Description: The popularity of Chinese medicine has been growing, however, amongst Christians, it is still viewed with suspicion and negativity. How can we better understand its roots and practices? This book explores the histories & philosophies that shape Western biomedicine and Chinese medicine in order that we might make informed judgements about them.
Review Quotes:
"This is a pioneer work, yet it is also exhaustive and comprehensive. If 'truth is history', then this is 'truthful' indeed!... Richly historic, this work is somewhat prophetic for the future of medicine, an unusual medical textbook indeed! As a historian of ideas, I know of no book like this, to read, reflect, and inwardly digest!"
-- From the Foreword by Prof. James M. Houston, Founding Principal & Emeritus Professor of Spiritual Theology, Regent College, Vancouver, British Columbia
"History, the philosophy of healing, assumptions and myths in socalled 'Western' medicine$all these issues and more have been rolled into a scholarly but very readable book. Among the scholarly essays, there are accounts and vignettes of therapy and practice that are shared by Dr Diarra Boubacar. Knowing that Dr Diarra is an outstanding TCM physician whose heart is for the patient and community makes me applaud the publication of this book all the more."
-- Dr Tan Lai Yong, Director for Outreach & Community Engagement & Senior Lecturer at the College of Alice & Peter Tan, NUS
"There is often this conflict between the practice and philosophies of TCM and Judeo-Christian worldviews. In Asia, these conflicts are often more acute because Western medicine predominates as the main healthcare provider. This is an especial problem for Asian Christians who often reject TCM as 'unbiblical'. Dr Pak-Wah Lai has written an excellent book in which he uses a scholarly approach to examine this complex issue and presents to the readers his wellreasoned conclusions."
-- Dr Alex Tang, MD, PhD, FRCPE, Consultant Paediatrician, Associate Professor of Paediatrics, Monash University Malaysia, and Practical Theologian, Kairos Spiritual Formation Ministries
"In The Dao of Healing, Pak-Wah Lai introduces us in a wonderfully lucid and respectful way to why it is okay for Christians to use Chinese medicine. In the process, he walks us along the paths taken over the millennia by both Western and Chinese medicine, then dips more deeply into the influence on those paths of the metaphors that shaped them. His is a deceptively simple account that speaks directly and persuasively to the concerns of lay Christians."
-- Professor Wendy Mayer, Australian Lutheran College, University of Divinity, Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities
"This book is certainly one of a kind. Skilfully integrating interdisciplinary approaches such as medical historiography (of the West and China), philosophy, theology and cognitive linguistics, Lai provides the readers with an informative, thoughtful, trustworthy and accessible introduction for understanding and appreciating Chinese medicine from a Christian perspective. It not only informs but also guides the readers to fairly and critically engage both Western biomedicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in their respective historical and cultural contexts with a robust constructive theology. Regardless of the reader's religious orientation, however, one will come away with an enlightened perspective on understanding and evaluating TCM."
-- Prof. Helen Rhee, Professor of Church History, Westmont College