Religio Medici by Sir Thomas Browne

First published: wr. 1635, pb. 1642 (unauthorized), 1643 (authorized version)

Edition(s) used:Religio Medici, and Other Works, edited by L. C. Martin. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1964

Genre(s): Nonfiction

Subgenre(s): Meditation and contemplation

Core issue(s): Charity; faith; nature; salvation; scriptures

Overview

At age thirty, Sir Thomas Browne wrote Religio Medici, an explanation and analysis of his religious belief in relationship to his profession as a medical doctor. Intended as a personal meditation, Religio Medici circulated in manuscript form for several years, spawning various unauthorized texts. When a critical response to it was published, Browne saw to the publication of a new, authorized edition. Both documents, appearing during an era of social and religious upheaval when men could be executed for expressing their religious beliefs, present a tactful, idiosyncratic expression of a spiritual life shaped by Christian doctrine, medieval and classical thinking, and the explosion of knowledge occurring in the seventeenth century.

The work has two parts: The first explores faith and, implicitly, hope; the second, charity. In the preface, Browne disclaims the thoughts contained in the work as connected to the time in which they were written and not necessarily thoughts he would hold at another, more mature stage of his life. He explains that his meditation is not a scholarly work and asks the reader to read with a mind informed by faith and open to accepting his imaginative self-exploration.

Browne affirms that he has had a happy, serene, long connection with and belief in Christianity as handed down to him through the Church of England and the Reformation. He believes in divine providence. Realizing that some aspects of faith cannot be understood, he eagerly delights in the mystery, stating that he is a man capable of living with uncertainties.

Browne accepts the doctrines of his church but allows himself in the meditation to focus on what would be his ideal relation to God. He appreciates, though now rejects, some of the customs of the Catholic religion, and he advocates tolerance. He would like to subscribe to the heresy that all souls are at last saved and prefers not to judge Turks and Jews who are called heretics. He accepts church doctrine as the practical course and does not wish to promote fragmentation within the church. This easy acceptance of differences sets him apart from many religious zealots of his day and places him in the tradition of moderates such as Richard Hooker, who wrote Of the Lawes of Ecclesiasticall Politie (1593, 1597).

In the first part of Religio Medici, Browne contemplates and explores several themes. He expresses, as do John Donne and George Herbert, no fear of death and a belief in the witty paradox expressed by Donne that death dies when a person dies, while human beings continue into eternal life. He praises nature, finding nothing ugly there. God, the creator, the great artist of nature, has created a harmonious whole from many related parts. Browne subscribes to the view of life as a great chain of being in which all parts are connected and each part is connected to what is just above and just below it. Thus he reaffirms humankind’s spiritual and material nature. He accepts both devils—and their manifestation on earth as witches—and angels. As a seventeenth century thinker accustomed to seeing correspondences, he readily recognizes that within a human being is a microcosm of the macrocosm. He sees in each human the same struggles for harmony that exist in the body politic.

Browne finds in all people the spirit of God, believing that his own spirit existed in the idea of God at the moment of Creation, enabling him to assert and delight in the paradox that although he is a child of Abraham he existed before Abraham. This faith in the spirit of God in humankind is the basis for his conception of charity, which he explores in the second part of Religio Medicine.

Browne defines charity by explaining what it is and is not. Charity is not trying to satisfy a benevolent impulse, nor is it giving with the thought that some day this giving will be repaid on earth or in Heaven. It is a real identification with and sympathy for humankind. Here again, he advocates tolerance, reaffirming the similarity of humans, who are all made in the image of God. He recognizes that all people struggle with what he considers an invasion of their thoughts and psyches by the devil, a disrupting spirit that undermines belief in self, God, and right action. Therefore, he values sympathy with, rather than judgment of, others.

Browne explains this impulse to sympathy by likening it to love for a friend. When one truly loves another, the two souls unite and become one. He explores this in an analogy much like one involving souls uniting in Donne’s “The Ecstasy.” When one has learned to appreciate another in this way, a soul appreciation, one can appreciate the soulfulness of all individuals and feel compassion for all other imperfect human beings. This feeling of compassion motivates charity. Actions—even prayers for others—based on some sympathy, along with an appreciation of God in the other person, are charity.

Browne also explores dreams as they relate to his belief and faith. In dreams, he often feels he is sleeping in God’s arms. He then awakens with a sense of well-being and harmony. He sees such sleep as a little death, indicating the joy of the afterlife to come. Sleep is an emblem of death, and life is lived, he says, not in an inn, but a hospital, a place from which all people await release.

Christian Themes

Browne’s meditation revolves around faith, hope for salvation, and charity. He describes his faith as an Anglican, explaining that he embraced this Protestant religion that he was born into, guided through by his parents, and later affirmed into by his own conscious choice. Appreciation and acceptance of God and Christ result from reason, observation, and faith. Reason demands study and understanding of Scripture and Church doctrine. It is supported by observation of nature.

Browne’s profession, that of a medical doctor, has led him to God by causing him to look closely at nature, discovering the discernible perfection of the created world. Nothing in the world is grotesque or ugly; everything is harmonious and connected. People, whom he calls amphibians, connect to the spiritual angels and material beasts. In addition, people contain the entire world within themselves, perfect microcosms.

In addition to reason and observation, belief requires faith. Faith necessitates acceptance of mystery. Browne delights in mystery, finding his faith the richer for it. Faith is required for salvation, assured only for those who believe in the Incarnation. Browne regrets that so many wise philosophers may be denied salvation and eternal reward, having been born before Christ’s coming.

This kind of speculation reflects Browne’s atypical tolerance in this era of religious extremism. Although he accepts church doctrine, he does hold hope that God in his mercy will provide for those good people who did not have the opportunity to exercise faith. Knowing the difficulties people face in life, Browne refuses to judge others.

Browne affirms that charity is as important as faith. While doing good works, especially caring for the poor, is essential, true charity for Browne results from totally sympathizing with and appreciating the soul of his fellow human beings. He explains that a true friendship with another, in which two souls become as one, prepares a person to fully apprehend God in each human being. Once this has been accomplished, a person can extend good works, hold good thoughts, and offer prayers for all others.

Sources for Further Study

Bennett, Joan. Sir Thomas Browne. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1962. Describes and analyzes Religio Medici. Bennett’s analysis demonstrates the influence of Christian doctrine, medieval and classical thinkers, and seventeenth century philosophers, while noting the particularity of Browne’s own style.

Berensmeyer, Ingo. “Rhetoric, Religion, and Politics in Sir Thomas Browne’s Religio Medici.” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 46 (Winter, 2006): 113-133. Analyzes Browne’s text in terms of his discursive stance and the political, religious implications therein.

Huebert, Ronald. “The Private Opinions of Sir Thomas Browne.” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 45 (Winter, 2005): 117-135. Explores the nature of two major attacks on Browne’s Religio Medici, one when it was circulating in manuscript and the other during the twentieth century, to show that these critics did not evaluate Browne’s intentions.

Post, Jonathan F. S. Sir Thomas Browne. Boston: Twayne, 1987. Thorough exploration of the life and works of Thomas Browne, placing the Religio Medici in the context of the civil and religious strife of its era.