Fortress Press

In this engaging study, Ekaterina Lomperis deftly describes Martin Luther's new evangelical understanding of physical suffering and the role of medicine in alleviating it. Linking theology with pastoral care, she highlights those elements of the reformer's thought still relevant to Christian faith communities today. The Reformations of Medicine demonstrates the value of drawing from the past to address modern questions.

This book bridges the gap between early modern thought and contemporary questions about the relationship between religion and medicine. Using Martin Luther's religious understanding, Lomperis provides an excellent introduction to readers interested in the Reformation and its implications for suffering, healing, and medicine in its own context, as well as for contemporary society.

The Reformations of Medicine offers an innovative exploration of the intersection between religious belief and healing practices during the transformative era of the sixteenth century. Lomperis reveals how the Protestant Reformation not only reshaped theology but also reimagined nonmaterial dimensions of medicine. This book is an essential resource for every enthusiast of science and religion.

Ekaterina Lomperis deftly breaks down barriers in this study, combining intellectual history and social history to clarify Luther's teachings on medicine, while also addressing divisions between modern medicine and faith healings. Her work is grounded in the breadth of Luther's thought, which places him firmly in his early modern context, while also illustrating how his doctrines of salvation and the Christian life were basic to the way he conceptualized health, divine providence, and monastic disciplines. A unique work that should be on the bookshelves of everyone interested in the early modern era and its ongoing significance for the modern world.

The emerging field of medical humanities has presented two gaps: one, a longue durée perspective on the discourse, and the other, connection between medicine, humanities, and works focused on religious-cum-theological matters. With The Reformations of Medicine, Ekaterina Lomperis offers a bold and groundbreaking account that fills both these gaps, with Martin Luther as the primary interlocutor. Readers will also appreciate the connection she makes between the world of the early Reformation with contemporary concerns and preoccupations. This book is written in a lucid style; readers will be glad to have chosen it. Tolle lege!

An important contributor to both Reformation studies and the history of medicine, Prof. Lomperis offers a fresh perspective on Luther's engagement with Scripture and tradition, addressing head-on unhealthy theological misconceptions about sickness and healing. In a world impacted by pandemics and healthcare injustice, her proposal to draw upon Luther's own deliberations to reform modern medicine is both timely and necessary, providing the theological impetus for Christians to attend to both physical and spiritual well-being. This book should be read in congregations, hospitals, seminaries, and graduate schools!

Lomperis thoughtfully and, at times, provocatively argues that Luther's theology of suffering and his engagement with medicine offer valuable insights for contemporary medical ethics. By reexamining Luther's teachings and posing fresh questions to the past, Lomperis presents a more nuanced, faith-centered approach to medicine and modern healthcare.