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James Hinton's Theological Appropriation of Pain Steven Hansen Duquesne University Duquesne Scholarship Collection Electronic Theses and Dissertations Fall 2011 Pain, Human Redemption, and Medicine: James Hinton's Theological Appropriation of Pain Steven Hansen Follow this and additional works at: https://dsc.duq.edu/etd Recommended Citation Hansen, S. (2011). Pain, Human Redemption, and Medicine: James Hinton's Theological Appropriation of Pain (Doctoral dissertation, Duquesne University). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/626 This Immediate Access is brought to you for free and open access by Duquesne Scholarship Collection. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Duquesne Scholarship Collection. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PAIN, HUMAN REDEMPTION, AND MEDICINE: JAMES HINTON‘S THEOLOGICAL APPROPRIATION OF PAIN A Dissertation Submitted to the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts Duquesne University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Steven Edward Hansen December 2011 Copyright by Steven Edward Hansen 2011 PAIN, HUMAN REDEMPTION, AND MEDICINE: JAMES HINTON‘S THEOLOGICAL APPROPRIATION OF PAIN By Steven Edward Hansen Approved November 18, 2011 ________________________________ ________________________________ Marie L. Baird, Ph.D. Aaron Mackler, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Theology Associate Professor of Theology (Committee Chair) (Committee Member) ________________________________ ________________________________ William M. Wright IV, Ph.D. George Worgul, S.T.D., Ph.D. Associate Professor of Theology Chair, Department of Theology (Committee Member) Professor of Theology ________________________________ James Swindal, Ph.D. Dean, McAnulty College & Graduate School of Liberal Arts iii ABSTRACT PAIN, HUMAN REDEMPTION, AND MEDICINE: JAMES HINTON‘S THEOLOGICAL APPROPRIATION OF PAIN By Steven Edward Hansen December 2011 Dissertation supervised by Professor Marie L. Baird, Ph.D. Hinton‘s theology of pain posits that an individual‘s suffering contributes to God‘s redemptive work in the world. This dissertation explores Hinton‘s theological appropriation of pain in four ways. First, we examine Hinton‘s life and writings to establish his personal interest about pain. Factors that contribute to Hinton‘s theological interest were the death of his brother, his sojourn in Whitechapel, his mental health, and his practice and skepticism of medicine. Second, we examine Hinton‘s redemptive nexus of suffering, beneficence, and deification in light of the Jewish and Christian traditions. While our exploration shows that the biblical tradition interweaves suffering, beneficence and deification, we also see that the biblical tradition adds elements that Hinton‘s treatment misses. The tradition shows that society also has an obligation to those who suffer. Suffering and wellbeing are ultimately social issues that require social, not simply iv personal, solutions. The serendipitous nature of suffering in the Hebrew bible fleshes out what in Hinton is simply an argument. In light of the serendipitous suffering in the Hebrew tradition, we examined participants in medical trials and the advancement of medicine as possible instances to bolster Hinton‘s theological nexus. The New Testament suggests that Hinton is too unidirectional in his understanding of the nexus of suffering, beneficence and deification. The New Testament places identification with Christ preeminently ahead of the suffering of the individual. Third, we explore the relevance of Hinton‘s thinking about pain in his contemporary setting in light of the philosophical, theological, and scientific developments in the nineteenth century. Hinton‘s metaphysical speculations bridge theology to Darwin‘s theory of evolution. Darwin was unable to connect Christianity to his thinking about natural selection because of his acceptance of ideas within natural theology. Hinton‘s metaphysical conceptualization allows him to reject natural theology while embracing the Darwinian revolution from a Christian perspective. Finally, we explore modern pain theories and the literature on the role of religious coping on pain and illness to see if Hinton‘s theology of pain remains intelligible. The modern medical and social science literature sustains Hinton‘s basic premise that theological outlook can influence one‘s tolerance of pain. v DEDICATION In memory of my mother, Edna Hansen, and my wife‘s mother, Shirley Johnson, they reflected God‘s love in life and suffering. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENT A basic insight in this dissertation is that suffering is not merely a personal phenomenon; suffering is a social issue that necessitates a societal response. Dissertations are similar. I have been privileged to work on this dissertation with the encouragement of my family, friends at the Knoxville Christian Church and the Natrona Heights Church of the Brethren where I am honored to serve as pastor, colleagues at Duquesne‘s Center for Teaching Excellence, and the faculty of the Department of Theology. They have suffered alongside me in the dissertation process and lent their help in innumerable ways. In particular, I want to thank Dr. Michael Slusser, Professor Emeritus, who introduced me to Hinton‘s thinking on pain and served as my dissertation director until his retirement, and Dr. Marie Baird, who took over directing the work upon Michael‘s retirement. I am grateful, Dr. Baird, for your timely guidance, careful reading of the drafts, editorial suggestions, and camaraderie in all things political. To Dr. Aaron Mackler and Dr. William Wright IV, I extend my gratitude for reading the dissertation, serving on the committee and offering insightful guidance. Finally, I want to thank my wife, Debby, my sons, Philip, Nathanael, and Luke, and my father, Edward Hansen. You have suffered with me through the writing and have been a source of strength. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iv Dedication .......................................................................................................................... vi Acknowledgement ............................................................................................................ vii CHAPTER ONE: HINTON AND HIS WRITINGS………..…………………………….1 Introduction……………………………………………….……….……………….….1 I. The Hinton Family and James‘ Childhood…………….…….……………………..2 II. Hinton‘s Life and Writings…………………………………..…………………....6 A. First Period (1822-1850): Education and Early Surgical Experience…………7 B. Second Period (1850-1860): Earliest Medical Practice and Initial Writing…...8 C. Third Period (1860-1863): Attempts to Earn His Living by Writing.……….19 D. Fourth Period (1863-1869): Exclusive Medical Practice…………………….42 E. Fifth Period (1869-1775): Medical Writings and Speculation on Ethics…….43 III. Contributing Factors to Hinton‘s Interest in Pain………………………………..45 A. The Death of Howard Hinton………………………………………………...46 B. Hinton‘s Sojourn in Whitechapel…………………………………………….49 viii C. Hinton‘s Mental Health………………………………………………………55 D. Hinton‘s Practice and Skepticism of Medicine………………………………65 Conclusion…………………………………………..…………………………….…74 CHAPTER TWO: THE REDEMPTIVE NEXUS: SUFFERING, BENEFICENCE AND DEIFICATION…………………………………………………………………………..75 I. Hinton's Redemptive Nexus………………………………………………………76 II. The Redemptive Nexus in the Hebrew Bible and Judaism………………………81 A. The Hebrew Bible: Monarchial Sacrality………………………………...….81 B. The Hebrew Bible: Early Hebrew Corporality…………………………….118 C. The Hebrew Bible: The Democratization of Sacrality……………………...126 III. The Redemptive Nexus in the New Testament………………………………...165 A. The New Testament: Christology, Christian Identity and Suffering in Mark………………….……………………..…………………………………..166 B. The New Testament: The Redemptive Nexus in Paul………………………190 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….226 ix CHAPTER THREE: HINTON‘S METAPHYSICAL WORLD VIEW……………….228 I. Hinton‘s Metaphysical Position and Method…………………………………….228 II. Antecedents to Hinton‘s Metaphysical Speculation: Natural Theology and Vitalism……………………………………………………………………………..239 III. Usefulness of Hinton‘s Philosophy: The Relation of Darwin to Natural………252 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….262 CHAPTER FOUR: HINTON‘S THEOLOGY OF PAIN IN LIGHT OF MODERN MEDECINE AND SOCIAL SCIENCES………………………………………………263 I. Major Developments in Modern Pain Theory……………………………………263 II. Spirituality and Pain in Modern Research……………………………………….276 Conclusion: Hinton‘s Theology of Pain in Light of Modern Pain Literature………284 A THEOLOGICAL POSTSCRIPT…………………………………………………….286 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………....28 x CHAPTER ONE HINTON AND HIS WRITINGS Chapter one is an historical review of Hinton's life and writings to situate his thinking about pain in its personal and cultural context. We will summarize some of the characteristics of the Hinton family that contributed to James‘ personality and views. We will also briefly summarize James‘ life and writings to offer a sort of Sitz im Leben for his thinking about pain. Then we will focus our attention on four episodes or situations from his life that significantly contributed to his understanding of pain in a personal way: his brother‘s death, his experience of Whitechapel, his own mental health, and the state of medicine in the mid nineteenth century. These factors directly contributed to Hinton‘s understanding of pain. By exploring his family, life and experiences
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