This issue, #101 Healthcare and Hospitals – in the mission of the church, features a collection of in-depth articles chronicling how, from its earliest days the Christian church carried out active ministries of philanthropy and care for the sick. Christian medical care is founded on the biblical belief that human beings are created in God’s image. The Bible reads: “And God said, “Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness….” God’s creation of human beings in his image (rationally, spiritually, morally, volitionally) implies that human life is precious and must be protected.

Early Christians valued the body and the medical arts necessary to heal it as gifts from a loving God. The roles of the doctor and nurse emerged from Christian communities and European monasteries that during the Reformation began to practice and model the Great Shepherd. Christians taught  the parable of the Good Samaritan, Luke 10:25–37, as did Jesus, who stated that it was the despised Samaritan who proved himself a neighbor, having compassion on a wounded man and giving him medical aid when even priests and Levites of his own religious community passed him by.

The editor and contributors to this issue, ask challenges questions that are faced the world today: How should the church respond to the devastating global epidemics and pandemics being faced today? How can healthcare workers bring their faith to bear within today’s secular institutions? How can family members and ministers help patients to negotiate the maze of the twenty-first-century healthcare system while keeping a sense of God’s presence in the process of healing? As in so many areas, there is still much to learn from our forebears.    

CH issue #101, contains 14 features and shorter side-bar articles; a chronology timeline; an archive of rare artwork & photos; a ‘letter to the editor’ section and an extensive reading list compiled by the CH editorial staff. The magazine is fully available on-line and can be conveniently read on screen at: https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/issue/healthcare-and-hospitals-in-the-mission-of-the-church

The following major articles (click to select) can be accessed on-line and reprinted with permission:

A New Era in Roman Healthcare  by Gary B. Ferngren, professor of history at Oregon State University.
How the early church transformed the Roman Empire’s treatment of its sick

Basil’s House of Healing  by Timothy S. Miller, is a professor of history at Salisbury University (Maryland).
How a fourth-century monk pioneered the hospital

From poorhouse to hospital  by Timothy S. Miller, professor of history at Salisbury University (Maryland).
How the Christian hospital evolved from a house of charity that cared for the poor to the medical institution we know today

The hospital experience  by Jennifer L. Woodruff Tait is adjunct professor of history/church history at Asbury Theological Seminary, Huntington University, & United Theological Seminary.
What would it have been like to receive care in a medieval hospital?

“Our lords the sick”  by Theresa M. Vann, the Joseph S. Micallef Curator of the Malta Study Center at the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library, St. John’s University (Minnesota).
Christian thinkers Adopted Jewish symbols—but mistrusted their sources

The charitable revolution  by Adam J. Davis is associate professor and chair (Medieval Europe) in the history department of Denison University, Granville, OH.
Why did the twelfth century bring a wave of new hospitals?


The entire CHM archive of Christian History magazine issues can be searched, along with related books, videos and study-guides, using the website’s search engine feature. A magazine subscription, combined with its accompanying website, is offered at no-cost as a study resource for home & homeschoolers, church libraries, middle/high schools, as well as to colleges & universities. It is the mission of CHI donors and staff to make this resource as widely and freely available as possible (donations gratefully accepted).

Why Christian History magazine?

“Christian history has been largely removed from the American public education system that Christian leaders began in the early years of the nation,” said Michael Austin, a Christian commentator. “After years of decline, our public schools no longer teach the Bible’s founding contribution to Western Civilization. In fact, while the Bible has influenced everything in our culture for the good its creator God is now questioned and attacked.”


George Barna, speaking of data gathered in a recent survey, said, “Young people couldn’t think of anything positive that the Christian church stood for.” In a video interview,  Barna Further reported, “We’re essentially in the Dark Ages, in America today.” (View YouTube, titled: ‘Young Americans see nothing positive in church – says George Barna.’) 

Christian History Institute is a non-profit Pennsylvania corporation founded in 1982. CHI publishes Christian History magazine and produces books and videos featuring important Christian history, including  Torchlighters®, an animated history series of biographies for young families. CHI is a donor-supported organization providing church resources and self-study material making Christian history accessible to the widest possible audience, via video and the Internet. Contact Christian History Institute, Box 540, Worcester, PA 19490, https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine.