Bridging the Gap

doi:10.1017/9781009019927.016

Chapter 10 - Bridging the Gap

From Textual Representations to the Experiential Level and Back

from Part V - Texts

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 July 2022

Anders Klostergaard Petersen

Edited by

Esther Eidinow ,

Armin W. Geertz and

John North

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Esther Eidinow: Affiliation:
University of Bristol
Armin W. Geertz: Affiliation:
Aarhus Universitet, Denmark
John North: Affiliation:
University College London

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Summary

In the chapter, I explore what may be gained by reading textual instantiations of feelings in light of current knowledge of their underlying emotional counterparts. The overall idea is to bridge the gap between ‘biology’ and ‘culture’ to examine how knowledge about basic biology may contribute to deepen the textual understanding. I seek to illustrate the theoretical discussion by providing a biological emotional reading of Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians chapter 6. I analyze Paul’s emphasis on baptism as moral cleansing in light of recent research in moral psychology and evolutionary biology on the Lady Macbeth complex. The argument is that there is an intrinsic relationship between the use of water and cognitive notions of cleanness, purity, dirt, moral filth, and impurity. These insights may be used to cast further light on Paul’s argument, thus illustrating the overall point that historians of religion, ancient historians, and classicists will benefit considerably by including knowledge from life sciences in the historical analyses.

Keywords

feelings emotions Lady Macbeth complex Paul moral cleansing

Type: Chapter
Information: Cognitive Approaches to Ancient Religious Experience , pp. 245 - 265

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009019927.016 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2022

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Chapter 10 - Bridging the Gap

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