Summary
Title: Handbook of Religion and Health: A Century of Research Reviewed
Author: Harold George Koenig, Michael E. McCullough, David B. Larson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195118669
Pro:
• Most comprehensive resource on relationship between religion and health
• Extensive information on all aspects of religion, health, and illness
Con:
• Probably not appropriate for average readers - audience is more for professionals
• Some be disappointed by paucity of evidence showing positive health benefits of religion
Description:
• Review of over 1,600 studies and reviews on the effects of religion on health
• Describes, critiques, and ranks the methodology and conclusions of studies
• Every aspect of the relationship between health and religion addressed
Book Review
Because medicine is currently an aspect of the biological and physical sciences, we can't really decide what sort of relationship religion and medicine can and should have without a close reliance upon scientific research. But how can anyone really get a handle on all of the research that has been done on this subject?
That's where Handbook of Religion and Health comes in. Edited by Harold George Koenig, Michael E. McCullough, and David B. Larson, it provides summaries and critiques of 1,600 different studies and reviews (done through the year 2000) on the relationship between healthcare and religious beliefs. All studies are explained, their strengths and weaknesses noted, and ranked according to methodology and results.
Here, in one volume, we have the most comprehensive resource on such research available. What medical topics are addressed? There are obvious issues like depression, anxiety, heart disease, hypertension, stroke, cancer, and immune system dysfunction. The book also deals with topics like delinquency, crime, marital happiness, personality traits, and many other things which are directly relevant to health and illness.
Although it isn't possible to draw any simple and easy conclusions from such a massive amount of data, the authors do argue that on the whole the data tends to support a positive relationship between medical care and religion:
...religious beliefs and practices rooted within established religious traditions were found to be consistently associated with better health and predicted better health over time; in a few clinical trials, groups that received spiritual interventions experienced superior clinical outcomes compared with controls.
At the same time, however, the authors admit that only a few of the studies were actually designed to test for whether religion had any influence on health - that means any conclusions drawn from the other studies must be regarded as somewhat tenuous. In fact, most of the beneficial findings they report seem to be anecdotal or serendipitous — considering just how much research is covered, the book doesn't provide a great deal of support for those sympathetic to the idea that religion is important to good health.
This is bound to be a disappointment for some readers whose hopes are raised by some of the early comments, like those which appear in the Foreword promising a 'new paradigm' that will be based upon the information in the text.
The authors of Handbook of Religion and Health acknowledge that what data does exist does not point exclusively towards positive benefits for religion; sometimes, studies show a very negative effect on health from religion. This is an important inclusion because, in the current atmosphere, we hear very little about such negative relationships.
Usually we read about claims about how prayer and religion help make people healthier. What we don't hear so much about are the difficulties that come from the belief that disease is a punishment for sin and the problems that develop when people rely upon miracles and prayer to the exclusion of medicine.
Throughout the book, whenever a specific study or the state of research in a given area is summarized, the authors almost invariably acknowledge that "further research is needed." One of the most common points, for example, is that little or nothing has been done to compare people with different religious beliefs and backgrounds. We also don't see discussion about why people seek out religion in the first place - after all, the average church member doesn't attend worship services for the same reason they go one a new diet or take up jogging. If improved health does accompany religious devotion, then how and why?
Another issue that isn't discussed, but should have been, is whether belief systems which do not qualify as traditional religions, but which nevertheless serve similar social and psychological functions, also provide the same apparent health benefits. Such a study might be difficult, but it would be critical in determining just what, if anything, about religion is really helping people.
A certain amount of skepticism is warranted because Harold Koenig is by no means a disinterested scholar. Director of the Center for the Study of Religion/Spirituality and Health at Duke University, Koenig has written extensively about the healing power of religion and has claimed to have clear evidence that people with religious faith live longer, healthier, happier lives. In making his case, however, he neglects contrary evidence, failed to report about studies which show correlations between religion and child abuse, and so on (see Victor J. Stenger, Has Science Found God?) This collection is perhaps more even-handed that what he has published in the past, but readers must still remain careful.
With over 700 double-columned pages of text, nearly 100 pages of ranked studies, and almost 100 pages of references, this is a very dense book. It's unlikely to be appropriate for the average reader with just a casual interest in the relationship between medicine and religion. Instead, the book is aimed at researchers, libraries, doctors, and those with a need for much more detailed data than can be found in any of the popular literature currently available.
