David Albert Jones
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199287154
- eISBN:
- 9780191713231
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199287154.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
The argument of Augustine in De civitate Dei is strikingly similar to that of Ambrose in De bono mortis. However, while Ambrose treats death as something good in itself, Augustine sees it as bad in ...
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The argument of Augustine in De civitate Dei is strikingly similar to that of Ambrose in De bono mortis. However, while Ambrose treats death as something good in itself, Augustine sees it as bad in itself. Their contrasting attitudes have practical effects on how they regard virginity, marriage, and mortification; on how each reads the letters of Paul; and on their discussions of suicide and martyrdom. Furthermore, it leads to a noticeable shift in the Christian treatment of fear of death, grief, and the care of the dead (that is, prayers said for those who have died).Less
The argument of Augustine in De civitate Dei is strikingly similar to that of Ambrose in De bono mortis. However, while Ambrose treats death as something good in itself, Augustine sees it as bad in itself. Their contrasting attitudes have practical effects on how they regard virginity, marriage, and mortification; on how each reads the letters of Paul; and on their discussions of suicide and martyrdom. Furthermore, it leads to a noticeable shift in the Christian treatment of fear of death, grief, and the care of the dead (that is, prayers said for those who have died).
Frank Graziano
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195136401
- eISBN:
- 9780199835164
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195136403.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
An in-depth study of St. Rose of Lima (1586–1617), canonized in 1671 as the first saint of the New World, serves to explore the meanings of female mysticism and the ways in which saints are products ...
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An in-depth study of St. Rose of Lima (1586–1617), canonized in 1671 as the first saint of the New World, serves to explore the meanings of female mysticism and the ways in which saints are products of their cultures. The opening chapter analyzes trends in scholarship on mysticism and the interrelations of sanctity and insanity. Rose and flower poetics are then pursued into the odor of sanctity, “deflowering,” edenic imagery, and the miracle by which Rose of Lima received her name. Two historical chapters analyze the politics of Rose of Lima’s canonization, exploring how mystical union bypasses sacramental and sacerdotal channels, poses an implicit threat to the bureaucratized church, and may be co-opted to integrate a competing claim into the Catholic canon. Virginity, austerity, mortification, eucharistic devotion, visions, expression of love through suffering, ecstasy, and mystical marriage are then studied both in themselves and in their relations to eroticism and to modern psychological disorders.Less
An in-depth study of St. Rose of Lima (1586–1617), canonized in 1671 as the first saint of the New World, serves to explore the meanings of female mysticism and the ways in which saints are products of their cultures. The opening chapter analyzes trends in scholarship on mysticism and the interrelations of sanctity and insanity. Rose and flower poetics are then pursued into the odor of sanctity, “deflowering,” edenic imagery, and the miracle by which Rose of Lima received her name. Two historical chapters analyze the politics of Rose of Lima’s canonization, exploring how mystical union bypasses sacramental and sacerdotal channels, poses an implicit threat to the bureaucratized church, and may be co-opted to integrate a competing claim into the Catholic canon. Virginity, austerity, mortification, eucharistic devotion, visions, expression of love through suffering, ecstasy, and mystical marriage are then studied both in themselves and in their relations to eroticism and to modern psychological disorders.
JIMMY YU
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199844906
- eISBN:
- 9780199949564
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199844906.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter is the conclusion of the book. It summarizes each chapter of the book and argues for a more nuanced understanding of Chinese religions.
This chapter is the conclusion of the book. It summarizes each chapter of the book and argues for a more nuanced understanding of Chinese religions.
Frank Graziano
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195136401
- eISBN:
- 9780199835164
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195136403.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
A discussion of why among the many candidates Rose of Lima received high honors as first saint of the New World and patron of the Americas. The reasons discussed include Rose’s penitential ...
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A discussion of why among the many candidates Rose of Lima received high honors as first saint of the New World and patron of the Americas. The reasons discussed include Rose’s penitential asceticism, support of religious and civil authorities, effective hagiography, Criollismo, advocacy by the Dominicans and Queen Mariana of Austria, and massive public devotion. Also discussed are the popularization of mysticism by Fray Luis de Granada and others, the Inquisition’s response, and the religious ideals of Counter-Reformation Spain.Less
A discussion of why among the many candidates Rose of Lima received high honors as first saint of the New World and patron of the Americas. The reasons discussed include Rose’s penitential asceticism, support of religious and civil authorities, effective hagiography, Criollismo, advocacy by the Dominicans and Queen Mariana of Austria, and massive public devotion. Also discussed are the popularization of mysticism by Fray Luis de Granada and others, the Inquisition’s response, and the religious ideals of Counter-Reformation Spain.
Frank Graziano
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195136401
- eISBN:
- 9780199835164
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195136403.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Discusses how Rose of Lima, on the model of Christ, offered herself as a sacrificial victim to expiate the sins of natives, Spaniards, and Creoles in the New World. Rose of Lima’s patronage is ...
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Discusses how Rose of Lima, on the model of Christ, offered herself as a sacrificial victim to expiate the sins of natives, Spaniards, and Creoles in the New World. Rose of Lima’s patronage is explored in its relations to the Madonna of Mercy and other antecedents.Less
Discusses how Rose of Lima, on the model of Christ, offered herself as a sacrificial victim to expiate the sins of natives, Spaniards, and Creoles in the New World. Rose of Lima’s patronage is explored in its relations to the Madonna of Mercy and other antecedents.
David George Mullan
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198269977
- eISBN:
- 9780191600715
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198269978.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Puritanism made the notion of pilgrimage central to piety—the Christian could not expect an easy road to perfection in this world, but rather a difficult passage to the blessed estate. The journey ...
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Puritanism made the notion of pilgrimage central to piety—the Christian could not expect an easy road to perfection in this world, but rather a difficult passage to the blessed estate. The journey included mortification—putting to death the old Adam and his sinful predilections; suffering—including persecution for maintaining the truth of the gospel; and of course death, which both repelled and sometimes attracted those weary of this sinful world. Self‐examination was a crucial element in any progress one might make toward heaven, and this might entail the keeping of diaries, as did both clergy and laity. Presbyterianism recoiled from the notion of the gathered church, and yet this piety also pushed many Puritans in a sectarian direction, though Separatism and Independency never attained the same appeal in Scotland as in England.Less
Puritanism made the notion of pilgrimage central to piety—the Christian could not expect an easy road to perfection in this world, but rather a difficult passage to the blessed estate. The journey included mortification—putting to death the old Adam and his sinful predilections; suffering—including persecution for maintaining the truth of the gospel; and of course death, which both repelled and sometimes attracted those weary of this sinful world. Self‐examination was a crucial element in any progress one might make toward heaven, and this might entail the keeping of diaries, as did both clergy and laity. Presbyterianism recoiled from the notion of the gathered church, and yet this piety also pushed many Puritans in a sectarian direction, though Separatism and Independency never attained the same appeal in Scotland as in England.
Simona Giordano
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199269747
- eISBN:
- 9780191603129
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199269742.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
Lightness and fasting are often associated with positive feelings and with beauty. Arts, music, and literature testify the value that is attached to lightness in Western culture. Lightness and food ...
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Lightness and fasting are often associated with positive feelings and with beauty. Arts, music, and literature testify the value that is attached to lightness in Western culture. Lightness and food restriction are also thought to be morally valuable, as an instrument to asceticism and spirituality. This chapter discusses the body-mind split and its repercussions on the value of lightness. It traces the origins of this split in ancient Greece, and looks at how such metaphysics of the human person spreads in the Latin world and in Western religion and philosophy. It shows that food restriction becomes valuable in the light of this metaphysics and of the ethics that follow from it. Food restriction corporealizes self-government, self-discipline, willpower and control, all of which are praised within such an ideology. The body is corrupted and corruptible, and needs to be controlled and transcended. Lightness and slenderness are the emblem of the person’s self-control and discipline. Concomitant denigration of fat reflects the low conception of the body, which is found in all eras in Western culture. Lightness and thinness are normative, moral ideals that reflect the body/mind juxtaposition and the idea that the body is inferior to the spirit or mind.Less
Lightness and fasting are often associated with positive feelings and with beauty. Arts, music, and literature testify the value that is attached to lightness in Western culture. Lightness and food restriction are also thought to be morally valuable, as an instrument to asceticism and spirituality. This chapter discusses the body-mind split and its repercussions on the value of lightness. It traces the origins of this split in ancient Greece, and looks at how such metaphysics of the human person spreads in the Latin world and in Western religion and philosophy. It shows that food restriction becomes valuable in the light of this metaphysics and of the ethics that follow from it. Food restriction corporealizes self-government, self-discipline, willpower and control, all of which are praised within such an ideology. The body is corrupted and corruptible, and needs to be controlled and transcended. Lightness and slenderness are the emblem of the person’s self-control and discipline. Concomitant denigration of fat reflects the low conception of the body, which is found in all eras in Western culture. Lightness and thinness are normative, moral ideals that reflect the body/mind juxtaposition and the idea that the body is inferior to the spirit or mind.
Alfred P. Smyth
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198229896
- eISBN:
- 9780191678936
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198229896.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
This chapter examines the contribution to knowledge about the private life and personality of King Alfred made by the author of Life, which is in conflict with much of what is known about Alfred from ...
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This chapter examines the contribution to knowledge about the private life and personality of King Alfred made by the author of Life, which is in conflict with much of what is known about Alfred from contemporary sources. It notes that in the words of Galbraith, Asser's king is presented as ‘a neurotic invalid’ obsessed with his own painful and mysterious medical condition. It notes that the author of Alfred's Life first introduces the topic of King Alfred's poor health in a garbled account of the king's childhood. It further notes that according to the author of Alfred's Life, the king did not suddenly become an invalid at nineteen, and in a confused narrative, tells that the young and saintly Alfred prayed to God ‘for some illness which he would be able to tolerate’ and thereby, through mortification of the flesh help the prince ‘abstain from carnal desire’.Less
This chapter examines the contribution to knowledge about the private life and personality of King Alfred made by the author of Life, which is in conflict with much of what is known about Alfred from contemporary sources. It notes that in the words of Galbraith, Asser's king is presented as ‘a neurotic invalid’ obsessed with his own painful and mysterious medical condition. It notes that the author of Alfred's Life first introduces the topic of King Alfred's poor health in a garbled account of the king's childhood. It further notes that according to the author of Alfred's Life, the king did not suddenly become an invalid at nineteen, and in a confused narrative, tells that the young and saintly Alfred prayed to God ‘for some illness which he would be able to tolerate’ and thereby, through mortification of the flesh help the prince ‘abstain from carnal desire’.
Michael J. McClymond and Gerald R. McDermott
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199791606
- eISBN:
- 9780199932290
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199791606.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Edwards's spirituality may be described in terms of three distinct themes: discipline, enjoyment, and consummation. His “Diary” and “Resolutions” reveal that Edwards insisted on rigorous practices ...
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Edwards's spirituality may be described in terms of three distinct themes: discipline, enjoyment, and consummation. His “Diary” and “Resolutions” reveal that Edwards insisted on rigorous practices and careful self-examination, ultimately looking to mortify sinful desires. The spiritual life was a disciplined life. At the same time, discipline in no way limited enjoyment or happiness. On the contrary, a holy life that is combined with the experience of beauty is a happy life. Such happiness consists in “holy affections,” the thesis of his famous Religious Affections. Edwards further insisted that a disciplined and happy spirituality looked beyond this life to an eventual consummation in heaven, a “holy and happy society” consisting of the Trinity, angels, and saints. In this heavenly state, the saints will forever advance into a closer relationship with God and with one another.Less
Edwards's spirituality may be described in terms of three distinct themes: discipline, enjoyment, and consummation. His “Diary” and “Resolutions” reveal that Edwards insisted on rigorous practices and careful self-examination, ultimately looking to mortify sinful desires. The spiritual life was a disciplined life. At the same time, discipline in no way limited enjoyment or happiness. On the contrary, a holy life that is combined with the experience of beauty is a happy life. Such happiness consists in “holy affections,” the thesis of his famous Religious Affections. Edwards further insisted that a disciplined and happy spirituality looked beyond this life to an eventual consummation in heaven, a “holy and happy society” consisting of the Trinity, angels, and saints. In this heavenly state, the saints will forever advance into a closer relationship with God and with one another.
George Pattison
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- November 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198813507
- eISBN:
- 9780191851360
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198813507.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
A Phenomenology of the Devout Life offers a phenomenological approach to the kind of Christian spirituality set out in François de Sales’s Introduction to the Devout Life but with parallels in other ...
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A Phenomenology of the Devout Life offers a phenomenological approach to the kind of Christian spirituality set out in François de Sales’s Introduction to the Devout Life but with parallels in other movements in both Protestant and Catholic spirituality. Situating the subject in relation to contemporary philosophical discussions of selfhood, the book arrives at a view of the devout self as essentially motivated by an affective orientation towards God that, via the experience of temptation and the practice of humility, subordinates reason to love and ends with self-annihilation. In this annihilated condition it becomes capable of a pure love of God, devoid of self-interest, willing only what God wills. These themes of pure love and nothingness are explored with particular reference to the writings of Archbishop Fénelon. Although this may suggest that the devout life is a kind of mysticism, it is argued that as a programme for practical life in the world it is distinct from experientially oriented kinds of mysticism, though sharing the ideal of union with God. As the first of a three-part Philosophy of Christian Life, the book ends by questioning what it could mean to insist that the source of the affective lure of devotion is God.Less
A Phenomenology of the Devout Life offers a phenomenological approach to the kind of Christian spirituality set out in François de Sales’s Introduction to the Devout Life but with parallels in other movements in both Protestant and Catholic spirituality. Situating the subject in relation to contemporary philosophical discussions of selfhood, the book arrives at a view of the devout self as essentially motivated by an affective orientation towards God that, via the experience of temptation and the practice of humility, subordinates reason to love and ends with self-annihilation. In this annihilated condition it becomes capable of a pure love of God, devoid of self-interest, willing only what God wills. These themes of pure love and nothingness are explored with particular reference to the writings of Archbishop Fénelon. Although this may suggest that the devout life is a kind of mysticism, it is argued that as a programme for practical life in the world it is distinct from experientially oriented kinds of mysticism, though sharing the ideal of union with God. As the first of a three-part Philosophy of Christian Life, the book ends by questioning what it could mean to insist that the source of the affective lure of devotion is God.
Simon Palfrey
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780226150642
- eISBN:
- 9780226150789
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226150789.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
This section looks at Edgar’s first two scenes, first when he is tricked by his brother Edmond, then when he goes into internal exile disguised as a mad beggar. It considers the implications of ...
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This section looks at Edgar’s first two scenes, first when he is tricked by his brother Edmond, then when he goes into internal exile disguised as a mad beggar. It considers the implications of Edgar’s self-mortification. The principle of the role is an emptiness open to experimenting abuse—an emptiness that can take on many other forms, or can be open to all kinds of constructions, but which will not finally be filled. The “happy hollow” in which Edgar reports himself hiding encapsulates this mutating, nascent potential, at once inside and outside time and society. The section goes on to consider Edgar in relation to certain salient archetypes or models: Agamben’s “state of exception”; Scarry’s phenomenology of torture; Christ; artistic pseudomorphosis, or fraudulent imitation. All these things are suggestive, but none can quite claim his radical existential susceptibility.Less
This section looks at Edgar’s first two scenes, first when he is tricked by his brother Edmond, then when he goes into internal exile disguised as a mad beggar. It considers the implications of Edgar’s self-mortification. The principle of the role is an emptiness open to experimenting abuse—an emptiness that can take on many other forms, or can be open to all kinds of constructions, but which will not finally be filled. The “happy hollow” in which Edgar reports himself hiding encapsulates this mutating, nascent potential, at once inside and outside time and society. The section goes on to consider Edgar in relation to certain salient archetypes or models: Agamben’s “state of exception”; Scarry’s phenomenology of torture; Christ; artistic pseudomorphosis, or fraudulent imitation. All these things are suggestive, but none can quite claim his radical existential susceptibility.
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226734545
- eISBN:
- 9780226734620
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226734620.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, Women's Literature
This chapter explains María de San José Salazar's Book for the Hour of Recreation in detail, in which María discusses her intention of telling the life of the holy Mother and the greatness of Carmel ...
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This chapter explains María de San José Salazar's Book for the Hour of Recreation in detail, in which María discusses her intention of telling the life of the holy Mother and the greatness of Carmel with a mixture of a variety of matters. Many things that she includes here seem irrelevant and serve only to make the work long winded, such as the quarrels between the nuns and other extraneous conversations. In this regard, María declares that her chief intent is to portray the nuns' friendly conversation and way of life: their humility, simplicity, and mortification; their continual prayer practices; their contempt for fine dress and their selflessness; along with their happy and holy diversions.Less
This chapter explains María de San José Salazar's Book for the Hour of Recreation in detail, in which María discusses her intention of telling the life of the holy Mother and the greatness of Carmel with a mixture of a variety of matters. Many things that she includes here seem irrelevant and serve only to make the work long winded, such as the quarrels between the nuns and other extraneous conversations. In this regard, María declares that her chief intent is to portray the nuns' friendly conversation and way of life: their humility, simplicity, and mortification; their continual prayer practices; their contempt for fine dress and their selflessness; along with their happy and holy diversions.
George Pattison
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- November 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198813507
- eISBN:
- 9780191851360
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198813507.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
The devout self comes to devotion as one who has already fallen short of the Christian ideal and now wants to do better, but it is made clear that perfection will not be achieved in this life and the ...
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The devout self comes to devotion as one who has already fallen short of the Christian ideal and now wants to do better, but it is made clear that perfection will not be achieved in this life and the soul will fall many times. The devout life is thus from the beginning a life of repentance or, more radically, mortification. The self is pictured as engaged in a holy war with itself in which, in the end, it must accept defeat by God. In this defeat it learns humility, widely acclaimed as the most important Christian virtue. However, humility means something different from the modest self-regard of Aristotelian ethics and, as de Sales makes clear, means welcoming abjection. The great model for humility is Christ himself, both as regards the circumstances of his life and death and in the humility of incarnation itself.Less
The devout self comes to devotion as one who has already fallen short of the Christian ideal and now wants to do better, but it is made clear that perfection will not be achieved in this life and the soul will fall many times. The devout life is thus from the beginning a life of repentance or, more radically, mortification. The self is pictured as engaged in a holy war with itself in which, in the end, it must accept defeat by God. In this defeat it learns humility, widely acclaimed as the most important Christian virtue. However, humility means something different from the modest self-regard of Aristotelian ethics and, as de Sales makes clear, means welcoming abjection. The great model for humility is Christ himself, both as regards the circumstances of his life and death and in the humility of incarnation itself.
