[Established certainty: experiences with clinical chaplaincy between doubt, evidence and revelation].
Medicine must not be understood just as applied science. Modern physics, namely Quantum Theory, the theory of complementarity, and the "End of Certainty" (Ilya Prigogine) have proved the cogency of the perception of medicine as a mixture of the art of uncertainty and the science of probability. Research into chaos and order has revealed the dynamic structure of complex systems that no longer allow for undoubted prognosis. The only thing a physician can definitely promise is his readiness never to abandon a patient and to keep up personal integrity. Thus it is not only knowledge and skill that matter. It is background and authenticity that counts, which will make the doctor a guarantee of a covenant relationship that the patient may rely on. The importance of standing surety for someone in a therapeutic setting is demonstrated by giving examples from literature and personal experience in clinical chaplaincy.