Body and Soul

Author(s):  
Isabella Image

This chapter discusses Hilary’s dichotomous body–soul anthropology. Although past scholars have tried to categorize Hilary as ‘Platonic’ or ‘Stoic’, these categories do not fully summarize fourth-century thought, not least because two-way as well as three-way expressions of the human person are also found in Scripture. The influence of Origen is demonstrated with particular reference to the commentary on Ps. 118.73, informed by parallels in Ambrose and the Palestinian Catena. As a result, it is possible to ascribe differences between Hilary’s commentaries to the fact that one is more reliant on Origen than the other. Nevertheless, Hilary’s position always seems to be that the body and soul should be at harmony until the body takes on the spiritual nature of the soul.

2019 ◽  
pp. 15-34
Author(s):  
Frances Young

This chapter demonstrates how arguments about creation and resurrection in the second century ensured that by the fourth century even those Christian thinkers with the most leanings toward Neoplatonism would espouse the view that the union of soul with body was constitutive of human being as a creature among creatures, and so a necessary aspect of the reconstitution of the human person at the resurrection. Soul-body dualism is often treated as the default anthropological position in antiquity, but the fourth-century anthropological treatise of Nemesius of Emesa shows that, despite huge debts to the legacies of philosophy, creation and resurrection, though barely mentioned, in fact shape his conclusion that the body-soul union is fundamental to what a human being is; the same is true, for example, of the Cappadocian Gregories and Augustine.


Author(s):  
Isabella Image

This chapter presents Hilary’s understanding of the Fall. Hilary uses the ‘historical’ Genesis narrative and apparently rejects Origen’s teaching of the Fall of souls into bodies. His most interesting discussion of the Fall (InMt 10.23–4) sees the scriptural narrative as an allegory for the components of the human person. At the Fall, the human is changed and now comprises body, soul, will, disobedience (infidelitas), and sin; however, Christ’s coming gives the body and soul dominance over the other three elements. This intriguing analogy demonstrates that for Hilary the first sin, disobedience, is also its own punishment (an idea later found in Augustine). The importance of infidelitas in Hilary’s works is demonstrated, as is the role of the will at the Fall.


Author(s):  
Martin Eisner

This article investigates the significance of the manuscripts of Virgil and other classical poets that Dante might have read. Calling attention to the presence of musical notation (neumes) in copies that share the particular Virgilian readings Dante quotes, this essay explores the resonance of one of those passages (Aeneas’ dream of Hector) in Dante’s poem. It shows how Dante uses this Virgilian episode to craft his encounter with Manfred where he considers the relationship of body and soul that constitutes one of the major differences between classical and Christian thought, as Augustine frequently noted. Just as Christian anthropology maintains that the body constitutes an essential element of the human person, this essay argues that the materiality of the texts Dante read constitutes a crucial source for understanding how Dante interpreted these texts.


2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 433-466
Author(s):  
J. Edward Walters

Abstract The fourth-century Syriac corpus known as the Demonstrations, attributed to Aphrahat, the Persian Sage, provides a unique window into the early development of Christianity among Syriac-speaking communities. Occasionally these writings attest to beliefs and practices that were not common among other contemporaneous Christian communities, such as Aphrahat’s apparent belief in the “sleep of the soul” and the implications of that belief for his concept of the soul-body relationship and what happens to the soul and body at the resurrection. Aphrahat addresses this topic in the context of a polemical argument against an unnamed opponent, which provides the occasion to consider whom these arguments might be addressed against. The present article seeks to understand Aphrahat’s views on the body and soul within the broad religious milieu of the eastern Mediterranean world in Late Antiquity. The article concludes with an argument for reading and understanding the Demonstrations as a witness to the contested development of Christian identity in the Syriac-speaking world.


2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Alexander T. Witt ◽  

Some Catholic institutions have adopted policies of using persons’ preferred gender pronouns. But is this the best response? The use of preferred gender pronouns would constitute formal cooperation in a falsehood about a person because the body is an integral part of the revelation of who the person is both to himself or herself and to the other. Similarly, the principles of toleration and totality do not justify preferred pronoun usage. Pastoral care of transgender persons ought to seek to balance truth and respect of the human person in order to facilitate real friendship which leads to true healing.


2010 ◽  
Vol 103 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Balboni ◽  
Tracy A. Balboni

Modern medicine owes many of its founding principles to a spiritual heritage. However, passage through the Enlightenment and entry into a secular, pluralistic health context have yielded an estranged relationship between care of the body and care of the soul.1 Scientific medicine now holds the primary role in care of the body while religious communities are solely responsible for care of the soul. The needs of both body and soul are in many respects served well by this specialization and division of labor, but ultimately, of course, human experience is not susceptible to such a simplistic dichotomization. The lack of integration of spiritual and material care of the human person in contemporary life has led to increasingly evident tensions, most notably in the mechanization and isolation of the experiences of illness and dying.2


2016 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-72
Author(s):  
Kristine A. Wolberg

In his prose and poetry, George Herbert assumes that the body and soul are inextricably interrelated, and what one does with one significantly affects the other. This has a profound influence on the process of spiritual growth or sanctification. The article begins with demonstrating from Herbert’s work the importance of external behavior (particularly posture) to spiritual formation. However, while attention to posture and behavior is necessary, it may not be sufficient for personal transformation. Herbert’s prose and poetry demonstrate that positive spiritual formation requires the help of supernatural power.


2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 236-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana I. Sousa ◽  
Rui Corredeira ◽  
Ana L. Pereira

This study reports on a comparison of how two different groups of people with an amputation view their bodies and perceive how others view them. One group has a history of sport participation, while the other has not. The analysis is based on 14 semistructured interviews with people with amputations: 7 were engaged in sport and 7 were not. The following themes emerged: Body, Prosthesis, Independence, Human Person, and Social Barriers. One could conclude that participation in sport influences how people with an amputation perceive their body as they live with their body in a more positive way and they better accept their new body condition and their being-in-the-world. The social barriers that people with an amputation have to face daily were evident, and one of the most significant ideas was the importance of being recognized and treated as a person and not as a person with a disability.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-52
Author(s):  
Sutono Widjaja

Malpractice cases are a crime that is very common in Indonesia. Malpractice is basically the actions of professionals who contravene SOPs, codes of ethics, and applicable laws, whether intentional or as a result of negligence resulting in loss or death to others. On the other hand, in the implementation of health services, medical personnel, namely doctors and nurses do not rule out the possibility of an error or negligence. Errors or negligence by doctors in carrying out their professional duties can be fatal both to the body and soul of the patient (in medical/legal terms this incident is called malpractice) and this is of course very detrimental to the patient as a victim of malpractice. As a victim of malpractice that is harmed , of course the patient will demand what is his right. Patients who are victims of malpractice will demand compensation or ask for accountability from the doctor concerned. These demands can be in the form of civil claims, namely compensation, criminal charges, namely imprisonment for perpetrators of malpractice


2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (86) ◽  
pp. 130-134
Author(s):  
O.V. Ohirko

Philosophical, anthropological and Christian views on a person as a reasonable, free, religious and social person are considered. Theocentric and anthropocentric views are analyzed. Man is three worlds: physical, cognitive, and affective. Man differs from other creatures by having reason and will and natural inclinations. Man is embodied in the spirit and the spiritualized body, and its human spirit is expressed in bodily form. The body and soul of man are not two realities that are separated from one another. The body is a living matter, merged with the soul. The body, having the ability to feed, move, rest, multiply, falls under the laws of matter, that is, in particular, under the law of death. The human soul animates the body, reveals the spiritual ability to think abstractly, to create ideas, assessments, reasoning, make decisions freely. She does not suffer corporal death and can not decompose. In order for a person to live according to his nature, the mind must freely and sincerely seek the truth, and the will must always desire the truth offered as reason by the mind. A person is a person who has his own mind, will and feeling. In view of its dignity, the human person is the center of public life. Man as an image and likeness of God, is able to know, to love the Creator, and to serve Him. Man as a person is a goal in itself and in no case is not only an instrumental instrument. The purpose of human life is to love people and God, to be kind, to know, to speak and to testify the truth.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document