John S. Haller,Jr., provides the first modern history of the Eclectic school of American sectarian medicine. The Eclectic school (sometimes called the "American School") flourished in the mid-nineteenth century when the art and science of medicine was undergoing a profound crisis of faith. At the heart of the crisis was a disillusionment with the traditional therapeutics of the day and an intense questioning of the principles and philosophy upon which medicine had been built. Many American physicians and their patients felt that medicine had lost the ability to cure. The Eclectics surmounted the crisis by forging a therapeutics based on herbal remedies and an empirical approach to disease, a system independent of the influence of European practices. Although rejected by the Regulars (adherents of mainstream medicine), the Eclectics imitated their magisterial manner, establishing two dozen colleges and more than sixty-five journals to proclaim the wisdom of their theory. Central to the story of Eclecticism is that of the Eclectic Medical Institute of Cincinnati, the "mother institute" of reform medical colleges. Organized in 1845, the school was to exist for ninety-four years before closing in 1939. Throughout much of their history, the Eclectic medical schools provided an avenue into the medical profession for men and women who lacked the financial and educational opportunities the Regular schools required, siding with Professor Martyn Paine of the Medical Department of New York University, who, in 1846, had accused the newly formed American Medical Association of playing aristocratic politics behind a masquerade of curriculum reform. Eventually, though, they grudgingly followed the lead of the Regulars by changing their curriculum and tightening admission standards. By the late nineteenth century, the Eclectics found themselves in the backwaters of modern medicine. Unable to break away from their botanic bias and ill-equipped to support the implications of germ theory, the financial costs of salaried faculty and staff, and the research implications of laboratory science, the Eclectics were pushed aside by the rush of modern academic medicine.

“Klassen’s book is much more than a first-rate study of how two churches in Canada positioned themselves within the ostensibly parallel worlds of biomedicine and spiritual healing. It is, at its core, an insightful meditation on the relationship between liberal Protestantism and the project of modernity. A must read not only for students of Christianity, but all those interested in the legacies of secularism and enchantment." —Matthew Engelke, London School of Economics

This collection of essays explores the significance of practice in understanding American Protestant life. The authors are historians of American religion, practical theologians, and pastors and were the twelve principal researchers in a three-year collaborative project sponsored by the Lilly Endowment. Profiling practices that range from Puritan devotional writing to twentieth-century prayer, from missionary tactics to African American ritual performance, these essays provide a unique historical perspective on how Protestants have lived their faith within and outside of the church and how practice has formed their identities and beliefs. Each chapter focuses on a different practice within a particular social and cultural context. The essays explore transformations in American religious culture from Puritan to Evangelical and Enlightenment sensibilities in New England, issues of mission, nationalism, and American empire in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, devotional practices in the flux of modern intellectual predicaments, and the claims of late-twentieth-century liberal Protestant pluralism. Breaking new ground in ritual studies and cultural history, Practicing Protestants offers a distinctive history of American Protestant practice.

A comprehensive portrait of the osteopathic medical profession. Overcoming suspicion, ridicule, and outright opposition from the American Medical Association, the osteopathic medical profession today serves the health needs of more than thirty million Americans. Osteopathic medicine is now the fastest-growing segment of the US physician and surgeon population. In The DOs, historian Norman Gevitz chronicles the development of this controversial medical movement from its nineteenth-century origins in the American Midwest to the present day. He describes the philosophy and practice of osteopathy, as well as the impact of osteopathic medicine on health care. In print continuously since 1982, The DOs has now been thoroughly updated and expanded. From the theories underlying the use of spinal manipulation developed by osteopathy's founder, Andrew Taylor Still, Gevitz traces the movement's early success, despite attacks from the orthodox medical community. He also recounts the efforts of osteopathic medical colleges to achieve parity with institutions granting MD degrees and looks at the continuing effort by osteopathic physicians and surgeons to achieve greater recognition and visibility. Bringing additional light to the philosophical origins and practices of the osteopathic movement, as well as the historic debates about which degree to offer its graduates, this volume • chronicles the challenges the profession has faced in the early decades of the twenty-first century • addresses recent challenges to the osteopathic medical profession • explores efforts at preserving osteopathy's autonomy and distinctiveness • offers a new perspective on the future of osteopathic medicine Based on an extensive examination and evaluation of primary sources, as well as countless interviews with individuals both inside and outside osteopathic medicine, The DOs is the definitive history of the osteopathic medical profession.

Behind the Silence is the first in-depth work in any language to explore the diverse perspectives of mainland Chinese regarding induced abortion and fetal life in the context of the world's most ambitious and intrusive family planning program. Through his investigation of public silence, official standpoints, forgotten controversies from the imperial era, popular opinions, women's personal stories, doctors' narratives, and the problem of coerced abortion, Nie Jing-Bao brings to light a surprising range of beliefs concerning fetal life and the morality of abortion, yet finds overall an acceptance of national population policies. China's internal plurality, the author argues, must be taken seriously if the West is to open a fruitful cross-cultural dialogue. Visit our website for sample chapters!

Volume V extends the study of the Oxford History of Dissenting Protestant Traditions series into the twentieth century, following the spatial, cultural, and intellectual changes in dissenting identity and practice as these once European traditions globalized and settled down in other places.

This book provides an outline of the developments in health care and poor relief in Northern Europe by drawing on research into local conditions and mapping general patterns of development.

A significant contribution to the history of humanitarianism, Christianity and the politics of aid in Africa.