Abstract
This paper explores the soteriological differences in two Christian theological systems and their usefulness in supporting recovery from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD an anxiety-trauma disorder, and moral injury, a disruption of moral conscience and collapse of a person’s moral foundations. The first system, a first-millennium soteriology based in incarnation and resurrection, grounded systems of penance that were required of warriors to restore their souls. The second, based in atonement ideas that emerged in the eleventh-century with the crusades in Europe, constructed a meaning system of redemption that sanctified war and traumatic suffering and eventually abandoned penance for warriors. It is the argument of this paper that atonement theology reenacts and reinforces trauma rather than supporting recovery from trauma and human well-being.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
See Bremner 2011 for a comparison of MRI images of brains with and without PTSD. He notes that intense fear impairs ‘the hippocampus, a part of the brain involved in learning and memory, as well as in the handling of stress’ and its partner, ‘the medial prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain that regulates our emotional response to fear and stress.’
- 2.
Graybiel (2008) discusses preliminary research on neuroplasticity and the power of rituals that influence ‘social, emotional, and action functions of the brain’ (359).
- 3.
Bibliography
Alcorta, C. S., & Sosis, R. (2005). Ritual, emotion, and sacred symbols: The evolution of religion as an adaptive complex. Human Nature, 16(4), 323–359.
Bartlett, A. (2001). Cross purposes: The violent grammar of Christian atonement. New York: Bloomsbury T&T Clark.
Boudreau, T. (2011). The morally injured. The Massachusetts Review, 52(3–4), 746–754.
Bremner, J. D. (2011). The invisible epidemic: Post-traumatic stress disorder, memory and the brain. http://www.thedoctorwillseeyounow.com/content/stress/art1964.html?getPage=3. Accessed 31 Aug 2014.
Brock, R. N., & Lettini, G. (2012). Soul repair: Recovery from moral injury after war. Boston: Beacon.
Brock, R. N., & Parker, R. A. (2008). Saving paradise: How Christianity traded love of this world for crucifixion and empire. Boston: Beacon.
Brown, P. (2003). The rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and diversity, A.D. 200–1000. San Francisco: Wiley-Blackwell.
Chazelle, C. (2001). The crucified god in the Carolingian era: Theology and art of Christ’s passion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Cuming, C., & Jasper, R. C. (1987). Prayers of the Eucharist: Early and reformed. St. Joseph: Liturgical Press.
Dewey, L. (2004). War and redemption treatment and recovery in combat-related traumatic stress disorder. Burlington: Ashgate Pub Ltd.
Drescher, K., et al. (2011). An exploration of the viability and usefulness of the construct of moral injury in war veterans. Traumatology, 17(1), 8–13.
Drescher, K., et al. (2013). Morality and moral injury: Insights from theology and health science. Reflective Practice: Formation and Supervision in Ministry, 33. http://journals.sfu.ca/rpfs/index.php/rpfs/article/viewFile/262/261. Accessed 31 Aug 2014.
Friedman, M. J., et al. (2011). Considering PTSD for DSM-5. Depression and Anxiety, 28, 750–769.
Fulton, R. (2002). From judgment to passion: Devotion to Christ and the Virgin Mary, 800–1200. New York: Columbia University Press.
Graybiel, A. M. (2008). Habits, rituals, and the evaluative brain. Neuroscience, 31, 359–387.
Herman, J. L. (1992). Trauma and recovery: The aftermath of violence. New York: Basic Books.
Junger, S. (2014). Korengal. http://korengalthemovie.com/. Accessed 31 Aug 2014.
Kessler, R. C., et al. (2005). Prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of 12-month DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62, 617–627.
Knowles, C. (2013). Notes toward a neuropsychology of moral injury. Reflective Practice: Formation and Supervision in Ministry, 33. http://journals.sfu.ca/rpfs/index.php/rpfs/article/viewFile/262/261. Accessed 31 Aug 2014.
Litz, B., et al. (2009). Moral injury and moral repair in war veterans: A preliminary model and intervention strategy. Clinical Psychological Review, 29(8), 695–706.
Maguen, S., & Litz B. (2011). Moral injury in veterans of war. PTSD Research Quarterly, 23(1), 1–6. http://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/newsletters/research-quarterly/v23n1.pdf. Accessed 31 Aug 2014.
Maguen, S., et al. (2011). Killing in combat, mental health symptoms, and suicidal ideation in Iraq war veterans. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 25(4), 563–567.
Mastnak, T. (2001). Crusading peace: Christendom, the Muslim world, and Western political order. Berkeley: U of California Press.
Merback, M. B. (1998). The thief, the cross, and the wheel: Pain and the spectacle of punishment in Medieval and Renaissance Europe. Chicago: U of Chicago Press.
Nez, C., & Avila, J. S. (2011). Code talker: The first and only memoir by one of the original Navajo code talkers of WW II. New York: Penguin Group.
Papanikulaou, A. (2013). Learning how to love: St. Maximus on virtue. In M. Vasiljević (Ed.), Knowing the purpose of creation through the resurrection: Proceedings of the symposium on St. Maximus the confessor (pp. 239–250). Alhambra: Sebastian Press.
Papanikulaou, A. (Forthcoming). The ascetics of war: The undoing and redoing of virtue. In P. Hamalis & V. Karras (Eds.), Orthodox perspectives on war. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.
Ross, E. (1997). The grief of god: Images of suffering Jesus in late medieval England. New York: Oxford University Press.
Shay, J. (1994). Achilles in Vietnam: Combat trauma and the undoing of character. New York: Scribner.
Synder, J. (2014, September). Blood, guts, and gore galore: Bodies, moral pollution, and combat trauma. Symbolic Interaction. doi:10.1002/SYMB.116.
Trimble, M. D. (1985). Post-traumatic stress disorder: History of a concept. In C. R. Figley (Ed.), Trauma and its wake: The study and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. New York: Brunner/Mazel.
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. (2013). DSM-5 Criteria for PTSD. http://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/PTSD-overview/dsm5_criteria_ptsd.asp. Accessed 31 Aug 2014.
Verkamp, G. (2005). Moral treatment of returning warriors in early medieval and modern times. Scranton: U of Scranton Press.
Wilken, R. L. (2003). The spirit of early Christian thought: Seeking the face of god. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Brock, R.N. (2016). Post Traumatic Stress, Moral Injury, and Soul Repair: Implications for Western Christian Theology. In: Evers, D., Fuller, M., Runehov, A., Sæther, KW. (eds) Issues in Science and Theology: Do Emotions Shape the World?. Issues in Science and Religion: Publications of the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26769-2_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26769-2_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-26767-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-26769-2
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyPhilosophy and Religion (R0)