Gott im ärztlichen Gespräch?

Author(s): Flemm, P.

Abstract: Belief in God, religiousness and lived faith show a downward tendency in our society. The belief in a personal God decreases and there is a trend towards a kind of "Patchwork religiousness". This also seems to be reflected in the dialogue between patient and doctor: only 5% of mortally ill people talk about religious problems or ask for religious comforting. In the picture ill persons make of themselves in today's medicine, which is coined by the model of a defective machine, there seems to be no room for God. The deterministic thinking in science leaves no room for phenomena like hope or belief in miracles. Is the dialogue between doctor and patient a discussion between godless persons, is a doctor or a psychologist an alternative God?On the other hand nearly 50% of the mortally ill people associate their illness with questions about the sence. There is no condition which makes man more susceptible to questions about the cause or the sense of suffering, the meaning of death and thoughts about life after death than an illness. Again and again the question about God - in different variations - is asked in the dialogue between doctor and patient: making hope and wonders a subject matter, the question about the sense and effectiveness of prayer.The reference between religion and illness are dealt with in a transcultural comparison by means of the ancient doctor as a hero and mediator between God and man (Asklepios, Chiron) and by means of the appearance of the "wounded healer" in shamanism and the applicability of these references to modem medicine is discussed.

Keyword(s): Krankheit

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