Foreword by Andy Crouch

Preface

Introduction: What Is Health For?

1. Taking Control of Health: The Need to Feel Invulnerable
2. The Desire for Certainty in an Uncertain World
3. As It Was in the Beginning
4. Disembodiment in Health Care, Part 1: The Clinical Gaze
5. Disembodiment in Health Care, Part 2: The Statistical Gaze
6. The Gaze of the Gospel The Greatest Fear
7. In the Shadow of Death
8. Death Defanged and Defeated
9. Just Community: Is There Enough?
10. The Cooperation of Faith and Medicine: The Hope for Salvation in the Midst of Pursuing Health

Conclusion: The Recovery of Wonder

Notes

General Index

Scripture Index

“Based on his Christian convictions and years of treating the marginalized, Dr. Cutillo calls for reorienting the philosophy and practice of medicine. A society consumed by a delusional drive for invulnerability needs to look to the truths of creation and the fall and of the incarnation and resurrection of Jesus: humans are finite and mortal, yet there is hope in the fact that God took on flesh and conquered death. Eloquently argued with references to philosophy, literature, and theology, this volume urges readers to redefine the relationship between faith and medicine. A profound, timely book.”
M. Daniel Carroll R., Blanchard Professor of Old Testament, Wheaton College

"Few people could have written this book with the penetrating perspective of Dr. Cutillo. He has a unique viewpoint from medical practice in some of the best Christian health centers in the US and abroad which helps him to understand health care. His medical perspective leads him to an eloquent but gentle lament for medicine’s impersonal 'disembodiment' as it divides patients into organ systems, statistics, and computerized templates. However, his theological training and wide reading of the classics helps us clearly see ways in which the integration of faith into health care can make it more truly 'caring.' Dr. Cutillo’s conclusion draws on the hope he has learned from suffering patients, and the joy he has witnessed as the result of true Christian community. He offers a positive change of direction I find very compelling. Read and be inspired."
John Payne, MD, President, Medical Ambassadors International; Former Family Medicine Residency Director, University of California, Davis

"Health care has begun to feel like a zero-sum game. Struggles over coverages and copays have often supplanted thoughts about 'health' itself. Our focus on the technologies, institutions, and politics of health care delivery have superseded considerations (and conversations) about the integration of health with biblical faith, community, and justice. Into this fraught space, Dr. Cutillo has introduced an astute thoughtfulness that is challenging, refreshing, and deeply grounded. His incisive analysis is delivered in a way that is caring, open, and inviting. This doctor has great bedside manner!"
David M. Erickson, President and CEO, ECHO, Inc.

"This excellent resource, beginning with the simple conviction that health is a gift given by God, will challenge the way you and our culture look at medicine and health care. Whether Dr. Cutillo is discussing the proper care for our bodies, the proper place of science in health care, how we face death, or how to properly steward precious health care resources for the good of all, this book will inform and challenge some of your most basic, and perhaps incorrect, assumptions about medicine and health care."
Walt Larimore, MD, bestselling author, 10 Essentials of Happy, Healthy People and Workplace Grace: Becoming a Spiritual Influence at Work

"Dr. Cutillo’s vision of how faith and medicine can cooperate offers an antidote to the anxiety that diminishes personal health and contributes to defensive medicine. Of particular interest is his treatment of how anxiety and fear lead to self-absorption, consequently contributing to health disparities and injustice. With the church having the antidote to anxiety in the gospel, what might happen to the health of our communities if we lived fully into that message? A must read for those who are concerned about integrating faith and health in their professional practice or ministry."
Mary Chase-Ziolek, Professor of Health Ministries and Nursing, North Park University and Seminary; author, Health, Healing, & Wholeness

"Bob Cutillo is an amazing doctor with a vast experience of delivering health care in several contexts. He is extremely well qualified to guide us in our understanding of health care in the anxious days ahead. Dr. Cutillo uses his expertise and experience to help us think through health care with a hopeful mind-set. I highly recommend Pursuing Health in an Anxious Age."
Wayne "Coach" Gordon, Pastor, Lawndale Christian Community Church, Chicago, Illinois

“Reflection on the moral meaning of medicine sometimes results in the contriving of collections of guidelines or flowcharts to guide the making of difficult medical decisions. In a refreshing alternative, Dr. Cutillo has woven a wise and engaging meditation with the power to transform how we imagine the meaning of health and of community. By situating the practice of medicine in the context of modernity’s preoccupations, obsessions, and blind spots, he reminds us that health is neither an entitlement nor a reductionist solution to an engineering problem. It is, rather, a gift—given by one who took on human form himself—to be received and cherished with wonder and love.”
Ken Myers, Host and Producer, Mars Hill Audio Journal

“Dr. Cutillo challenges his medical colleagues and the Christian church to look at how health care is provided in the context of modern medicine and in light of what the Bible teaches about caring for one another in today’s global society. His heart for and experience in caring for the poor and underserved along with his study of the Bible inform this excellent presentation of the issues as they have evolved historically.”
Grace J. Tazellar, Missions Director, Nurses Christian Fellowship; author, Caring Across Cultures