scholarly journals Gangrene or Cancer? Sixteenth-Century Medical Texts and the Decay of the Body of the Church in Jean Calvin’s Exegesis of 2 Timothy 2:17

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 111-132
Author(s):  
Lindsay J. Starkey
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
The Body ◽  
Medical Texts ◽  
The Real ◽  
Real Effects ◽  
The People ◽  
Timothy 2 ◽  
Biblical Commentaries ◽  
The Church ◽  
Insight Into

In 2 Timothy 2:17, Paul compared the effects of false teachings on the Church to a disease. Rejecting previous translations that identified this disease as cancer, Jean Calvin (1509–64) insisted that it must be gangrene in his 1548 commentary on this epistle, citing and discussing medical texts to justify his translation. This article places his commentary in the context of these medical texts. The causes, courses, and treatments his contemporaries associated with gangrene provide insight into Calvin’s idea of the people likely to spread false teachings and of how they should be treated: because, for him, the experience of gangrene reflected the real effects of false teachings on the Church. This manuscript argues that consulting other areas of sixteenth-century knowledge, such as medicine, was a part of Calvin’s exegetical practice. It also suggests that modern scholars need to take these other areas of knowledge into account when analyzing sixteenth-century biblical commentaries. Dans 2 Timothée 2:17, Paul compara les effets des faux enseignements sur l’Église à une maladie. Ayant rejeté les traductions précédentes qui identifiaient cette maladie comme cancer, Jean Calvin (1509–1564), dans son commentaire de cette épître en 1548, soutint qu’il devait s’agir de la gangrène et il justifia cette traduction en citant et discutant des sources médicales. Cet article situe ce commentaire dans le contexte de ces textes médicaux. Les causes, les symptômes et les traitements associés à la gangrène, portent un discours sur ceux qui, selon Calvin, propageraient les faux enseignements, ainsi que sur la façon dont on doit les traiter. Pour Calvin, en effet, la réalité de de la gangrène reflète, dans l’expérience, les effets des faux enseignements sur l’Église. Cette étude examine de la pratique exégétique de Calvin, qui consulte d’autres domaines de la connaissance, comme la médecine, pour lire les textes. Aussi il propose que les savants modernes doivent prendre en compte ces autres domaines pour analyser les commentaires bibliques du XVIe siècle.

scholarly journals A Rat on the Plate: The Last Supper Window in Saint Mary's Church, Warwick

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 62-67
Author(s):  
olivier bauer
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
The Real ◽  
Common Food ◽  
Last Supper ◽  
The Church

What is a rat doing on a Last Supper plate? Did Jesus and his disciples really eat such a disgusting animal? At the end of the sixteenth century, an anonymous artist positioned a rat in front of Jesus in a Last Supper window of the church of Warwick (UK). The Gospels do not state that Jesus' last meal included rat, and rat was not a common food at that time; so why did the artist include a rat, if it is indeed a rat? The rat could convey a mysterious message. At the Lord's Table, the real “rat” might not be who he seems to be!

Invective and Discernment in Martin Luther, D. Erasmus, and Thomas More

2005 ◽  
Vol 98 (4) ◽  
pp. 469-488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Constance M. Furey
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Martin Luther ◽  
Desiderius Erasmus ◽  
Thomas More ◽  
The Real ◽  
Modern Reader ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Simple Question ◽  
Lord Chancellor ◽  
The Church

The scathing insults that fill texts by sixteenth-century Christian reformers can shock even a jaded modern reader. In the prefatory letter to the Babylonian Captivity of the Church (1520), for example, Martin Luther begins by wishing for “grace and peace in Christ” before launching his attack on the “brainless and illiterate beast in papist form” and its “whole filthy pack of … asses,” and concludes by exhorting his reader to rise up against the Catholic hierarchy: “Continue courageously, noble sir; in this way the disgrace of the Bohemian name will be abolished, and the sludge of the harlot's lies and whoring shall again be taken up in her breast.” Or consider the nasty invectives by the English Lord Chancellor and future Catholic martyr, Thomas More, against not only Luther but also Matthew Tyndale, who translated the Bible into English. More calls these men the “devil's disciples”: Luther “a pimp, an apostate, a rustic, and a friar”; and Tyndale “a babbler, and a devil's ape.” Even Desiderius Erasmus, the erudite Catholic humanist, filled his writings with insults both satirical and blunt and proclaimed that theologians “are more stupid than any pig” (sue stupidiores). Fierce words commonly appear in the midst of religious controversies, and one may choose to skim past this hyperbolic outrage in search of the real message. Insulting rhetoric, however, does provide a sensitive barometer of religious concerns in the sixteenth century and yields unexpectedly complex answers to a simple question. What does negative speech accomplish?

scholarly journals Medicinal Mercury in Early Modern Portuguese Records: Recipes and Methods from Eighteenth-Century Medical Guidebooks

2015 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 1017-1042 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Walker
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Medical Texts ◽  
Trade Routes ◽  
Eastern Hemisphere ◽  
Asian Medicine ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract This chapter will present and explicate rare information regarding circumstances and techniques for the application of medicinal mercury in the Portuguese medical context during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Through the use of Portuguese medical texts (including translated excerpts), the chapter will provide insight into how early modern Portuguese practitioners processed and employed mercury to treat various ailments. Of interest, too, will be that these remedies were developed at several disparate locations throughout the Portuguese imperial world (China, India, Angola, Brazil, and Portugal), and often drew upon, and blended, indigenous medical substances from the region where each remedy originated. Regarding the use of mercury in South Asian medicine, medical scholars have noted that, from the sixteenth century onwards, much of the intra-Asian (and global) mercury trade was conducted through Portuguese merchants and agents. This work asserts that Portuguese merchants and shippers had unique access both to mercury at the commodity’s main sources in Spain and Peru (Almadén and Huancavelica, respectively), but also to established, developed colonial trade routes throughout the eastern hemisphere. Most of the information presented here is excerpted from two little-known eighteenth-century Portuguese primary sources: a Jesuit compilation medical and apothecary guide in manuscript, and a published physician’s treatise regarding fevers and other illnesses encountered during a posting of nearly a decade in Angola.

Martin Luther and the Eucharist

1983 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 447-461 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Stephenson
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Martin Luther ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Son Of God ◽  
The Real ◽  
Real Presence ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Bodily Presence ◽  
The Church

Several years before the mode of Christ's eucharistic presence became a controverted issue which would presently provoke a lasting schism among the Churches of the Reformation, Luther could unaffectedly propound the traditional dogma of the bodily presence of Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar as a necessary consequence of the evangelical quest for the sensus grammaticus of the words of institution. The same exegetical method which led to his reappropriation of the doctrine of the justification of the sinner ‘by grace, for Christ's sake, through faith’ obliged him to confess that ‘the bread is the body of Christ’. Already here, in the mordantly anti-Roman treatise On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church, Luther has laid his finger on the model in terms of which he will understand the real presence to the end of his days: the consecrated host is the body of Christ, just as the assumed humanity of jesus Christ is the Son of God. The displacement of the scholastic theory of transubstantiation by the model of the incarnate person illustrates the Reformer's allegiance to the Chalcedonian Definition: ‘Luther is really replacing Aristotelian categories by those derived from Chalcedonian christology, to which he remained faithful: “unconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably”.’ While the doctrine of the real presence moved from the periphery to the centre of Luther's theology and piety as the 1520s wore on, his conception of the modality of the eucharistic presence remained constant throughout.

Latin in Early Poland and An Attic Drama of the Renaissance Period

1953 ◽  
Vol 22 (65) ◽  
pp. 85-87
Author(s):  
T. Hudson-Williams
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Official Language ◽  
Whole School ◽  
The People ◽  
Renaissance Period ◽  
The Status ◽  
Young Queen ◽  
Polish Language ◽  
The University ◽  
The Church

The Polish nation adopted Christianity in A.D. 966, but the new faith was very slow in reaching the people, as the services were all in Latin and the clergy were unacquainted with the language of the country. Even the elementary schools were conducted in Latin. The pupils sat in a hut on the bare earthen floor in summer and on bundles of straw in winter.Except in the institutions in which the instructors were immigrant Germans, where the instruction was given in German, Latin was the only language used in the schools of Poland. The Latin Psalter was the only book in the whole school; the pupils had no exercise books; but they managed to learn some grammar and arithmetic and sang the Latin songs used in the services of the Church. In these circumstances education could make but little progress. Before the end of the thirteenth century the higher clergy issued an edict forbidding the appointment of any person who did not know the Polish language, and enforced the decree with all the authority of the Church; but, as in other European countries, Latin was the official language of the Polish University. The Academy of Cracow was founded by Casimir the Great and raised to the status of a University in 1400, richly endowed by the young Queen Jadwiga, who at her death bequeathed to it all her jewels.In the sixteenth century the University attained great fame, and Germans, Czechs, Hungarians, and Swiss came in numbers to hear the lectures of the professors, especially the great astronomer Copernicus.

scholarly journals The structural advancement of religious communities and the commercialisation of the Christian religion in Nigeria

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Diara ◽  
Mmesoma Onukwufor ◽  
Favour Uroko
Keyword(s):  
Religious Communities ◽  
Armed Robbery ◽  
The Real ◽  
Christian Religion ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The People ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Spiritual Problems ◽  
Bad Leadership ◽  
The Church

This article examines the activities of Christian religious communities and the birth of a commercialised Christian religion. It begins by creating an atmosphere that the Nigerians find themselves in, and explaining as to why they rely more on religious vendors for solutions to their physical and spiritual problems. Thus, the real causalities are the people with no contentment. The commercialisation of religion in Nigeria has been characterised by increased poverty and social vices such as armed robbery, bad leadership and bad citizenship. Findings reveal that adherents of the various churches that have commercialised their blessings comprise both the poor and the rich of the society. The poor are seeking God for instant blessing, while the rich are seeking God for the sustainability of their wealth and protection. True religion is now lost in Nigeria. Some pastors treat the church as an investment, expecting to get something in return personally when the institution prospers financially. This is evident in the rise in sugar-coated preaching in most Nigerian churches. It was discovered that commercialisation of churches is mainly for financial gains, and it is an offshoot of the proliferation of churches in Nigeria.

scholarly journals Philip Neri and Charles Borromeo as Models of Catholic Reform

Perichoresis ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 119-136
Author(s):  
Charles D. Fox
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Institutional Reform ◽  
Protestant Reformation ◽  
The Core ◽  
The People ◽  
Counter Reformation ◽  
The Face ◽  
Catholic Reform ◽  
The Church

AbstractIn the face of the external challenge of the Protestant Reformation, as well as the internal threat of spiritual, moral, and disciplinary corruption, two Catholic saints worked tirelessly to reform the Church in different but complementary ways. Philip Neri (1515–95) and Charles Borromeo (1538–84) led the Catholic Counter–Reformation during the middle–to–late sixteenth century, placing their distinctive gifts at the service of the Church. Philip Neri used his personal humility, intelligence, and charisma to attract the people of Rome to Christ, while Charles Borromeo employed his gifts for administration and his experience as a top aide to the pope to promote needed institutional reform. Both men achieved great personal holiness and moved others to holiness of life. It is their response to and sharing of the ‘universal call to holiness’, then, that constitutes the core of both of their approaches to ecclesial reform. Their focus on holiness, expressed in an emphasis on either the ‘charismatic’ or ‘hierarchical’ dimensions of the Church’s life, also provides a model for today’s Church, scarred as she is by scandal and in need of a new movement of reform.

scholarly journals Studi Apologetika Tentang Pandangan Rasul Paulus Terhadap Kepemimpinan Wanita Di Gereja

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-68
Author(s):  
Jessica Elizabeth Abraham
Keyword(s):  
Church Leadership ◽  
Women's Leadership ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Other ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Timothy 2 ◽  
Women In Church Leadership ◽  
Women's Role ◽  
The Church

Paul’s theological view on women in church leadership is often misinterpreted if not misunderstood. It is true that at first glance, his prohibitions and policies for women sound degrading the women’s role. Yet, the application of the appropriate hermeneutical approach to his writings such as in 1 Corinths 11:2-16, 1 Corinths 14:34-35 and 1 Timothy 2:9-14 will show that Paul is never against women leading the church. This writing hopes to expand the church’s perspective on women’s leadership so that the church can provide women with the same opportunity as for the men in building up the body of Christ. On the other hand, it hopes to empower more women to take on leadership roles in the church without hesitation. [Pandangan teologis Rasul Paulus terhadap kepemimpinan wanita di gereja seringkali diterjemahkan dengan keliru atau disalah pahami. Jika dilihat secara sekilas, larangan dan aturan yang ia berikan kepada wanita terdengar merendahkan mereka. Namun, penerapan pendekatan hermeneutika yang sesuai dengan tulisan-tulisannya seperti dalam 1 Korintus 11:2-16, 1 Korintus 14:34-35 dan 1 Timotius 2:9-14 akan menunjukkan bahwa Rasul Paulus tidak pernah menentang wanita untuk memegang jabatan kepemimpinan di gereja. Tulisan ini diharapkan dapat memperluas perspektif gereja tentang kepemimpinan wanita sehingga wanita dapat memiliki kesempatan yang sama layaknya pria dalam membangun tubuh Kristus. Di sisi lain, gereja juga diharapkan untuk dapat memberdayakan lebih banyak lagi wanita untuk mengambil peran dalam kepemimpinan gereja tanpa ragu.] 

“We Need Not See the Church with the Eyes”

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Porterfield
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Social Order ◽  
The Body ◽  
City Government ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Black Death ◽  
Mutual Trust ◽  
Corpus Christi ◽  
The Church

Corpus Christi parades brought different groups together in medieval cities to venerate the eucharistic wafer, representing social order and membership in the body of Christ. When cities and trade recovered in the generations after the Black Death of the 1340s, the Eucharist became a source of contention, with reformers demanding that priests, cities, and merchant elites be held more accountable to Pauline ideals. Protest erupted in Florence as Medici bankers exploited Pauline ideals to manipulate kings, popes, and city government. Amsterdam’s ascendance as a hub of commerce in the sixteenth century depended on organizations of mutual trust rooted in Pauline ideals. London began its climb to overtake Amsterdam in commercial clout through the development of a nationwide system of law and taxation that coincided with new efforts to join commerce and Christianity.

Notes on an Eleventh-Century Missal, Walters Manuscript 11

Traditio ◽  
1948 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 328-340
Author(s):  
Anselm Strittmatter
Keyword(s):  
Eleventh Century ◽  
The Body ◽  
Metropolitan City ◽  
The People ◽  
Proper Mass ◽  
History Of ◽  
Excellent Description ◽  
Time Served ◽  
The Church ◽  
Vexing Problem

In his excellent description and analysis of Walters MS 11, Dr. Leo F. Miller gives little or no attention to what is at times the most vexing problem a liturgical manuscript can present, viz., for what church was the codex written? He determines the predominantly Ravennate character of the ‘martyrologium’ prefixed to the sacramentary-missal which constitutes the body of the book, but in general hesitates to assign the manuscript to Ravenna itself, because ‘it contains none of the liturgical uses proper to that city's ancient liturgy, to which the people clung so tenaciously until they were abolished by Archbishop Julius della Rovere,’ and adds: ‘would a Ravenna calendar lack such great names as Peter Chrysologus and Iohannes Angeloptes?’ It will not be amiss, therefore, to look about for other clues which may help us solve the problem. An initial clue may, indeed, be said to stand out in the calendar itself: March 21. Natale S. Patris nostri Benedicti. This formulation, which is found normally only in Benedictine calendars, taken together with the proper mass for the feast of the saint on fo1.37, leaves little room for doubt concerning the character of the church for which the book was intended, even as the blessing of the weekly reader, inserted after the Canon of the Mass (fol.12r), clearly indicates that the book at one time served a monastic church. Our problem, therefore, is to identify the abbey or priory, if possible, and here again there exists an important clue. In the ‘Missa pro Congregatione In honore (sic) sanctae Mariae,’ St. Ambrose is mentioned in both collect and postcommunion, as he is also in the ‘Nobis quoque peccatoribus’ and in the embolism after the Pater noster. There can be no question that the saint mentioned in the two prayers—Defende, quaesumus and Copiosa—is normally the patron of the monastery, and that this particular mass-formulary has in this book been adapted for use in a church dedicated to the famous bishop of Milan. It would be interesting, therefore, to find in the province of Ravenna a monastery dedicated to St. Ambrose, so remote, too, perhaps from the metropolitan city as not to be obliged or inclined to keep all its local observances. Such a monastery did, indeed, exist—Sancti A mbrosii de Rancla (Ranclo; the modern Ranchio), situated about seven kilometers north-northwest of Sarsina, the episcopal city of the diocese to which it belonged, a suffragan see of Ravenna—and although no chronicle or annals, recounting the inner and outer history of the abbey would seem to be extant, the archives of the diocese, meagerly published, to be sure, do give us for the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries an occasional glimpse of its fortunes, at times perhaps even more.

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