NTT Journal for Theology and the Study of Religion - Volume 75, Issue 1, 2021

Healthy, Good and Happy: The Topicality of the Medieval Model of Wellbeing

Departing from a miscellany with various do-it-yourself advice texts from the city of Deventer, this article explains the medieval model of health. It argues that medievals held an overall vision of health, involving physical, mental and spiritual well-being as well as the search for the moral good. At the end of the Middle Ages, residents of Dutch cities energetically strove to create for themselves a better life in terms of health, comfort, satisfaction and spiritual perfection but never left fellow humans to their own devices. Current decision-makers could profit from this integral model and may replace the concept of health with that of well-being.

Attention for Meaning-Making Processes: Context and Practice of Spiritual Care in the Earthquake Area of Groningen

In the North of the Netherlands spiritual caregivers have been employed to respond to the social and personal needs resulting from human induced earthquakes. In the Netherlands knowledge on spiritual care in times of disasters is limited. Central to the present study are two questions: How is spiritual care being put into practice in Groningen? And how do the spiritual caregivers cooperate with others in psychosocial care and in the social domain? This article describes the context, the reasons spiritual care came to be provided and the primary activities of the spiritual caregivers during their initial year of practice.

Age Comes with Weaknesses and Wisdom: A Gerontological Alternative to a Transhumanist View on Life Extension

Transhumanists claim that they will soon stop human aging. Although this form of human enhancement has not yet been realized, we must think about what it means for us as humans. Theologians have engaged in ethical reflection already, but usually from classical theological perspectives like creation, eschatology, and anthropology. This article argues, however, that these classical views are not appropriate to offer an adequate Christian ethical response to the transhumanism project of considerable life extension. Therefore, an alternative approach is suggested. Aging must not be seen solely as an evil which has to be defeated at any cost, but also as a phase in a complete life with its own beauty and wisdom.

The article analyses the public health policy brief From Disparity to Potential by the Dutch Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR). It argues that the WRR brief presents a distinctive and novel brand of proportionate universalism, a theory proposed by Sir Michael Marmot (2010). The article situates the brief in the wider debate on proportionate universalism and offers an evaluation from an ethical perspective. It argues that the WRR’s version of proportionate universalism exhibits three flaws: (1) the definition of socio-economic status is unduly focused on education levels and thus ignores important, health-relevant disparities; (2) whilst the policy brief endorses subsidiarity, it remains focused on governmental and economic actors, ignoring the importance of voluntary associations such as churches and faith-based organizations; (3) the focus of proportionate universalism is quantitative and needs supplementing with theories of the good life, typically associated with theological and philosophical forms of ethics originating in the premodern era.

One of the mechanisms by which religion promotes health and well-being is by offering frameworks of meaning. Older adults ‘story’ later life against the background of the grand narratives offered by their worldview and cultural narratives of ageing. The dominance of age-defying narratives and narratives of decline indicates the need for counter narratives of ageing. Moreover, the premature notion that one’s life story has effectively ended is negatively associated with worldview commitment. Empirical research suggests that worldview commitment provides existential support, alleviating death anxiety and enhancing well-being and health. Religions offer meaning in the face of death, thereby influencing end-of-life decisions.

As part of NTT JTSR’s series on Key Texts, the present article discusses Cicero’s dialogue Cato Maior De Senectute (44 bce). Over the longue durée of western cultural history, the dialogue has been a key cultural reference. Even today, after the rise of modern gerontology, it is frequently cited. However, prevailing interpretations are hard-pressed to offer an even-handed and plausible view of the text. On the one hand, Cicero is presented uncritically as having anticipated all the latest results of today’s gerontological research. On the other hand, he is ridiculed as spokesman for a male Roman elite, drawing an unrealistically positive picture of old age. In this article a fresh interpretation is proposed, to contextualize and mitigate such extreme readings. De Senectute is primarily a consolation for old age, which uses themes and stratagems of the consolatory genre. It offers a more realistic view of old age than current ideas of ‘successful ageing’ and can contribute to a concept of age-adapted wellbeing.