The Care of the Brain in Early Christianity (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780520387676)

Cerebral subjectivity--the identification of the individual self with the brain--is a belief that has become firmly entrenched in modern science and popular culture. In The Care of the Brain in Early Christianity, Jessica Wright traces its roots to tensions within early Christianity over the brain's role in self-governance and its inherent vulnerability. Examining how early Christians appropriated medical ideas, Wright tracks how they used these ideas for teaching ascetic practices, developing therapeutics for the soul, and finding a path to salvation. Bringing a medical lens to religious discourse, this text demonstrates that rather than rejecting medical traditions, early Christianity developed by creatively integrating them.

Author: Jessica L. Wright
ISBN-10: 0520387678
ISBN-13: 9780520387676
Publisher: University of California Press
Language: English
Published: 12/13/2022
Pages: 310
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.19lbs
Size: 9.10h x 5.90w x 1.00d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 09/01/2023