Medicine and Martyria: A Theology of Narrative Witness in Healthcare
Frentzen Pakpahan, Yale Divinity School
The early church historian Eusebius writes that during the Decian plague in the mid-third century C.E., Christians in Alexandria remained in the city to care for the sick even at the cost of their lives. He writes, “death in this form… seems in every way the equal of martyrdom”.1 The word ‘martyr’ derives from the Greek martyria which translates to “testimony” or “witness”. In calling the Alexandrian Christians martyrs, Eusebius connects medicine to the willingness to ‘bear martyria’.
In Stanley Hauerwas’ Suffering Presence, he similarly writes that the moral purpose of medicine is to be present with the sick.2 He argues that one factor that turns illness into suffering is alienation. Hauerwas rejects proposals that medicine's moral center derives from promoting health or eliminating suffering, both of which he sees as overreaching medicine’s capabilities. My paper seeks to build upon Hauerwas’ articulation of presence as medicine’s moral core. It considers the role a theology of martyria can play as an essential part of presence.
To do so, I first consider the advantages and disadvantages of Hauerwas’ proposal, focusing in particular on its relation to human finitude. Next, I draw on the work of phenomenologists such as Havi Carel to consider how the lived experience of illness is modulated by its social construction. From here, I explore how suffering and illness are constructed narratively and experientially, and the role of medical practitioners in inhabiting and witnessing to that construction. Ultimately, I argue that the Christian tradition of martyria can also be understood as a witness to a story, namely the Christian narrative of redemption. Drawing this parallel, I propose that a developed theology of martyria can serve as a sustaining resource for medicine as a moral, patient-centered practice.
1. Eusebius. "The Decian Plague in Alexandria." In Essential Readings in Medicine and Religion, edited by Gary B. Ferngren; Ekaterina N. Lomperis, 112-14. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017.
2. Hauerwas, Stanley. "Salvation and Health: Why Medicine Needs the Church." Chap. 3 In Suffering Presence: Theological Reflections on Medicine, the Mentally Handicapped, and the Church, 63-86. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1986.
In Stanley Hauerwas’ Suffering Presence, he similarly writes that the moral purpose of medicine is to be present with the sick.2 He argues that one factor that turns illness into suffering is alienation. Hauerwas rejects proposals that medicine's moral center derives from promoting health or eliminating suffering, both of which he sees as overreaching medicine’s capabilities. My paper seeks to build upon Hauerwas’ articulation of presence as medicine’s moral core. It considers the role a theology of martyria can play as an essential part of presence.
To do so, I first consider the advantages and disadvantages of Hauerwas’ proposal, focusing in particular on its relation to human finitude. Next, I draw on the work of phenomenologists such as Havi Carel to consider how the lived experience of illness is modulated by its social construction. From here, I explore how suffering and illness are constructed narratively and experientially, and the role of medical practitioners in inhabiting and witnessing to that construction. Ultimately, I argue that the Christian tradition of martyria can also be understood as a witness to a story, namely the Christian narrative of redemption. Drawing this parallel, I propose that a developed theology of martyria can serve as a sustaining resource for medicine as a moral, patient-centered practice.
1. Eusebius. "The Decian Plague in Alexandria." In Essential Readings in Medicine and Religion, edited by Gary B. Ferngren; Ekaterina N. Lomperis, 112-14. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017.
2. Hauerwas, Stanley. "Salvation and Health: Why Medicine Needs the Church." Chap. 3 In Suffering Presence: Theological Reflections on Medicine, the Mentally Handicapped, and the Church, 63-86. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1986.