Spiritual Healing

“This groundbreaking study of spiritual healing probes the scientific and philosophical issues with clarity and insight. Essential for anyone looking for trustworthy guidance on these issues.”
— Keith Ward
University of Oxford

“Coakley’s fine interdisciplinary collection of essays by scholars in philosophy, theology, history, anthropology, neuroscience and pastoral counseling should attract a range of readers (secular and religious) interested in the various ways interpretive analysis clarifies the abidingly important yet still murky question of how meanings heal. With an expert editorial hand, Coakley compares, contrasts, and brings into engagement divergent and, in a few instances, seemingly unassimilable studies, asking their authors to confront each other in search of more capacious and availing answers. No small achievement!”
— Arthur Kleinman, MD
Harvard University

“By making the ‘spiritual’ not an alternative to the physical but a window on the divine, and by making ‘healing’ not a synonym for magic but a way of encapsulating our longing for salvation, Sarah Coakley and her companions offer an intelligent, accessible, and inspiring study of perhaps the greatest interdisciplinary subject of them all. Highly recommended for anyone who cares about body, mind, and spirit—in local parish or theological seminar alike.”
— Samuel Wells
vicar, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London