A John Wesley Moment: Medicine

By Dave Hanson
 
John Wesley wanted to help people. He was concerned about health. John studied medicine while preparing to visit Georgia because he felt it would be needed in those primitive conditions. He observed an autopsy while in Georgia. He organized clinics and treated people for all kinds of illnesses. He even wrote “Primitive Physic”, a very popular book on medicine. In this book he very simply named the disease, stated the symptoms, and gave advice on treatments. We laugh at some of the strange folk remedies, but ‘Primitive Physic” was the cutting edge of medicine in his day. This has been a John Wesley Moment.
 
The Rev. Dave Hanson is a retired pastor and John Wesley scholar.