Medical, Theological, and Philosophical Reflections on the Convictions and Tolerance of Sir Thomas Browne’s Religio Medici
Moderator: Richard Gunderman MD, PhD Indiana University School of Medicine
Panelists: Alex Lion, DO, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine; and Robert Saler PhD, ThM, MDiv, Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis, IN
By pressures of the populace and the popular philosophies of the day, the medical profession has endured many changes from age to age. As it now passes into our hands, we ask what it shall become in the time entrusted to us? Will good medicine survive the current age? In a time of uninhibited measurement, focused on outcomes instead of journey, relying on evidence based on numbers in place of narrative, physicians hunger for human language to endow their vocation with sustainable meaning. We find ourselves at a discourse between religion and medicine. As practitioners of the medical tradition turn their gaze to the insights of religion, there is a desperation for coherence. In an atmosphere defined by unruled regulation, the competition of capitalism, and epidemic burnout, do we dare hope for an age of awakening, a great “binding together” of disparate parts, both within and between human healers?
In this hope, we draw attention to a man who is a model of moral vision in medicine, the great physician-writer of the 17th century, Sir Thomas Browne. Among his writings lie a journal of incredible explanatory power both in his age and in ours. Not written with original intent for mass consumption, he described these candid writings as a “private exercise directed to myself.” This writing is titled “Religio Medici,” the religion of a doctor. Written in a time of religious intolerance, Religio Medici stands as an example of “unfailing toleration” and a great contrast to religious rigidity.
Browne begins the book with the following statements: “For my religion, though there be several circumstances that might persuade the world I have none at all – as the general scandal of my profession – the natural course of my studies – the indifferency of my behaviour and discourse in matters of religion (neither violently defending one, nor with that common ardour and contention opposing another) – yet, in despite hereof, I dare without usurpation assume the honourable style of a Christian.” Browne delves deeply into doctrines of the Christian faith, handling such terms as salvation, heaven, and hell with an artful skill. Browne succeeds in holding deeply Christian convictions while retaining a deep connection to fellow human beings of diverse backgrounds. Indeed, he says, “I could never divide myself from any man upon the difference of an opinion.
Browne is also a model of professional reflection engaged in the interplay between body, life, and death, in which he neglects neither the body nor the inner person. In Religio Medici, he says, “Men that look no further than their outsides, think health an appertenance unto life, and quarrel with their constitutions for being sick; but I, that have examined the parts of man, and know upon what tender filaments that fabrick hangs, do wonder that we are not always so; and considering the thousand doors that lead to death, do thank my God that we can die but once.” In addition he views the body as matter speaking to that other aspect of life: “Therefore, sometimes, and in some things, there appears to me as much divinity in Galen his books, De Usu Partium, as in Suarez’s Metaphysicks. Had Aristotle been as curious in the enquiry of this cause as he was of the other, he had not left behind him an imperfect piece of philosophy, but an absolute tract of divinity.”
As Browne looks at this interplay between “the outsides,” “the parts of man,” and “the absolute tract of divinity,” he searches his own soul and its motive forces, which he declares to be ruling forces in tension. “...for there is in our soul a kind of triumvirate, or triple government of three competitors,” which he names to be “affection, faith, and reason.” As Browne reflects on this triumvirate, his writing acts as a confessor to his own balance. There is truth not only in the ideas of his confession, but also in the poetry and extravagant language in which he expresses them. This language was so insightful, Religio Medici came to influence an intelligent posterity of diverse expression. The diverse readership benefiting from his discussions came to include Carl Jung, Virginia Wolf, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. The father of modern medicine, Sir William Osler, said of it “no book has had so enduring influence on my life.”
The enduring influence of Religio Medici provides hope for the future, that there are virtues in medicine which will not change and will continue to guide physicians for many years to come. In the midst of calamitous change, such eternal coherence is a great freedom. Surely this freedom for our future forms a vocation, standing worthy of best practice and personal sacrifice in the years of one’s prime.
In order to let Sir Thomas Browne’s wisdom speak for today, we propose an interdisciplinary panel, in which we will explore this text utilizing three distinct perspectives, including panelists and a moderator from medical, theological, and philosophical disciplines. In addressing the interaction between medicine, religion, and the secular, we will incite our reflections with questions such as:
1. What binds the practice of medicine together in the current age and for the future? 2. What referees the triumvirate of reason, emotion, and faith today and in the future? 3. What are the ways that faith and medicine may inspire one another?
The goal will be to assess how Browne’s text continues to speak to the current intersections of religion and medicine, where our frameworks for this interaction may have evolved past his, and how ongoing appreciative inquiry between medicine and spirituality can enrich both, providing a common language, regardless of personal conviction.
In this hope, we draw attention to a man who is a model of moral vision in medicine, the great physician-writer of the 17th century, Sir Thomas Browne. Among his writings lie a journal of incredible explanatory power both in his age and in ours. Not written with original intent for mass consumption, he described these candid writings as a “private exercise directed to myself.” This writing is titled “Religio Medici,” the religion of a doctor. Written in a time of religious intolerance, Religio Medici stands as an example of “unfailing toleration” and a great contrast to religious rigidity.
Browne begins the book with the following statements: “For my religion, though there be several circumstances that might persuade the world I have none at all – as the general scandal of my profession – the natural course of my studies – the indifferency of my behaviour and discourse in matters of religion (neither violently defending one, nor with that common ardour and contention opposing another) – yet, in despite hereof, I dare without usurpation assume the honourable style of a Christian.” Browne delves deeply into doctrines of the Christian faith, handling such terms as salvation, heaven, and hell with an artful skill. Browne succeeds in holding deeply Christian convictions while retaining a deep connection to fellow human beings of diverse backgrounds. Indeed, he says, “I could never divide myself from any man upon the difference of an opinion.
Browne is also a model of professional reflection engaged in the interplay between body, life, and death, in which he neglects neither the body nor the inner person. In Religio Medici, he says, “Men that look no further than their outsides, think health an appertenance unto life, and quarrel with their constitutions for being sick; but I, that have examined the parts of man, and know upon what tender filaments that fabrick hangs, do wonder that we are not always so; and considering the thousand doors that lead to death, do thank my God that we can die but once.” In addition he views the body as matter speaking to that other aspect of life: “Therefore, sometimes, and in some things, there appears to me as much divinity in Galen his books, De Usu Partium, as in Suarez’s Metaphysicks. Had Aristotle been as curious in the enquiry of this cause as he was of the other, he had not left behind him an imperfect piece of philosophy, but an absolute tract of divinity.”
As Browne looks at this interplay between “the outsides,” “the parts of man,” and “the absolute tract of divinity,” he searches his own soul and its motive forces, which he declares to be ruling forces in tension. “...for there is in our soul a kind of triumvirate, or triple government of three competitors,” which he names to be “affection, faith, and reason.” As Browne reflects on this triumvirate, his writing acts as a confessor to his own balance. There is truth not only in the ideas of his confession, but also in the poetry and extravagant language in which he expresses them. This language was so insightful, Religio Medici came to influence an intelligent posterity of diverse expression. The diverse readership benefiting from his discussions came to include Carl Jung, Virginia Wolf, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. The father of modern medicine, Sir William Osler, said of it “no book has had so enduring influence on my life.”
The enduring influence of Religio Medici provides hope for the future, that there are virtues in medicine which will not change and will continue to guide physicians for many years to come. In the midst of calamitous change, such eternal coherence is a great freedom. Surely this freedom for our future forms a vocation, standing worthy of best practice and personal sacrifice in the years of one’s prime.
In order to let Sir Thomas Browne’s wisdom speak for today, we propose an interdisciplinary panel, in which we will explore this text utilizing three distinct perspectives, including panelists and a moderator from medical, theological, and philosophical disciplines. In addressing the interaction between medicine, religion, and the secular, we will incite our reflections with questions such as:
1. What binds the practice of medicine together in the current age and for the future? 2. What referees the triumvirate of reason, emotion, and faith today and in the future? 3. What are the ways that faith and medicine may inspire one another?
The goal will be to assess how Browne’s text continues to speak to the current intersections of religion and medicine, where our frameworks for this interaction may have evolved past his, and how ongoing appreciative inquiry between medicine and spirituality can enrich both, providing a common language, regardless of personal conviction.