Physician Heal Thyself

In ancient Greece and Israel there were itinerant preachers and philosophers who went about healing people and teaching. Some exploited the credulity of the simple for money. They were like professional flatterers and would merely say what their payers wanted to hear. They are often referred to as Sophists who Plato recognised as dangerous opponents because they were educated and could argue a point to defend their position. Even today sophist and sophistry are terms used to denote false teachers and teaching. The principle of promise and fulfilment may be seen as some kind of test. Healing can be seen by its effects of the patient. Experts and consultants try to help companies and countries with their problems with different degrees of success and failure. The phrase 'Physician, heal thyself' is sometimes refered to those who may be as well to look after their own problems as those of others. It is the attitude of those with no faith. It is the argument of those who rely on human philosophy and self interest.

The arguments of philosophy rage even today as they did in ancient Greece, for example, the epistemological debates between the positivists and phenomenologists. Positivists demand that all human knowledge must be verified by scientific method and tend to use the deductive methods of the natural sciences for law like generalisations. The phenomenologists argue that knowledge must include the reality behind the reality and so include theology, metaphysics and the inductive theory building method denied by the positivists. Humanism concentrates on human interests above any considerations of religion. New humanism goes further and calls for a moral and spiritual development to meet the cultural shift being experienced in the world today. People are conscious of their call to be actively engaged in shaping their own destiny. The developments make the old dichotomy between humanism and theism false as they call for a true humanism in all its dimensions. It is possible to view theology and philosophy and culture and science and compatible rather than antagonistic.