'A cheap, safe and natural medicine' : religion, medicine and culture in John Wesley's Primitive physic / Deborah Madden.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Madden, Deborah, 1970-

Series:

Wellcome series in the history of medicine

Clio medica (Amsterdam, Netherlands) ; 83.

Clio medica ; 83

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Wesley, John, 1703-1791. Primitive physick--Criticism and interpretation.

Wesley, John.

Medicine--Religious aspects.

Medicine.

Wesley, John, 1703-1791.

Religion and Medicine.

History, 18th Century.

Wesley, John, 1703-1791. Primitive physick.

Medical Subjects:

Religion and Medicine.

History, 18th Century.

Local Subjects:

Wesley, John, 1703-1791. Primitive physick.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (313 pages).

polychrome

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam ; New York, NY : Rodopi, 2007.

System Details:

data file

Summary:

John Wesley's Primitive Physic (1747) achieved twenty-three editions in his lifetime, ensuring its popular and controversial status in eighteenth-century medicine. This is the first full-length study to examine the theological, intellectual and cultural background to one of the period's most successful medical texts. By exploring Wesley's work in the context of his theology, 'A Cheap, Safe and Natural Medicine' extends the on-going reconfiguration of the relationship between religion and medicine. Wesley was on a theological mission to recover the primitive purity of the first Christians. Yet the remedies contained within Primitive Physic suggest a pragmatic thinker, whose concern for spiritual health did not prevent him from providing practical assistance to those who needed it. The evolution of Wesley's thinking also demonstrates some of the struggles he faced as leader of the Methodist movement, such as the way he handled contemporary criticism of Primitive Physic when religious 'enthusiasm' was often conflated with medical 'quackery.'A Cheap, Safe and Natural Medicine' will be of interest not only to medical and literary historians, but to anyone who is interested in the way religion influences medicine.

Contents:

'A CHEAP, SAFE AND NATURAL MEDICINE' RELIGION, MEDICINE AND CULTURE IN JOHN WESLEY'S PRIMITIVE PHYSIC; Contents; Preface; Acknowledgements; PART I THE MEDICAL HOLISM OF PRIMITIVE PHYSIC; 1. Introduction: Primitive Physic Explain'd in an Easy and Natural Method; 2. John Wesley's Hermeneutics of Primitive Christianity and Practical Piety; 3. Experience and the Common Interest of Mankind: Physic, an Art or Science in Eighteenth-Century England?; 4. Preserving Health, or a Few Plain and Easy Rules; PART II PRIMITIVE PHYSIC: 'A COLLECTION OF RECEIPTS';

5. Primitive Physic: Cheap, Safe and Natural Medicine for Health and Long Life6. Conclusion: The Search for Pristine Purity; Bibliography; Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

Other Format:

Print version: Madden, Deborah. Cheap, safe and natural medicine'.

ISBN:

9781435614239

1435614232

9789401204958

9401204950

OCLC:

183878532

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.