"Incorruptible Bodies examines a fateful theological controversy that raged in the eastern Roman empire in the early sixth-century. The controversy, whose main participants were the anti-Chalcedonian leaders Severus of Antioch and Julian of Halicarnassus, centered on whether or not Jesus' body was corruptible prior to its resurrection from the dead. Viewing the controversy in light of late antiquity's multiple images of the 'body of Christ,' Yonatan Moss reveals the underlying political, ritual, and cultural stakes of this debate and its long-lasting effects"--Provided by publishe
As the first monk in the desert, Antony became an early Christian superstar, eclipsing his many ascetic predecessors. The introduction of asceticism into the wilderness also represented an encounter between Christian and Hellenistic ideas. For centuries Greeks had considered the uncultivated geography intrinsically primordial, a chaotic place where man struggled to remain human. The wilderness represented an eternal ordeal, where man always faced fierce beasts, disorder, and death, but also where simultaneously he could attain boundless wealth, wisdom, and even physical immortality. Through Athanasius of Alexandria's fourth-century biography of Antony, we learn how the Christian appropriation of Greek ideas on geography, bodies and immortality raised asceticism to an entirely new level. Placed in his uncultivated landscape, Antony became a true martyr, an athlete of God, and a holy man able to retrieve the bodily incorruptibility lost in the Fall, which all Christians could look forward to at the end of times. In this way Athanasius employed a traditional Greek worldview to demonstrate the superiority of Christianity over Paganism, which never promised ordinary people anything but an eternal existence as dead and disembodied souls.
This book examines the Franciscan alchemist Roger Bacon’s (1220-1292) interest in the role of alchemy in medicine, and how this interest connected with the thirteenth-century milieu in which he was writing. Though twelfth-century Latin alchemy had largely been concerned with transmuting base metals into noble ones, Bacon believed that the natural principles taught in alchemy would be better used in medicine. In an age where many physicians were theorizing about ways to prevent the effects of aging, Bacon held that combining alchemy and humoral medicine would allow one to extend their life by decades, even centuries. By examining Bacon’s alchemical, medical, and mathematical works, this book argues that Bacon combined a number of sources to create a unique plan for prolonging human life. His understanding of disease and aging was ultimately Galenic in nature, and his understanding of how pharmaceuticals work can be traced back to his mathematical theories, especially that of the multiplication of species. The book provides a new system for organizing Bacon’s alchemically-produced medicines, and explains what Bacon saw as the difference between each, and how they could have different physiological effects. Bacon is situated within the thirteenth-century contexts in which he was writing – that of the university-educated and newly professionalized medical practitioners, who were invested in finding ways to extend human life; and the Franciscan order, with their understanding of the innate goodness of the physical body, the resurrection, and corporeal union with God. Filling a major lacuna in scholarship on the history of medieval medical writings, this book provides vital reading for historians of medicine, pre- and early modern European science, and medieval philosophy and religion.
Professor Camporesi examines what significance the body had for the obsessively religious, superstitious, yet materially bound minds of the pre-industrial age? In this extraordinary and often astounding book, Professor Camporesi traces these ideas back to various documents across the centuries and explores the juxtaposition of medicine and sorcery, cookery and surgery, pharmacy and alchemy.
More than ever before, the Body of Christ needs a generation of godly leaders who can have influence without losing their integrity. God is searching for those in whom He can safely entrust the authority of His kingdom and the mantle of leadership. In this book, David McCracken gives leaders the spiritual understanding and practical outworking to carry the level of authority and power that God desires to flow through them. An Incorruptible Heart gives prophetic and apostolic insight into the deeper heart issues of integrity, purity of motivation, intimacy with God, accountability, servanthood, spiritual fatherhood and much more. If you want to finish well with greatness of character, this book will empower your future success for God’s glory. 'An Incorruptible Heart’ is deeply challenging. It is written out of the depths of experiences of life, ministry and significant Biblical understanding. It’s uncomfortable to have the mirror turned on you as it is read. However, one feels inward renewal as one surrenders to the truth. In a fast moving Christian sub-culture it is worth making a priority read. IAN GREEN, NEXT LEVEL INTERNATIONAL, ENGLAND With so much tragic failure in Christian ministries and leadership today, how must we face the new millennium? David McCracken has done us all a great service in analysing and compiling the great themes of faithful leadership; servant hearts, yielded expectations, accountability and intimacy with Christ; utterly necessary principles for us to honor the Lord in the great decade of harvest before us. My Dad (a champion cyclist) once said to me: “Son, it’s not how you begin the race; it’s how you finish that counts.” David’s book will help you cross that line a winner! WINKIE PRATNEY, International Speaker and Author, USA David McCracken’s excellent book reminds us of the power of an incorruptible heart. I often say, “don’t trust a leader who doesn’t limp.” Meaning... people who have gone through the fires of trials, pressures, crisis, pain, and disappointment, yet have decided to trust God and be people of integrity with a sweet spirit. Those who limp have been there and have come out better. I listen to these people and learn. David is one of those people. His book is full of transparency, vulnerability, and wisdom arising from the pressures of ministry and life. Throughout his writing he brings hope, inspiration, and faith to us who are looking for positive examples. He reminds us of the critical truth that we must protect our heart from bitterness, walk the road of integrity, and keep tender to the things of God and to the needs of people. DR WAYNE GOODALL, WORLDWIDE FAMILY, USA It is easy to see that this book has been forged from the decades of ministry experienced by David, starting where we all start: young, zealous and naive to developing into very senior mature leadership. David’s heart, his life, his experience, his blood sweat and tears are spilled onto these pages. What a book for Senior Pastors to keep us on the “straight and narrow” in order to achieve what we all set out for. What a book for existing leadership to keep the hearts right and save the “body” from the heartaches of the past. What a book for emerging leadership to forewarn them of the pitfalls that can await them. What a book for the body of Christ at large to help the saints, both young and old, to grow into the full measure and stature of Christ. PETER MORTLOCK, SENIOR PASTOR CITY IMPACT CHURCHES, NZ
The flip side to this year's break-out smash hit, examining the hard, difficult road to changing your ways and making a difference in the world... Super villain Max Damage had an epiphany the day The Plutonian destroyed Sky City. When The Plutonian turned his back on humanity, Max Damage decided to step up. Now Max Damage has changed his name to Max Daring and turned from his formerly selfish ways to become... INCORRUPTIBLE. The flip side of BOOM! Studios’ break-out smash hit, IRREDEEMABLE, examines the hard, difficult road to changing your ways and making a difference in the world...
Continuously popular since it first appeared in 1977, The Incorruptibles remains the acknowledged classic on the bodies of Saints that did not undergo decomposition after death, many remaining fresh and flexible for years, or even centuries. After explaining both natural and artificial mummification, the author shows that the incorruption of the Saints bodies fits into neither category but constitutes a much greater phenomenon which is unexplained by modern science even to this day. The author presents 102 canonized Saints, Beati and Venerables, summarizing their lives, the discovery of their incorruption and investigations by Church and medical authorities. The incorruptible bodies of saints are a consoling sign of Christ's victory over death, a confirmation of the dogma of the Resurrection of the Body, a sign that the Saints are still with us in the Mystical Body of Christ, as well as a proof of the truth of the Catholic Faith for only in the Catholic Church do we find this phenomenon.
THE STORY: Welcome to Priseaux, France, c. 1250 A.D.: The river flooded again last week. The chandler's shop just burned to the ground. Nobody's heard of the wheelbarrow yet. And Ste. Foy, the patron of the local monastery, hasn't worked a miracle
