NATUROPATHY
by Dr. Christopher S. Deatherage, ND
The term Naturopathy was popularized by Dr. Benedict Lust, the founder of our profession, and used to describe what a naturopathic doctor did in the early twentieth century before the use of the modern terminology of naturopathic medicine was adopted in the 1980s. Naturopathy simply means using nature for the prevention and treatment of disease.
As a naturopathic doctor who practices from a Biblical world view, I still favor the term naturopathy to describe what I do as a naturopathic doctor, and consider it the purest form of naturopathic medicine. Noah Webster, the author of the English dictionary published in 1828 was also a committed Christian who defined the word nature as all that is produced by God the Creator. In Genesis 1:31 the Bible states that "God saw all that he had made and behold, it was very good". And in 1Timothy 4:4 in the New Testament it states,”for everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude.” We can see by the Bible’s teaching that in God’s creation He in His love and grace has provided everything we need to sustain life and health. The practice of naturopathy as I practice it consists of two parts.
First, is lifestyle reform. The study of human physiology shows us that the human body was designed to maintain health. Most often, disease takes place because human beings violate natural God-given health laws designed by our Creator to maintain health and healing (Note: my article New Start—God’s Eight Laws of Health). Many times we have witnessed the reversal of serious chronic illness when people faithfully adhere to the “Eight Laws of Health”. Second, is proven natural therapies. Natural therapies from God’s creation and that are traditional and evidence based like herbal medicine, hydrotherapy, and other therapies from God’s creation are the most effective and safest therapies known to man and actually designed not to replace lifestyle reform, but to assist our bodies God-given healing powers.
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