Resurrection of the Body in Western Christianity, 200-1336

Rating:
Summary: Eschatology in the Patristic Era and High Middle Ages
Review: The Apostle Paul's responses to doubts and erroneous teaching concerning the resurrection in his letters to believers at Corinth and his disciple Timothy illustrates that what constitutes a proper understanding of the resurrection of the dead has been debated since the earliest days of the Christian church. Caroline Walker Bynum, a National Endowment for the Humanities Jefferson Lecturer, traces that debate in meticulous detail through the patristic era and High Middle Ages. In doing so, she demonstrates that "Christians clung to a very literal notion of resurrection despite repeated attempts by theologians and philosophers to spiritualize the idea." Bynum's review of patristic and scholastic literature shows that a belief that "body is necessary for self" shaped the evolution of eschatological thought from at least the time of Tertullian to the age of Thomas Aquinas. Her exhaustive exploration of the "images, examples and analogies" of theologians, artists, "mystics, poets, hagiographers, sculptors and tellers of folktales" demonstrates that there was substantial diversity in attempts to explain the mechanics of resurrection in light of the consumption, decay, mutilation, partition and putrefaction suffered by the body before and after death. As the title indicates, Bynum's monograph focuses on the thought of the western branch of the church, not that of the orthodox east. She also limited her scope to the patristic era and High Middle Ages, omitting the intervening centuries as if she had not imposed that limitation she "would never have finished." As a medieval specialist of impeccable credentials, Bynum is particularly well qualified to explore "virtually every aspect of [the] social, religious, intellectual and political life" of the latter period considered in this work. Bynum's reconstruction of the evolution of the western view of resurrection is meticulous and thorough. Shifting through the religious, intellectual and social she paints a richly detailed picture that is as persuasive as it is difficult to fault. If I were to hazard a recommendation for improvement it would be to add an index of primary sources in addition to the index of secondary sources she does provides. Hopefully an equally qualified scholar will pick up where Bynum leaves off and trace the continued development of resurrection in western thought through the twentieth century.