Paul Tournier (1898-1986) was a general practitioner in Geneva and also an active Christian. In 1940, he published his first book, La Medecine de la Personne, later translated into English as The Healing of Persons. He changed his medical practice by taking most of his time for listening and talking to his patients, not only considering the physical dimension of their being but also the psychological and spiritual dimensions. In 1947, he founded the International Group of Medicine of the Person. He wrote many books which were widely received throughout the world and were translated into more than thirty languages.

No one has the right to equate Christianity with weakness or to imagine that the Bible teaches us always to surrender. The biblical message proclaims the sovereign greatness of God which transcends all lesser principles or standards which we might wish to draw from it. Man's great temptation is to want to know by himself what is good and what is evil. He wants to know whether he should withstand or not, but without needing any counsel from God. What is good in the Bible is not this thing or that. It is not a matter of resisting or giving in. It is doing what God wants and when he wants it: it is total dependence upon his person, not upon a moral code.