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

Jesus, Magician or Miracle Worker?

This paper sets out to answer the question, was Jesus considered a magician? And if so, why? In the face of a current inconclusive debate, using unsuitable definitions of magic, and likely entangled with twenty-first-century definitions, the second-century data is engaged to help re-sensitize a reading of the gospel data. There are clear charges of magic in the second century that enable twenty-first-century readers to see that observers of Jesus’ ministry charged him with magic, but not for the reasons usually assumed. Some contemporary implications of this study are taken up in a contemporary coda

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

viii, 277 p.; 23 cm

Jesus the Healer in the Fourth Gospel: Bringing Life from God

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.Compared to the Synoptic Gospels, in the Fourth Gospel there is a striking absence of stories of Jesus healing. There are no stories of the lame, those with fevers, withered limbs, dropsy, hemorrhages or lepers or those who are deaf, mute or demonized being healed. It has been supposed, then, that healing is feebly represented in the Fourth Gospel. This essay counters that view and seeks to set out the image of Jesus as healer the Fourth Gospel intended to offer. Notably, four of the seven miracle stories and the associated dialogues in this Gospel are related to healing. In his vocabulary John uses the term ‘signs’ for miracles giving the impression that there were more than the representative seven and, in turn, creating the impression that Jesus’ ministry was characterized by performing miracles that were primarily healings. Also, John’s overlapping use of the term ‘work’ for both Jesus’ ministry and for his miracles infuses Jesus’ entire ministry with the notion of the miraculous creative work of God as healer, conveying his life and presence as Saviour. In the stupendous miracle stories Jesus is portrayed as one with unparalleled power. In his healings Jesus is identified as the Messiah who brings life from God, so that in these stories God is most clearly seen as truly incarnate. In all the healing stories the Passion is echoed and adumbrated so that for John’s readers their experience of the presence of Jesus as healer is an experience of resurrection power that brings God’s life to them and the basis for their faith and evangelism