Cures of the body and cures of the soul : from Hippocrates to the early Eastern Christian Fathers.

This study examines the differences between Hippocratic medicine and Eastern Christian medical notions in relation to the human body and mind in health and disease. The aim is to demonstrate that there were two major reasons why the two traditions valued dissimilarly the body and the soul. First, their differing religiosities were reflected in their contrasting ideas about the function of secular and religious cures. By definition, secular medicine is attached to the physical whereas religion dwells mostly in the spirit. Second, the holistic attitude of Hippocratic cures towards the body and the soul in contrast to the dichotomy in favour of the soul that Christianity became known for is largely due to the diverging interpretation of pagan Greek philosophy. Although the Greek philosophical tradition was all-pervasive for intellectuals in both sides, its various theories did accommodate the distinct interests of Hippocratic medicine and of Christian medicine. Hippocratism expressed itself in terms of practical philosophy. Christianity adopted a contemplative outlook of the person. Primary sources such as the treatises of the Hippocratic Corpus, the writings of Galen, the Holy Scriptures and the work of eminent Eastern Christian theologians provide considerable evidence to make the case for these arguments. Secondary sources will be compared against the primary ones and will assist to highlight wider cultural implications surrounding, interacting with and, often, connecting the two movements