HEALTHCARE AND THE TEACHINGS OF THE EARLY AND MEDIEVAL
CHURCH
Aside from offering charity, hospitals occupied an important place in the teachings of the early and medieval Church. As theinfluential early theologian Origen(184–253 ce) put it, God, being aware of human frailty and suffering, had sent humanity
hope and deliverance through Jesus Christ—a figure Origen called the “Great Physician.” The symbolism of Christthe Healer provided medievalphysicians with a role model. A Christianized version of Hippocrates and the Hippocratic Oath
were seen by medieval scholarsas a practical version of the spiritual healing of Jesus. Attimes, Jesus was even referredto as “the spiritual Hippocrates” inscholastic medical writings.32
Although we stilluse the same word—hospitals— today, we should keep in mind that medieval hospitals were very different. It should not be assumed that the early hospital quickly became a central part of medical life inthe way that it is today.
The so-called “medicalization”of the hospital took place over along period, and the route to that developmentwas neither simple nor linear.
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