Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: science and religion

  • Intersection of faith and science in Garcia-Marquez’s Of Love and Other Demons

    Sualeha Shekhani Karachi, Pakistan   St. Benedict Exorcising a Demon. Simone Cantarini. c. 1630s. Philadelphia Museum of Art. “If the swords of past conflicts are beaten into plowshares, and if taboos regarding the discussion of religion can be overcome, both medicine and religion can learn constructively from each other.”1 The opposition of reason and religion…

  • Mixing medicine – Religion and science

    Aneesa BodiatSouth Africa The ameer chewed on the dry date my husband had presented to him, saying a prayer and then placing the chewed fruit back into the container, sealing it for use in a few days when my baby boy would be born. This particular ameer or religious leader was from Medina, the holy…

  • Stephen Hales: the priest who pioneered clinical physiology

    JMS Pearce Hull, United Kingdom   As a student I learned about Stephen Hales as the parish priest who first measured blood pressure — in a horse’s leg. The mists of time and waning memory have made his several astonishingly original works unknown to many. Samuel Johnson’s famous dictionary made few references to individuals, but…