Health and Holiness

Catalog description

This course explores the complex relationship between the notions 'health' and 'holiness.' Beginning with an intuition based on the common linguistic ancestry of the two English words and proceeding from explicit and implied connections made by biblical authors, we will examine health and its convergences with holiness from the perspectives of philosophy, theology, and medicine. In our efforts to come to a theologically adequate understanding of health, we will consider: 1) health as the flourishing of the organism/body/person; 2) health as a function of community, understood as 'a place and all its creatures'; 3) health as a (common) way of life; 4) health as the telos of medicine; 5) the proper limits of healthcare and the pursuit of health. It is strongly recommended that students complete a basic theology course prior to taking this course