The paper raises in a new light some questions of Tertullian’s anthropology, which is considered unitary, i.e., that despite the basic distinction between two parts in man (soul and body), these are not seen as mutually hostile, but complementary. This kind of view of man’s bodily dimension, which within Patristic anthropology is rooted in the Asian-Antiochian theological tradition, allows Tertullian, especially in his famous work On the Resurrection of the Flesh, to positively evaluate the body (corpus) or the flesh (caro), which is why we can speak of a so-called carnal anthropology. The article highlights two consequences of this kind of doctrine of the human body: the affirmative evaluation of medicine on the one hand, and the intertwined, reciprocal relationship between salvation and health on the other.
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