Religio Medici: The Religion of a Doctor

By: Sir Thomas Browne

Narrated by: Gil Anders

Religio Medici: The Religion of a Doctor (1643) by Sir Thomas Browne is an explanation and analysis of the author’s religious belief in relation to his profession as a medical doctor. As such, it is a spiritual testament and a psychological self-portrait based on the Christian virtues of faith, hope, and charity. In the preface, Browne explains that his text is not a scholarly work, requesting that it be approached by a mind informed by faith and open to accepting his self-exploration. The first part explores faith and hope; and the second, charity. In his ruminations on concepts like time, eternity, and predestination, he describes the different paths that led him to be an orthodox Anglican. Religio Medici was an inspiration to the Romantic writers of Europe.

Public Domain (P)2019 Woodkeep Audio

A great book stiffly read and strangely formatted

Thomas Browne spins beautiful enigmas like no other writer of his era. It is great to see some of his writing available on audiobook. That said, this version is hard to get through. The reader seems barely to understand the text and frequently mispronounces uncommon words (which abound in Browne). The audio is also badly edited. There are lots of retakes left in the finished product, and the book is strangely chaptered. Browne's text contains 60 sections in Part 1 and 15 in Part 2. This version blows through section breaks as though they aren't there, which both makes it hard to find anything in the text, and distorts the pauses and turns of mind so important to the experience of reading Browne. That said, there is no other Browne in audiobook form outside of Librivox. Until a better reading comes along, this is as good as it gets, and it's a good deal better than nothing.

Poorly read

The narration was monotone, bland and often incorrect in pronunciation. Difficult to listen to at best.

One of the best things available on audible

Thank you so much for this recording! By all means, pretty please, more Thomas Browne!