“Physical healing is only part of our aim. Our medicine is always bound to fail as death comes in the end, so it is important that we do not make great claims for it. We will never produce a Utopia; we will never produce perfection in the human species, and frustration follows if we cannot see this. God never promised it. We can make things better, we can relieve much suffering, we can palliate; but that is all. Death is a spiritual battle, won by his Son alone, not by science.

There is a land where there will be no pain, or crying, but it is not on this earth, and we must work within these limited aims. The ideal for our patient is that they will find their goal in God. To heal their bodies is only partial success but, perhaps, one of the best thing we can do is to heal them temporarily, to give them more time to come to know Him.”

Prof. Doutor Alan Johnson (1938-2006)