ALIENATIONFROMNATURE
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By fostering an alienation from sex, birth, and the physical body, orthodox Christians came to focus most intently upon death, not only as a tool to evoke fear but also as an end in itself. Christian theologians understood sex, at best, to be permissible if engaged in solely for purposes of procreation—at worst, to be a mortal sin. Yet, they also believed that the birthing of a child was an ungodly act. The Church, with its licensed physicians, spurned the field of midwifery. A woman who died in labor or in child-bed was sometimes refused a Christian burial.60 Purifying or "churching" a woman for 40 to 80 days after she gave birth was deemed essential if a she was to be readmitted into the Church and proper Christian society. Even the Virgin Mary—in some people's eyes—needed to be purified after having brought Jesus into the world. Orthodox Christianity encouraged an alienation from the physical body itself. God's presence, it was believed, was not to be found in the physical world. Paul wrote in Corinthians, "therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord."61 The Bible affirms that meaningful, spiritual life is found only when one is detached from the physical body: "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live."62 "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace."63 Physical life is equated with sin and spiritual decay, while physical death and a repudiation of physical well-being is thought to bring spiritual life. A disregard for the well-being of the physical body characterized orthodox Christian behavior from the fell of the Roman Empire when aqueduct systems, bathing houses and hygiene were held in contempt and neglected. Protestants and reformed Catholics attempted to outdo one another in their negligence of bodily hygiene. As the Augustinian priest and chaplain to the King of Poland declared: