Spiritual direction as a medical art in early Christian monasticism / Jonathan L. Zecher.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Zecher, Jonathan L., author.

Series:

Oxford early Christian studies.

Oxford early Christian studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Monasticism and religious orders--History--Early church, ca. 30-600.

Monasticism and religious orders.

Spiritual life--Christianity--History of doctrines--Early church, ca. 30-600.

Spiritual life.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (345 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2022.

Summary:

What conceptual frameworks did the inhabitants of early monastic communities carry into relationships of spiritual direction? What did they hope to achieve through confession and discipline? This study shows how early Christian writers applied the logic and pretensions of Galenic medicine to develop practices and concepts of spiritual direction.

Contents:

Intro

Series page

Title page

Copyright page

Dedication page

Contents

Preface

List of Figures and Tables

Figures

Tables

Abbreviations

Selected Primary Text Abbreviations

A Note on Editions and Series

Abbreviations for Editions in Established Series

Introduction

I. Rationale

II. A Plan of the Work

III. Scholarly Backgrounds

IV. Approaching Spiritual Direction

V. Dramatis Personae

I. Logics of Practice

Biopsychosocial Models of Health and Illness

1. A (Relatively) Brief Outline of the Galenic Medical Art

I. Galen in a World of Encyclopedists and Christians

II. "The End Is Where We Start From"

III. Biopsychosocial Knowing

IV. Diagnostic Knowing

V. Therapeutic Tactics

VI. Conclusion: Knowledge, Strategies, and Tactics

2. Evagrius the Diagnostician, or What to Expect When You're Dreaming

I. The Entangled Mechanisms of Dreams

II. Whence Dreams May Come

III. An Oneiric Symptomology

IV. Competitive Dream Diagnosis

3. Cassian the Oneirologist: So, You've Had a Wet Dream…

I. The Viscera of the Soul

II. Nocturnal Emissions and Wet Dreams

III. Dreams as Sites of Diagnosis and Therapy

IV. Chastity and the Boundaries of Flesh and Spirit

V. Conclusion: The Body's Confession, and a Bit of Foucault

4. John Cassian's Nosology of the Soul

I. The Monk Dissected

II. The Oozing Humor of Vice

III. Vice, Considered Capite ad Calcem

IV. Conclusion

5. Pathologies of Passion and Embodiment in the Ladder

I. The Logic of Effect: A Short Galenic Interlude

II. The Pathology of Thought

III. The Pathology of Passions

IV. The Pathology of Embodiment

V. John's Cookbook, or Fasting as Biopsychosocial Therapy

II. Representations

Metaphors and Expertise.

6. Trust Me, I'm a Doctor: Expertise and Clinical Relationships in Late Antique Medicine

I. Market Conditions

II. Medical Ethics

III. Competition and Self-Presentation

IV. Expertise and Trust in Relationships

7. Basil of Caesarea on the Spiritual Physician and His Galenic Competitor

I. Introduction: Asceticism, Expertise, and the Medical Art

II. Rules of the Game

III. Scope of Practice

IV. Character Counts

V. A Contest of Experts

VI. Conclusions

8. Patient Physicians and Patient Disobedience in Cassian

I. Abba Moses on Trail-Craft and Confession

II. Recognizing the (Not Always) Ideal Physician

III. The Apostle Paul Copes with Patient Disobedience

IV. Conclusion: Repetition, Community, Willingness

9. A Physician, a Judge, and a Shepherd Walk into a Monastery…

I. King and Physician in the Great Coenobium

II. Physician and Judge in Cell and Church

III. Prison, Amputation

IV. Conclusion: The Monastery as Clinic

Conclusions, and Prognoses

I. Recapitulation

II. Consequences

III. Ways Forward

Bibliography

Index of Select Ancient Authors

Index of Select Modern Authors

Subject Index

Index of Greek Terms

Index of Latin Terms.

Notes:

This edition also issued in print: 2022.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from home page (viewed on November 1, 2022).

Other Format:

Print version: Zecher, Jonathan L. Spiritual Direction As a Medical Art in Early Christian Monasticism

ISBN:

0-19-188848-6

0-19-259598-9

0-19-259599-7