Open AccessMedical issues in the writings of old Polish religious polemists
Author(s) -
Jan Kamieniecki
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
oblicza komunikacji
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2083-5345
DOI - 10.19195/2083-5345.12.23
Subject(s) - heresy , phenomenon , protestantism , politics , construct (python library) , religious studies , history of religions , adversary , philosophy , history , classics , sociology , theology , law , political science , epistemology , statistics , mathematics , computer science , programming language
Discussions and polemics between representatives of different religious orientations are not a new phenomenon. Even in antiquity there was already a struggle between Christian theologians and representatives of newly emerging heresies. In Poland religious polemics were a common phenomenon in the 16th and 17th centuries. They were attended by both Catholic theologians and representatives of various Protestant communities, as well as antitrinitarians called the Polish Brethren. Very important theological issues were discussed, but in addition to the substantive arguments, there were also mentions relating to history, politics, and even medicine. In this article I present how references to various branches of medicine were used in theological texts, and show how the terms relating to various dis-eases and their symptoms could be used to construct an image of a religious opponent.