Jesus the exorcist: a history of religious study

This study attempts to make a contribution to the quest for the historical-Jesus. The Synoptic Gospels give the impression that exorcism was very important in the ministry of Jesus. Yet when we note current studies on Jesus there is not only a general neglect of the miracle stories, but especially of the exorcism stories associated with Jesus. Is this neglect justified? Was exorcism an important part of Jesus' ministry? Have exorcism stories found their way from other traditions into the Jesus material? To answer these questions we begin by surveying a wide variety of material to answer the prior question - what notions of exorcism and exorcists would probably have been available to Jesus' audience in first century Palestine? Having answered this question we examine the principal data in the Synoptic Gospels relating to Jesus and exorcism. We attempt to ascertain which elements of the material can, with reasonable confidence, be attributed to the reports of those who witnessed Jesus as an exorcist and, how the early Church handled this material. We are then in a position to make our sketch of the historical-Jesus-the-Exorcist which includes an enquiry into how Jesus' audience may have assessed him and how the early Church understood him. Finally as part of our sketch of the historical-Jesus there is a brief chapter on how he may have understood his exorcistic activity. As a result of our examination of the Jesus tradition we are able to conclude, at least, that Jesus was an exorcist, at one with his time, that the Synoptic Tradition is correct to give considerable emphasis to this aspect of Jesus' ministry, and that Jesus was the first to associate exorcism and eschatology

Jesus the exorcist: a history of religious study

This study attempts to make a contribution to the quest for the historical-Jesus. The Synoptic Gospels give the impression that exorcism was very important in the ministry of Jesus. Yet when we note current studies on Jesus there is not only a general neglect of the miracle stories, but especially of the exorcism stories associated with Jesus. Is this neglect justified? Was exorcism an important part of Jesus' ministry? Have exorcism stories found their way from other traditions into the Jesus material? To answer these questions we begin by surveying a wide variety of material to answer the prior question - what notions of exorcism and exorcists would probably have been available to Jesus' audience in first century Palestine? Having answered this question we examine the principal data in the Synoptic Gospels relating to Jesus and exorcism. We attempt to ascertain which elements of the material can, with reasonable confidence, be attributed to the reports of those who witnessed Jesus as an exorcist and, how the early Church handled this material. We are then in a position to make our sketch of the historical-Jesus-the-Exorcist which includes an enquiry into how Jesus' audience may have assessed him and how the early Church understood him. Finally as part of our sketch of the historical-Jesus there is a brief chapter on how he may have understood his exorcistic activity. As a result of our examination of the Jesus tradition we are able to conclude, at least, that Jesus was an exorcist, at one with his time, that the Synoptic Tradition is correct to give considerable emphasis to this aspect of Jesus' ministry, and that Jesus was the first to associate exorcism and eschatology

In the Name of Jesus: A Conversation with Critics

AbstractInteracting with critics, significant aspects of the project are set out: there was a range of approaches to exorcism from magicians to charismatic magicians, through to charismatics. Jesus is to be placed between the charismatic magicians and the later charismatics. For the Fourth Gospel, exorcisms were unable to reflect adequately on Jesus. Yet demon possession is maintained not for the few deranged but for the many, showing the demonic is fought not with the hand of a healer but with accepting Jesus, his truth and honoring God as one's Father. In the early second century there appears to be no interest in exorcism. Around the middle of the second century there was a renewed interest in exorcism, beginning in Rome. Often influenced by the Fourth Gospel, other material is evidence that the demonic was confronted other than by exorcism, indicating the ministry of Jesus was not always determinative for early Christians. </jats:sec

Exorcism and the Defeat of Beliar in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

AbstractIn the light of a growing consensus that the Testaments is a Christian work, perhaps from Syria and, arguably, from the middle of the second century, it has potential to shed light on the understanding of exorcism in proto-orthodox Christianity of the period. As Beliar’s adverse impact on people is seen to be expressed in terms of inner struggles and broken relationships, rather than physical affliction, his defeat is proposed primarily in terms of acts of the mind and behaviour. The few references to exorcism show its use as part of the defeat of Beliar, though also primarily as a metaphor for the ministry of Jesus and his followers. This locates the Testaments over against those documents that show no interest in the demonic or exorcism, and between those texts that promote exorcism and those that take the demonic to be defeated in other ways. </jats:sec

Jezus z czwartej Ewangelii – uzdrowiciel przynoszący życie od Boga

W porównaniu z Ewangeliami synoptycznymi, w czwartej Ewangelii zwraca uwagę brak relacji o uzdrowieniach dokonywanych przez Jezusa. Nie ma opowieści o uzdrawianiu chromych, chorych na gorączkę, cierpiących z powodu uschłej kończyny, puchliny czy krwotoku; nie pojawiają się trędowaci, głusi, niemi ani opętani. Stąd pojawiło się przekonanie, że czwarta Ewangelia prawie nie zamieszcza relacji z uzdrowień. Autor niniejszego artykułu przeciwstawia się temu poglądowi i stara się przedstawić taki obraz Jezusa jako uzdrowiciela, jaki zamierzał zaoferować czwarty ewangelista. W tekście podkreślono, że cztery z siedmiu opowieści o cudach i związane z nimi dialogi w tej Ewangelii są związane z uzdrawianiem. W swoim słownictwie Jan używa terminu „znaki” w odniesieniu do cudów, sprawiając wrażenie, że było ich więcej niż siedem, co z kolei może sugerować, że posługa Jezusa charakteryzowała się dokonywaniem cudów, które były przede wszystkim uzdrowieniami. Zwrócono również uwagę, że nakładające się na siebie użycie przez Jana terminu „dzieło” zarówno w odniesieniu do posługi Jezusa, jak i jego cudów nasyca całą służbę Jezusa pojęciem cudownego, twórczego dzieła Boga jako uzdrowiciela, przekazującego swoje życie i obecność jako Zbawiciela. W opowieściach o zdumiewających cudach Jezus jest przedstawiany jako posiadający niezrównaną moc. W swoich uzdrowieniach Jezus jest identyfikowany jako Mesjasz, który przynosi życie od Boga, więc w tych historiach Bóg jest najwyraźniej postrzegany jako prawdziwie wcielony. Odnotowano również, że we wszystkich opowieściach o uzdrowieniach pobrzmiewa echo Męki Pańskiej, tak że dla czytelników Jana doświadczenie obecności Jezusa jako uzdrowiciela jest doświadczeniem mocy zmartwychwstania, która przynosi im życie Boże i stanowi podstawę ich wiary i ewangelizacji

‘Worship in the Spirit’ in the Acts of the Apostles

Abstract Pentecostals and charismatics claim that their expressive corporate worship is ‘in the Spirit’. This claim is tested by seeing how Luke in Acts, often taken by Pentecostals and charismatics as providing prescriptions for worship, might respond to the claim. From an examination of those places in Acts where believers’ worship and the Spirit motifs are found together it is concluded that Luke would assume that not some, but that all worship by the followers of Jesus – in the temple or synagogue or homes – was ‘in the Spirit’. For Luke it is not what believers do or experience in worship that would cause him to describe it as ‘in the Spirit’, but what had already been done to them in being filled with the Spirit so that there is nothing about Pentecostal or charismatic worship that would cause him to think it any more ‘in the Spirit’ than other styles of worship.</jats:p

Jesus the exorcist. : A contribution to the study of the historical Jesus.

viii, 277 p.; 23 cm