Fragmentation And Redemption Chapter Summary

In the chapter called Material Continuity, Personal Survival and the Resurrection of the Body of Caroline Walker Bynum’s book Fragmentation and Redemption, she thoroughly discusses the historical thought processes present in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and in modern times that dealt with the correlation between one’s existence and identity and their physical body. She looks at how the material part of human identity is often thought to have been required in order to help one continue their existence, and how this concept has developed over time what with the introduction of new thought experiments, and explorations into science fiction so far as we can imagine. This chapter aims to argue that the originating concept of bodily resurrection …show more content…
Since Catholicism was a large part of medieval society and thought, its concept of Judgement Day inspired the speculation of death and the physical mechanics of resurrection – namely the importance of the physical human body and the role it played. A lengthy portion is dedicated to providing a historical narrative to provide context. Bynum proceeds to constantly jump back and forth between her two eras of focus and provides numerous philosophical and theological examples, listing off scholars and philosophers, their ideas and responses to each other, how they compare to their earlier and later counterparts, and so on. She uses these examples to illustrate newer concepts – such as reincarnation, mind-body dualism, and organ transplants – from the modern world bridge into this initially and seemingly small idea. Throughout, Bynum reiterates how there is no clear cut answer, which shows how much of a broad issue these medieval thinkers stumbled upon. She concludes by delving deeper into how the Christians perceived proceedings with corpses of different people, caused by various kinds of death, once again using a historical re-telling in order to reiterate her