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01-12-2013 | Original Paper

Bearing Witness Through Medicine: An Exploratory Study of Attitudes to Service Among Australian Evangelical Christian Doctors

Authors: Sarah B. Jensen, Christine B. Phillips

Published in: Journal of Religion and Health | Issue 4/2013

Abstract

This study explores the attitudes of Australian evangelical Christian doctors to healing, suffering and good practice, using in-depth interviews. Doctors described an intellectualised faith, in which medical care was conceived in itself as a way of bearing witness. The alleviation of suffering, for these doctors, included supporting patients to rediscover purpose and meaning in their lives. There was diversity of opinion about evangelising, with many feeling that this was a contingent activity best conducted outside the consultation. This cohort of doctors, mostly non-denominational, had consciously engaged in work with the poor and marginalised as an expression of their faith.

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Title: Bearing Witness Through Medicine: An Exploratory Study of Attitudes to Service Among Australian Evangelical Christian Doctors
Authors: Sarah B. Jensen
Christine B. Phillips
Publication date: 01-12-2013
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Journal of Religion and Health / Issue 4/2013
Print ISSN: 0022-4197
Electronic ISSN: 1573-6571
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-011-9558-5

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