요즈음 치유(healing)에 대한 관심이 높다. 치유란 몸과 마음과 영혼을아우르는 전인적인 차원을 지닌다. 전인적인 치유를 말하는 오늘날, 정신적인 질병을 포함한 모든 질병을 단순히 생리학적 혹은 환원주의적인 물리주의(Physicalism) 관점에서 해결할 수 없다는 것도 점차 상식이 되어가고 있다. 존 웨슬리는 일반적으로 영혼 구원의 열정에 사로잡힌 부흥운동가로알려져 있지만, 그는 특히 통합적이며 전인적 치유에 관심을 가지고 당대의주요한 의학서적과 민간요법과 자신의 경험을 바탕으로 『초보적인 의술』이란 책을 저술하였다. 존 웨슬리의 전인적인 치유에 대한 관심은 그의 부차적인 관심이 아니라, 그의 인간이해와 구원이해에 따른 목회와 선교의 중심적인 사역이었다. 그는 구원은 죄의 용서 그 이상의 치유(Healing)을 가져와야한다고 믿었다. 위대한 의사로서의 그리스도는 죄를 용서하실 뿐만 아니라,죄로 인해 상처받고 병든 몸과 영혼을 치유하신다. 그의 구원론은 몸과 마음과 영혼의 통합적인 전일론(Holism)으로 이해할 수 있다. 더 나아가 그는전인적인 치유가 공동체적인 차원에서, 특별히 가난한 사람들을 위한 배려가 우선되어야 한다고 생각하였다. 그는 의료문제를 사회복지와 정의의 문제로 접근하였다. 그의 구원과 치유에 대한 이해와 실천은 시대적인 차이가있긴 하지만, 대체의학이나 전인적 치유(힐링)에 관심을 갖는 우리 시대에도 한 시사점이 될 수 있을 뿐만 아니라, ‘잊혀진 선교의 차원으로서의 치유’를 다시 한 번 생각하여, 성서와 초기 기독교가 보여주었던 통전적인 선교를회복하려는 한 사례가 될 것이다.

The purpose of this paper is to examine John Wesley’s theology as a practical piety which is grounded in a holistic sotieriology that sustains an integrative healing for body, mind, and spirit. His Primitive Physick well demonstrates this perspective. It went through twenty-three editions in his lifetime-among the highest number of anything that he published and stayed in print continuously into the 1880s. It contains simple herbal-type medicines for a collection of common maladies that people could use instead of wasting their money. He was not an one-sided revivalist who was only interested in salvation of soul. He did not ignore holistic health and healing. He stressed the interrelationship of physical and psychic or emotional well-being. Though he equated health of body and salvation of soul, both are well balanced and harmonized in his thought. Actually, the word ‘salvation’ and ‘healing’ came from the same root. John wesley’s interest in health and healing was a central dimension of his ministry and of the mission of early Methodism, which was based on his understanding of salvation and healing. He thought that if the crucial problem of sin is not just guilt but the spiritual debilitation and affliction of human person, then salvation must involve more than pardon; it must also bring healing. This need accounts for the prominence of therapeutic guage in John Wesley’s various comments on human salvation. He characterized the very essence of religion as a therapy by which the Great Physician heals our body and sin-diseased souls, restoring the vitality of life that God intended for us. John Wesley’s concern for universal access to healthcare motivated much of his medical work. He believed that, just as God’s mercy is over all God’s creature, our works of mercy-for both and soul-should be offered to all. So,he distributed his Primitive Physick at little or no cost across the English countryside and set up the first free public dispensary in London. He was eager to extend his concern for holistic health and healing to the whole community.

The purpose of this paper is to examine John Wesley’s theology as a practical piety which is grounded in a holistic sotieriology that sustains an integrative healing for body, mind, and spirit. His Primitive Physick well demonstrates this perspective. It went through twenty-three editions in his lifetime-among the highest number of anything that he published and stayed in print continuously into the 1880s. It contains simple herbal-type medicines for a collection of common maladies that people could use instead of wasting their money. He was not an one-sided revivalist who was only interested in salvation of soul. He did not ignore holistic health and healing. He stressed the interrelationship of physical and psychic or emotional well-being. Though he equated health of body and salvation of soul, both are well balanced and harmonized in his thought. Actually, the word ‘salvation’ and ‘healing’ came from the same root. John wesley’s interest in health and healing was a central dimension of his ministry and of the mission of early Methodism, which was based on his understanding of salvation and healing. He thought that if the crucial problem of sin is not just guilt but the spiritual debilitation and affliction of human person, then salvation must involve more than pardon; it must also bring healing. This need accounts for the prominence of therapeutic guage in John Wesley’s various comments on human salvation. He characterized the very essence of religion as a therapy by which the Great Physician heals our body and sin-diseased souls, restoring the vitality of life that God intended for us. John Wesley’s concern for universal access to healthcare motivated much of his medical work. He believed that, just as God’s mercy is over all God’s creature, our works of mercy-for both and soul-should be offered to all. So,he distributed his Primitive Physick at little or no cost across the English countryside and set up the first free public dispensary in London. He was eager to extend his concern for holistic health and healing to the whole community.

John Wesley, Primitive Physic, Salvation, Health, Healing, Holism, Alternative Medicine