Health, Healing, and Hope in Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity

Abstract

In this time of pandemic, I would like to address health, healing, and hope in three major religious traditions: Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity. I myself am a Roman Catholic, teaching history of religions at a Jesuit college in the United States, and I lived as a student and researcher in India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka for a total of four years, and am fortunate indeed to have many Hindu and Muslim teachers, colleagues, and friends. But I also present myself as someone who is still learning about the religious richness of Hinduism and Islam, not to mention my own Catholic Christian tradition. So, we will begin by first considering the Hindu tradition of healing called Ayurveda, and then move on to discuss the importance of Greco-Roman or Unani medicine in Islam. After surveying health and healing in Christianity, I will conclude with some extended reflections not just on what is happening in my own country, the United States, but also on how these religious traditions—separately and together—may offer us hope.