The Bible and Natural Philosophy in Renaissance Italy
Jewish and Christian Physicians in Search of Truth

The Bible and Natural Philosophy in Renaissance Italy explores how doctors studied the Bible and other sacred texts in sixteenth-century Italy.

Andrew D. Berns (Author)

9781107065543, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 24 November 2014

309 pages
23.5 x 16 x 2.2 cm, 0.58 kg

'Drawing on a large number of primary sources in Latin, Italian, and Hebrew - many of them still in manuscript and most underinvestigated if not entirely neglected - Berns presents an illuminating series of case studies. These illustrate how the methods developed by sixteenth-century naturalists - critical scrutiny of ancient scientific texts like Pliny's Natural History, empirical observation, and reliance on the practical know-how of contemporary artisans - were applied to the interpretation of certain puzzling natural phenomena found in the Hebrew Bible. Berns guides us expertly through the exegesis performed by his select group of Jewish and Christian scholars on a range of classical, biblical, Talmudic, and later rabbinic texts.' Jill Kraye, Isis

The Bible and Natural Philosophy in Renaissance Italy explores the reciprocal relationship between biblical interpretation and natural philosophy in sixteenth-century Italy. The book augments our knowledge of the manifold applications of medical expertise in the Renaissance and of the multiple ways in which the Bible was read by educated people who lacked theological training. Andrew D. Berns demonstrates that many physicians in sixteenth-century Italy, Jewish and Christian alike, took a keen interest in the Bible and post-biblical religious literature. Berns identifies the intellectual tools that Renaissance doctors and natural philosophers brought to bear on their analysis of the Bible and assesses how their education and professional experience helped them acquire, develop, and use those tools. The Bible and Natural Philosophy in Renaissance Italy argues that the changing nature of medical culture in the Renaissance inspired physicians to approach the Bible not only as a divine work but also as a historical and scientific text.

1. 'This is what King David meant': Amatus Lusitanus and Ulisse Aldrovandi on the natural science of scripture
2. Pliny, papyrus, and the Bible
3. 'The grandeur of the science of God': David de' Pomi and the stones of the high priest's breastplate
4. Jewish-Christian relations in late Renaissance Italy: Abraham Portaleone's correspondence with his gentile colleagues
5. 'I seek the truth from whomever pronounces it': Abraham Portaleone (1542–1612) and ancient Israelite incense.

Subject Areas: Religion: general [HRA], Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH], European history [HBJD]