A Theology of Health

Tyler J. VanderWeele is the John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Epidemiology at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, and director of the Human Flourishing Program and co-director of the Initiative on Health, Spirituality, and Religion at Harvard University. He is author and co-author of several books, including Measuring Well-Being and the Handbook of Religion and Health.

Preface


Part 1. Health and Wholeness


Introduction. Health as Wholeness


1. The Health of Persons and Human Flourishing


2. The Health of the Body


3. Health, Unity, and Goodness


4. Health and Community


5. Health and Spiritual Well-Being


6. Health and Responsibility


7. The Implications of Health as Wholeness


Part II. Ill Health and Sin


Introduction. Ill Health as the Absence of Wholeness


1. Agency, Sin, and Ill Health


2. Injustice and Ill Health


3. Fallenness and Ill Health


4. Sin and Death


5. Incapacity and Sin


6. Ill Health and Suffering


7. The Implications of Ill Health and Sin


Part III. Healing and Salvation


Introduction. Healing as the Restoration of Wholeness


1. Healing of Persons and Healing from Sin


2. Healing and Love


3. Healing and Jesus Christ


4. The Church, Community, and Healing


5. The Limits of Healing


6. God, Resurrection, and Salvation


7. The Implications of Healing and Salvation


A Nontheological Postscript


Appendix


Propositional Outline


Brief Glossary Concerning Health and Illness


References