reli/hc midterm

Medicine (Ferngren)

The art of preserving or restoring health and treating disease through drugs, surgery, or physical methods

Religion (Ferngren)

Belief in a higher unseen power controlling destiny and deserving worship

Health (WHO)

Complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not just absence of disease

Health (Ferngren)

Absence of disease and a balanced state of body, mind, and spirit

Disease

Objective biological condition affecting the body

Illness

Subjective experience of feeling unwell

Contextualism

Understanding medical ideas within their cultural and historical context

Whiggism

Viewing history as progressive toward modern ideas

Presentism

Interpreting the past using modern concepts

Essentialism

Belief that ideas remain the same across time

Anachronism

Interpreting the past using ideas from the wrong time period

Pluralism

Presence of multiple beliefs or systems in a society

Consensus

Shared agreement on beliefs or values

Draper-White Conflict Thesis

Idea that Christianity historically opposed scientific and medical progress

Complexity Thesis

View that religion and science have mixed relationships (both conflict and cooperation)

Medicine under Religion

Disease explained supernaturally and treated by religious figures

Partial Separation (Medicine & Religion)

Natural causes recognized but religion still overlaps

Complete Separation

Medicine and religion are separate, often causing ethical tensions

Religion under Medicine

Medicine takes over roles traditionally held by religion

Natural Healing

Treatment using physicians, herbs, and traditional remedies

Religious Healing

Seeking divine intervention through prayer or miracles

Magical Healing

Use of amulets, spells, and occult practices

Etiology

The cause or origin of a disease

Placebo Effect

Improvement due to belief in treatment rather than actual treatment

Punitive Illness

Disease as punishment from a god for wrongdoing

Cultic/Ritual Punishment

Illness from failure to perform rituals correctly (not moral sin)

Syncretism

Blending of different religious beliefs and practices

Mesopotamian View of Disease

Illness caused by angry gods or demons as punishment

āšipu

Priest/exorcist using magic for diagnosis and prognosis

asû

Physician using natural treatments for symptoms

Personal Gods (Mesopotamia)

Protective deities stronger than demons

Divine Retribution (Mesopotamia)

Illness as punishment for sins

Egyptian View of Disease

Combination of natural and supernatural causes in an ordered world

wabw

Priest focused on ritual purity

sa.u

Magician using incantations and spells

swnw

Physician providing physical treatments

Egyptian Traditionalism

Preference for old methods over new

Hebrew View of Disease

Illness as punishment or correction from God for sin

Transcendence

God exists above and independent of nature

Imago Dei

Humans created in God’s image with inherent value

Theodicy

Explanation for why suffering exists

Ritual Purity

Cleanliness representing spiritual and moral purity

Second Temple Judaism

Period when demonology increased and some illness attributed to demons

Ecclesiasticus (Ben Sira) View

God is ultimate healer but physicians are encouraged and accepted

Polytheism

Belief in multiple gods

Monotheism

Belief in one God

Monolatry

Worship of one god without denying others exist

Greek Religion

No fixed doctrine; focused on rituals and many gods influencing life

Supernatural Cause of Disease (Greek)

Illness caused by gods or spirits

Naturalistic Medicine (Greek)

Disease explained through natural causes and observation

Both/And Approach (Greek)

Acceptance of both natural and supernatural explanations

Hippocratic Medicine

Rational, observation-based approach to diagnosing and treating illness

Hippocratic Oath

Ethical code including “do no harm” and confidentiality

Four Humors

Blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile as basis of health

Sanguine

Personality linked to blood (social, cheerful)

Phlegmatic

Personality linked to phlegm (calm, relaxed)

Choleric

Personality linked to yellow bile (ambitious, energetic)

Melancholic

Personality linked to black bile (analytical, sad)

Cult of Asclepius

Religious healing temples where patients sought divine cures

Keres

Harmful spirits causing illness and death in Greek belief

Alastores

Spirits bringing vengeance (especially for crimes like murder)

Iatromanteis

Wandering Greek healers using magic and religious practices

Diamones

Spirits (good or bad) influencing human life and disease

Roman View of Disease

Illness caused by neglecting or offending the gods

Roman Medicine and Religion

Complementary systems rather than conflicting

Pax Romana

Roman peace allowing cultural diversity under Roman control

Pax Deorum

Peace with the gods maintained through proper worship

Mystery Religions

Cults focused on personal spiritual experience and salvation

Jesus as Healer

Performed healing as a sign of divine authority

Christian View of Healing

Combination of natural medicine and occasional miracles

Great Physician

Jesus as healer of the soul rather than just the body

Christian View of Suffering

Suffering seen as meaningful and spiritually beneficial

Christian Charity

Care for the sick and poor as a moral duty

Basileias

Early Christian hospital providing charity and medical care

Relics

Physical remains or objects associated with saints believed to have healing power

Saints

Holy individuals believed to intercede for people

Plague of Cyprian Response

Christians cared for the sick while others fled

Monasticism

Religious lifestyle devoted to spiritual work and service

Cenobitic Monasticism

Community-based monastic life caring for others

Animism

Belief that nature and objects have spiritual life

Folk Medicine

Traditional remedies passed down through generations

Medieval View of Disease

Combination of natural and supernatural causes

Paternalism

Physicians make decisions for patients “for their own good”

Autonomy

Patient’s right to make their own decisions

Medieval Hospitals

Primarily charitable shelters with limited medical care

Women in Medieval Medicine

Initially active but later excluded due to university requirements

Salerno

First major medical school in medieval Europe

Guilds

Professional organizations regulating physicians

Spoudaioi

Christian groups caring for the sick and poor

Philoponoi

Christian service groups assisting the needy

Anargyroi

“Silverless ones” (physicians who did not charge money)

Cosmas and Damian

Famous anargyroi physicians

Islam

Submission to the will of Allah and a religious/cultural system

Muhammad

Final prophet of Islam who received revelations

Quran

Holy book of Islam believed to be the word of God

Hadith

Recorded sayings and actions of Muhammad

Translation Movement

Period when Greek texts were translated into Arabic

Rise of Islamic Medicine

Development of new medical knowledge based on observation

Islamic Medicine

Combination of Greek knowledge and new medical advancements

Avicenna

Author of the Canon of Medicine