Consoler les consciences troublées : la compassion dans la guérison spirituelle puritaine, c. 1590-1640

This article aims to demonstrate the essential role of compassion in the puritan practice of spiritual healing, as it developed in England from the end of the reign of Elizabeth I to the end of the 1630s. While the pastoral care established by puritan divines to address the spiritual crises caused b...

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Main Author: Paula Barros
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Institut du Monde Anglophone 2025-03-01
Series:Etudes Epistémè
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/episteme/20381
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author Paula Barros
author_facet Paula Barros
author_sort Paula Barros
collection DOAJ
description This article aims to demonstrate the essential role of compassion in the puritan practice of spiritual healing, as it developed in England from the end of the reign of Elizabeth I to the end of the 1630s. While the pastoral care established by puritan divines to address the spiritual crises caused by soteriological anxiety has received some scholarly attention, the question of the emotional resources mobilised by spiritual consolers remains a neglected theme in existing scholarship. Yet, if spiritual comfort is a discursive exchange, the interaction it involves is not solely verbal but also encompasses a significant emotional dimension. In particular, the guides to the practice of spiritual comfort consistently identify compassion as an indispensable quality for the exercise of spiritual comfort: it allows the consoler to find the right balance between gentleness and firmness in their interaction with the afflicted; more generally, it contributes to creating a protective therapeutic environment, based on a relationship of trust and benevolence, within which the afflicted benefits from constant spiritual and emotional support.
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spelling doaj-art-0042989cb687462fbb4a7c8bbade11992025-08-20T03:47:25ZengInstitut du Monde AnglophoneEtudes Epistémè1634-04502025-03-014610.4000/13jutConsoler les consciences troublées : la compassion dans la guérison spirituelle puritaine, c. 1590-1640Paula BarrosThis article aims to demonstrate the essential role of compassion in the puritan practice of spiritual healing, as it developed in England from the end of the reign of Elizabeth I to the end of the 1630s. While the pastoral care established by puritan divines to address the spiritual crises caused by soteriological anxiety has received some scholarly attention, the question of the emotional resources mobilised by spiritual consolers remains a neglected theme in existing scholarship. Yet, if spiritual comfort is a discursive exchange, the interaction it involves is not solely verbal but also encompasses a significant emotional dimension. In particular, the guides to the practice of spiritual comfort consistently identify compassion as an indispensable quality for the exercise of spiritual comfort: it allows the consoler to find the right balance between gentleness and firmness in their interaction with the afflicted; more generally, it contributes to creating a protective therapeutic environment, based on a relationship of trust and benevolence, within which the afflicted benefits from constant spiritual and emotional support.https://journals.openedition.org/episteme/20381puritanismhistory of emotionshistory of mental healthcompassionconsolationspiritual affliction
spellingShingle Paula Barros
Consoler les consciences troublées : la compassion dans la guérison spirituelle puritaine, c. 1590-1640
Etudes Epistémè
puritanism
history of emotions
history of mental health
compassion
consolation
spiritual affliction
title Consoler les consciences troublées : la compassion dans la guérison spirituelle puritaine, c. 1590-1640
title_full Consoler les consciences troublées : la compassion dans la guérison spirituelle puritaine, c. 1590-1640
title_fullStr Consoler les consciences troublées : la compassion dans la guérison spirituelle puritaine, c. 1590-1640
title_full_unstemmed Consoler les consciences troublées : la compassion dans la guérison spirituelle puritaine, c. 1590-1640
title_short Consoler les consciences troublées : la compassion dans la guérison spirituelle puritaine, c. 1590-1640
title_sort consoler les consciences troublees la compassion dans la guerison spirituelle puritaine c 1590 1640
topic puritanism
history of emotions
history of mental health
compassion
consolation
spiritual affliction
url https://journals.openedition.org/episteme/20381
work_keys_str_mv AT paulabarros consolerlesconsciencestroubleeslacompassiondanslaguerisonspirituellepuritainec15901640