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Analyzing the illness-related terminology of the Gospel against the background of classical medical texts, Annette Weissenrieder examines the degree to which ancient medical knowledge was incorporated into the healing narratives of the Gospel of Luke. Thus, her work focuses on the crossroads of theology and medical history. Her primary reference is the Corpus Hippocraticum, supplemented by the writings of Soranus, Empedocles and Caelius Aurelianus. She also examines Jewish sources in the light of these secular medical texts. The premise of the study is the constructivist concept that has been developed in the context of 'writing the history of the body': that there is no objective view of th...
Next to the philosophical tradition, ancient medical texts represent the most important systematic reflection on the components, aspects, and dimensions of the person and embodiment. Until now, these sources and their relation to the philosophical tradition have received little attention in biblical scholarship.
In Matthew, Disability, and Stress: Examining Impaired Characters in the Context of Empire, Jillian D. Engelhardt examines four Matthean healing narratives, focusing on the impaired characters in the scenes. Her reading is informed by both empire studies and social stress theory, a method that explores how the stress inherent in social location can affect psychosomatic health. By examining the Roman imperial context in which common folk lived and worked, she argues that attention to social and somatic circumstances, which may have accompanied or caused the described disabilities/impairments, destabilizes readings of these stories that suggest the encounter with Jesus was straightforwardly good and the healing was permanent. Instead, Engelhardt proposes various new contexts for and offers more nuanced characterizations of the disabled/impaired people in each discussed scene, resulting in ambiguous interpretations that de-center Jesus and challenge able-bodied assumptions about embodiment, disability, and healing.
Iconographic exegesis combines the study of biblical texts (exegesis) with the study of ancient expressions of visual art (iconography). Studying ancient visual art that is contemporary with the documents of the Old Testament gives remarkable insight, not only on the meaning and historical context of the biblical text, but also because it facilitates greater understanding of how the ancient authors and audiences saw, thought, and made sense of the world. Iconography thus merits close attention as another avenue that can lead to a more nuanced and more complete understanding of the biblical text. Each chapter of this book provides an exegesis of a particular biblical text or theme. The book i...
This is the latest in a series of volumes, published about every twenty-five years since 1924, surveying the current state of the academic study of the Old Testament--more often called the Hebrew Bible in scholarly contexts. It is written by leading members of the Society for Old Testament Study, the professional organization for scholars in that field in the UK and Ireland, but with international members too, some of whom have contributed to the volume. It provides academics, students of the Bible, clergy and rabbis, and intelligent general readers, with a snapshot of the main approaches and issues in the study of the Hebrew Bible since (approximately) the year 2000. There are chapters on s...
Images of Miraculous Healing in the Early Modern Netherlands explores the ways in which paintings and prints of biblical miracles shaped viewers’ approaches to physical and sensory impairments and bolstered their belief in supernatural healing and charitable behavior. Drawing upon a vast range of sources, Barbara Kaminska demonstrates that visual imagery held a central place in premodern disability discourses, and that the exegesis of New Testament miracle stories determined key attitudes toward the sick and the poor. Addressed to middle-class collectors, many of the images analyzed in this study have hitherto been neglected by art historians. Link to book presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79jHEmTOKnU
In this innovative study, Horsley builds on his earlier works concerning the problematic and misleading categories of "magic" and "miracle" to examine in-depth the meaning and importance of the narratives of healing and exorcism in the Gospels. Incorporating his work on oral performance and turning to important works in medical anthropology, a new image emerges of how these narratives help us re-evaluate Jesus's place in first-century Galilee and Judea. In his exorcisms and healings, Jesus-in-interaction was empowering the villagers in their struggles for renewal of personal and communal dignity in resistance to invasive Roman rule.
The written accounts of the Jesus tradition in the Gospels have taken a far superior position in the Christian faith to any oral tradition. In The Gospel as Manuscript, Chris Keith offers a new material history of the Jesus tradition's journey from voice to page, showing that the introduction of manuscripts played an underappreciated, but crucial, role in the reception history of the Gospel. Revealing a vibrant period of competitive development of the Jesus tradition, wherein the material status of the tradition frequently played as important a role as the ideas that it contained, Keith offers one of the most thorough considerations of the competitive textualization and public reading of the Gospels.
In every generation, the study of Paul evolves with new insights and questions. This enigmatic ancient figure continues to ignite interesting conversations and vigorous debates. Complementing the successful The State of New Testament Studies, this book surveys the current landscape of Pauline studies, offering readers a concise guide to contemporary discussions in Pauline scholarship. It brings together a diverse team of leading scholars, providing up-to-date, expert analysis on important issues in Pauline studies, such as Christology, salvation, the Spirit, gender, and empire. In addition, each of the Pauline letters is examined in detail. This book will serve as an ideal supplemental textbook for Paul courses. Contributors include Ben Blackwell, Dennis Edwards, Timothy Gombis, John Goodrich, Nijay K. Gupta, Erin Heim, Chris Hoklotubbe, Joshua Jipp, Scot McKnight, Peter Oakes, B. J. Oropeza, Angela Parker, Kris Song, Jennifer Strawbridge, Sydney Tooth, Cynthia Long Westfall, and Kent Yinger.