The Conflict with the Body. The Spiritual Exercises of Ancient Philosophy converted to Christianity
Abstract
Christian apologists not only borrowed the theoretical framework from ancient philosophy, but also the existential heart of it. The spiritual exercises of ancient philosophy will be used in the service of the Imitation of Christ and mixed with exercises of corporal mortification totally alien to the spirit of Platonic, Stoic or Neoplatonic philosophy. The body of Christian ascetics cannot be denied or ignored –for it would be like denying the corporality of Jesus–, but neither can it be loved or valued –in the name of the imitation of Christ. Along with the praise of suffering, the paradoxical relationship with one's own body is at the base of the Christian way of life and determines the direction and depth of the exercises that Christianity borrows from ancient philosophy.
Downloads
Article download
Crossmark
License
In order to support the global exchange of knowledge, the journal Anales del Seminario de Historia de la Filosofia is allowing unrestricted access to its content as from its publication in this electronic edition, and as such it is an open-access journal. The originals published in this journal are the property of the Complutense University of Madrid and any reproduction thereof in full or in part must cite the source. All content is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 use and distribution licence (CC BY 4.0). This circumstance must be expressly stated in these terms where necessary. You can view the summary and the complete legal text of the licence.
