Religious doctrine and medical practice

Religion has evolved through the centuries in many directions and has taken myriad forms with a complete lack of uniformity. This book is written, therefore, to serve as a practical guide primarily for the physician but also for the nurse, the dietitian, and the medical administrator, who is confronted by religious beliefs and doctrinal habits with which he is unfamiliar. It is designed to provide a reference for questions of religious dogma as they pertain to the practice of medicine. My concern has been primarily with those present-day religious bodies which are sufficiently sizable to be encountered generally in the United States. Let me emphasize that the historical portions of this book are not intended to be complete, but are written simply to help the reader understand the present concepts from their origin, i.e., their genealogy. The text has been compiled impartially as a reference book, not a critique, and the manuscript has been read by leaders of each religious body. - Preface.