Mind over Matter: How Dualism Propagated Neglect in American Evangelicalism and Biomedicine in the Early 2020’s and a Move Towards Unified Embodiment
Edwin Savage, Duke Divinity School, Durham, NC, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC
The early 2020’s saw the public reckoning of the systemic cover-up of sexual abuse within in the ministries of the Southern Baptist Convention and apologist Ravi Zacharias. Through independent and investigative reporting, it was revealed that the given motivation for silencing victims of abuse was to preserve the church’s ability to save souls for the Kingdom of God through evangelism. Though rejected by many within church leadership, the viability of this behavior was built on the presupposition that the soul is both divorced from, and of greater value than, the body. On the basis of this understanding, covering up the abuse of physical bodies for the sake of the more valuable soul, though reprehensible to many, was permissible to some. The outcome of such an understanding was devastating to victims of abuse primarily and secondarily to the institution of the church as the message of grace became associated with pervasive sin.
In a parallel world, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the biomedical community of the United States found itself embracing a similar Platonic divorce of body and soul. This was illustrated by the designation of physiologic caretakers as “essential” workers, while spiritual caretakers were labelled “non-essential”. With a priority placed on caring for the physiologic being, caring for the soul or personhood of the patient was neglected. Across the nation thousands of people suffered and died without access to family or clerical support as a result of their souls being deemed non-essential. By neglecting the soul for the sake of the body, the biomedical community committed the inverse trespass of the church, but similarly saw outcomes of harm and a loss of morality in the eyes of much of the public.
This essay will briefly explore the most recent instances of sexual assault and cover-up within evangelical Christianity, relying on the Guidepost Solutions Independent Investigation Report of the SBC, as well as witness testimony against Ravi Zacharias, to identify dualism and its role in facilitating abuse. It will then turn its attention to the early stages of the COVID-19 medical response, documenting how essential and non-essential designations for caretakers reinforced the dualistic approach to the human being, while diminishing the soul compared to the body. Finally, the essay will explore how the eschatology of new creation as described by N.T. Wright offers Christians a unified understanding of each person’s human nature, allowing Christians to hold in tension the physical and spiritual needs of the individual. It will argue that as healthcare providers it is essential to value the patient’s physical and spiritual needs, deferring their spiritual care to pastoral caregivers as necessary, but affirming their value, nonetheless. By refusing to split the human into body and soul, Christians in healthcare can pursue a coherent vision of the person, repair their institutions, and equip them to fulfill their callings to encourage human wholeness in times of crisis.
In a parallel world, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the biomedical community of the United States found itself embracing a similar Platonic divorce of body and soul. This was illustrated by the designation of physiologic caretakers as “essential” workers, while spiritual caretakers were labelled “non-essential”. With a priority placed on caring for the physiologic being, caring for the soul or personhood of the patient was neglected. Across the nation thousands of people suffered and died without access to family or clerical support as a result of their souls being deemed non-essential. By neglecting the soul for the sake of the body, the biomedical community committed the inverse trespass of the church, but similarly saw outcomes of harm and a loss of morality in the eyes of much of the public.
This essay will briefly explore the most recent instances of sexual assault and cover-up within evangelical Christianity, relying on the Guidepost Solutions Independent Investigation Report of the SBC, as well as witness testimony against Ravi Zacharias, to identify dualism and its role in facilitating abuse. It will then turn its attention to the early stages of the COVID-19 medical response, documenting how essential and non-essential designations for caretakers reinforced the dualistic approach to the human being, while diminishing the soul compared to the body. Finally, the essay will explore how the eschatology of new creation as described by N.T. Wright offers Christians a unified understanding of each person’s human nature, allowing Christians to hold in tension the physical and spiritual needs of the individual. It will argue that as healthcare providers it is essential to value the patient’s physical and spiritual needs, deferring their spiritual care to pastoral caregivers as necessary, but affirming their value, nonetheless. By refusing to split the human into body and soul, Christians in healthcare can pursue a coherent vision of the person, repair their institutions, and equip them to fulfill their callings to encourage human wholeness in times of crisis.