Translated into many languages that swept
Europe in the 19th century, one could say this was the
first book of import on the subject of nature cure which
evolved from the monasteries since the
dissolution of the monasteries, occasionally
referred to as the suppression of the monasteries, wherein monastic
physicians left for private practices. Wesley also wrote on
both physics and medicine, such as in The Desideratum, subtitled Electricity
made Plain and Useful by a Lover of Mankind and of
Common Sense (1759) and Primitive
Physic, Or, An Easy and Natural Method of Curing
Most Diseases. Some consider him the father of
electrotherapy.
Wesley arrived in
the colony of Savannah Georgia in February 1736, and
lived for a year at the parsonage
that stood on the site of today's Oliver Sturges House. He taught
the Georgia mission as a High churchman, seeing it as
an opportunity to revive "primitive Christianity"
in a primitive environment.
The term
"naturopathy" originates from "natura" (Latin root for birth) and "pathos"
(the Greek root for suffering)
to suggest "natural healing".
Naturopaths claim the ancient Greek "Father of
Medicine", Hippocrates, as the first
advocate of naturopathic medicine, before the term
existed.[18][19]
Naturopathy has its roots in the 19th-century Natural Cure
movement of Europe. In Scotland, Thomas Allinson started
advocating his "Hygienic Medicine" in the 1880s,
promoting a natural diet and exercise with avoidance
of tobacco and overwork.
The term naturopathy was coined in 1895 by John Scheel and was "purchased" as a trade name by Benedict Lust, whom most naturopaths consider to be the "Father of U.S. Naturopathy". Lust had been schooled in hydrotherapy and other natural health practices in Germany by Father Sebastian Kneipp; Kneipp sent Lust to the United States to spread his drugless methods. Benedict Lust, a devout Christian, defined naturopathy as a broad discipline rather than a particular method, and included such techniques as hydrotherapy, herbal medicine, and homeopathy, as well as eliminating overeating, tea, coffee, and alcohol, as part of religious principles. He described the body in spiritual and vitalistic terms with "absolute reliance upon the cosmic forces of man's nature". The first known use of "naturopathy" in print is from 1901.
From 1901, Lust founded and registered with the state of
New York, the American School of Naturopathy where in,
what was a spiritual practice, would now plunge into a
secular, state regulated practice of medicine. In 1902,
the original North American Kneipp Societies were
discontinued and renamed "Naturopathic Societies". In
September 1919, the Naturopathic Society of America was
dissolved and Benedict Lust founded the American
Naturopathic Association to supplant it. Naturopaths
became licensed under the state as naturopathic or
drugless practitioner laws in 25 states in the first three
decades of the twentieth century. Naturopathy
was adopted by many chiropractors, and several
schools offered both Doctor of Naturopathy (ND) and Doctor
of Chiropractic (DC) degrees but today altogether lost
traditions. Estimates of
the number of naturopathic schools active in the United
States during this period vary from about one to two
dozen.
After a period of rapid growth, naturopathy went into decline for several decades after the depression of the 1930s. In 1910, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching published the Flexner Report, which criticized many aspects of medical education, especially quality and lack of scientific rigour in the eclectic, naturopathic and homeopathic medical schools; and hence, lost support and funding. The advent of penicillin and other "miracle drugs" and the consequent popularity of modern medicine also contributed to naturopathy's and homeopathy's decline. In the 1940s and 1950s, a broadening in scope of practice laws led many chiropractic schools to drop their ND degrees, though many chiropractors continued to practice naturopathy and other forms of nature cure. From 1940 to 1963, the American Medical Association campaigned against heterodox medical systems. By 1958, practice of naturopathy was licensed in only five states. In 1968, the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare issued a report on naturopathy concluding that naturopathy was not grounded in medical science and that naturopathic education was inadequate to prepare graduates to make appropriate diagnosis and provide treatment; the report recommends against expanding Medicare coverage to include naturopathic treatments. In 1977 an Australian committee of inquiry reached similar conclusions; it did not recommend licensure for naturopaths.
Beginning in the 1970s, there was a revival of interest in the United States and Canada, in conjunction with the "holistic health" movement, Oriental medicine and acupuncture, Ayurveda, and other arts. As of 2009, fifteen U.S. states, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia licensed naturopathic doctors, and the State of Washington requires insurance companies to offer reimbursement for services provided by naturopathic physicians. On the other hand, some states such as South Carolina and Tennessee prohibit the practice of naturopathy.
In 2019, Idaho passed legislation H0244, requiring a license to use the titles - Licensed Naturopathic Physician, Physician of Naturopathic Medicine, Naturopathic Doctor, or NMD.
Those whose practice does not include minor
surgery or prescription drugs will use the titles-
Naturopath,can today be "registered" meeting
requirements. Thus, traditional naturopathy survives and
continues.
READ MORE: MONASTIC MEDICINE AS AN INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE
BENEDICT LUST AND THE (RELIGIOUS) THEORY OF THERAPEUTIC UNIVERSALISM
WHO Benchmarks for Traditional Naturopathy
The Sacred Monastic Order (State of Florida registered college) maintain that naturopathy as originally a monastic practice, is a religious therapeutic and conforms to Lust's Therapeutic Universalism as well as the religious tenets of monastic medicine of the Church. As a diocese of special function, the Sacred Monastic Order, so chartered by the Orthodox Church of the East, ordains its ministers in matters of faith, health and Christian welfare.
Additionally, as a historical Order under the aegis of St. John Hospitaller, our ministers maintain our intangible cultural heritage as a humanitarian aid society, under Geneva Coventions, and therefore such aid workers are under Protetive Person status.
