the God who heals -- a book review

The God Who Heals:  Words of Hope for a Time of Sickness is a collection of sixty short meditations on biblical texts that pertain to the Church ministry of healing.  Written by Johann Blumhardt -- most known for his ministry of healing and exorcism in the late nineteenth century -- and his son, Christoph Blumhardt -- who was a significant influence upon Barth and Bonhoeffer -- these meditations offer guided reflections on the nature of that healing ministry and the vocation of God for all creation's well-being.

As someone who has faced down cancer and it treatment twice in my life, The God Who Heals is a book for which I've longed for a long time.  It's meditations are built upon a central theme:  Faith and trust in the will of God made known in Jesus Christ.  Both pastors and theologians, these authors point away from our own suffering and toward the wise Creator who brings healing out of pain, life out of death.  While modern medicine may promise healing, the Blumhardts know better.  Even the best medicine can never touch our psychological and mental and spiritual ills.  So what are Christians to think about pain and suffering and illness?

The God Who Heals contains an answer to that question.  It offers help and hope for those whose lives have been touched by illness and its daily effects.  Because the Blumhardts constantly point back to Jesus Christ as God-with-us.

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I received a free copy of this book from Plough Publishing in exchange for my honest review here.