
experience. 23 Some common aspects of church’s functions are: -

 Community of worship

The essential meaning of the Christian gospel is redemption. Life has been given a new
centre. The centre of the Christian life is no longer himself but God. The deepest expression of
the new life is consequently worship and adoration. Worship is the response of believing people
in adoration and joyous self-dedication to God’s revelation of Himself and to His redeeming
grace. The church by nature is a worshipping community, and it is necessary function of the
church as an organised society to provide opportunities for common and public worship and to
educate its individual members in the spirit and practice of worship. 24

 Community of love

The Church has laid stress on faith, since it is only by our personal response to God’s
personal call that we can be redeemed to new life. But it has in a far less degree emphasised
the other truth that the new life into which we are called and admitted is a life of community
and love. The Church is a realization of true community. Its essential nature is fellowship
between persons. It can be the manifestation of the true meaning of community because its life
is rooted in the life of God. 25

 Community of thought

The Church is the abiding witness to the manifestation in the history of new reality. The
grace and truth which came into the world by Jesus Christ have to find continually renewed
expression both in life and also in thought. It is the task of the Church to interpret, both to its

22
Christopher Beeley, “Theology and Pastoral Leadership”
Theology_and_Pastoral_Leadership.pdf www.academia.com 16-17. (Accessed on 5th Dec,2022).
23
W A Visser & J H Oldham, The Church and its Function in Society (London: Unwin
Brothers Ltd, 1937), 153.
24
W A Visser & J H Oldham, The Church and its Function in Society (London: Unwin
Brothers Ltd, 1937), 157.
25
W A Visser & J H Oldham, The Church and its Function in Society (London: Unwin
Brothers Ltd, 1937), 159-160.

6
 own members and to the world outside, the meaning and implications of the gospel which it
provides. 26

4.4 What is a Healthy Church?

A Healthy Church is one in which each member lovingly submits to the good of the
whole. Under the ministry of God’s word, they strive for unity. In the strength of the Spirit,
they pursue spiritual growth together. With a growing awareness of their sins, they are willing
to gently confront and live transparently with one another. They learn and grow and forgive
quickly, walk patiently with one another, pray for humility and wait expectantly for the Saviour
to return.27

Characteristics of a healthy Church:

 Church Health centres on God’s word.

 A Healthy Church is grounded in Biblical Theology.
 A Healthy Church is gospel-centred.
 A Healthy Church thinks biblically about evangelism.
 A Healthy Church thinks biblically about conversion.
 A Healthy Church thinks biblically about spiritual growth.
 Healthy Churches are filled with committed Christians.
 Healthy Churches are willing to remove unrepented sinners in order to preserve
their gospel witness to the world.
 Healthy Churches are committed to raising up godly men to preach, teach guide
and shepherd.28

Conclusion

The quest for a healthy life and to be a part of a healthy society is pre-requisite of every
individual. Not every individual has the luxury to do so. However, fortunate are we Christians,
as we have the authority of the word of God that teaches us considerably to be healthy in all
dimensions of life, through teachings in churches, by elders, parents, leaders, etc. In addition
to that, being obedient, not only deliver us from earthly illness but also promises a life in
eternity. In the same manner, being a part and parcel of a healthy church is another form of
luxury, it accomplishes a sense of belongingness in the kingdom of God. To constitute one is
not a laid-back effort that can be accomplished effortlessly, it is a spontaneous and gradual
labour which needs determination and zeal. Though difficult as it might seem to be, it is not

26
W A Visser & J H Oldham, The Church and its Function in Society (London: Unwin
Brothers Ltd, 1937), 163.
27
James Macdonald, Bob Kellemen & Steve Viars, (Eds) Christ Centered Biblical
Counselling (Bangalore: Omega Book World, 2019), 240.
28
James Macdonald, Bob Kellemen & Steve Viars, (Eds) Christ Centered Biblical
Counselling (Bangalore: Omega Book World, 2019), 242-243.

7
impossible. The strive to live a healthy life and to zeal to constitute a healthy church is always
encourageable and applaudable.

Bibliography

Boot,Joe. Health & Salvation. Windsor: Ezra Press, 2012.

Eriksen, Karen & Weld, Ched. The Ethics of Prayer in Counselling Edited by
Christopher Sink, n.p. 2005.

Hiltner, Seward. Religion and Health. New York: The Macmillan Press,1947.

Messer, Neil. Towards a Theological Understanding of Health and Disease, Journal of

the Society of Christian Ethics, 2011.

Lapsley, J N. “Salvation Healing and Health”, Dictionary of Pastoral Care and

Counselling edited by Rodney J Hunter. Nashville: Abingdon Press: 1990.

Macdonald, James Kellemen, Bob & Viars, Steve. (Eds) Christ Centered Biblical
Counselling. Bangalore: Omega Book World, 2019.

O’Brien, P T. “Church” Dictionary of Paul and his Letters, edited by Gerald F

Hawthorne & Ralph P Martin. England: Intervarsity Press, 1993.

Scheilder, Bill. The Local Church Today: A Biblical Study of its purpose and Ministry.
Secunderabad: Authentic Books, 2007.

Sigerist, H E. Medicine and Human Welfare. New Haven: Yale University Press,1941.

Swartley, William M. Health, Healing and the Church’s Mission: Biblical Perspective
and Moral Priorities. Illinois: Inter Variety, 2013.

Visser, W A & Oldham, J H. The Church and its Function in Society. London: Unwin
Brothers Ltd, 1937.

Volf, Miroslav. After our likeness: The Church as the image of Trinity (Michigan:
WBE Publishing Company,1998.

Beeley, Christopher. “Theology and Pastoral Leadership”

Theology_and_Pastoral_Leadership.pdf www.academia.com.

Nnamah, Henry. “The Church and Salvation in the Theology of Henri de Lubac”
https://www.academia.edu/42384305/The_Church_and_Salvation_In_the_Theology_of_Hen
ri_de_Lubac.

Prado,Talita Carvalho, Emilia & Caldaria, Silivia. “The Effect of Prayer on Patient’s
Health”, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291344940.