I. Values and Nature
 Middle East: Subject to  > Harmony with > Mastery over
 

A. Subject to:

 Matthew 4:23-24
 Matthew 17:15
See Psalm 121:6

 Matthew 10:8
 Matthew 11:5
 Lev 21:16-24

 Matthew 14:35-36; (see 9:21; compare Mark 5:24-34); see Num 15:38; Exod 35:30

B. Harmony with:

 Matt 7:24-27
 Matt 9:16-17

C. Mastery over:

Spirits:
Matt 8:23-27; 17:18

Luke 4:38 (see also v.35, 41); Luke 8:24; 9:39, 42.

Testament of Solomon: (see 1 Kings 3:12; 4:29)

87. The sixteenth said: "I am called Atrax. I inflict upon men fevers, irremediable and harmful. If you would imprison me, chop up coriander (Pliny, same use, NatHist Ch 82) and smear it on the lips, reciting the following charm: 'The fever which is from dirt. I exorcise thee by the throne of the most high God, retreat from dirt and retreat from the creature fashioned by God.' And at once I retreat." T.Sol 87 (Pliny the elder, 23–79 AD)

91. The twentieth said: "I am called Marderô. I send on men incurable fever. If any one write on the leaf of a book: 'Sphênêr, Rafael, retire, drag me not about, flay me not,' and tie it round his neck, I at once retreat."  T.Sol. 91

95. The twenty-fifth said: "I am called Anatreth, and I rend burnings and fevers into the entrails. But if I hear: 'Arara, Charara,' instantly do I retreat."  T.Sol 95

Matt 14:22-33 (sea) - ASC

Mastery over human health???

The case of Rev. Ron Pytel.

Let us now consider sickness and healing in the Bible, especially the healing acts of Jesus with the aid of medical anthropology.

Sickness -- "so-called leprosy" in the Bible.  It is not "true leprosy." that is, it is not Hansen's disease.

 
  Read: Matt 8:1-4//Mark 1:40-45//Luke 5:12-16 (see also 17:11-19; 2 Kings 5:9-15)

What is the "emic" report? What does the sick person think his problem is?
What is the "etic" report? How does the tradition identify it?  (sara'at; lepra - a skin condition)

 Lev 13-14; then Lev 11-15 - "Purity" (or "clean/unclean" concerns)

 Ezra 9 - 10 - consequences of impurity (mixed-marriages)

Jesus has mastery over "so-called leprosy" understood as an illness, not a disease which it very likely wasn't. Thus, Jesus restores meaning to life (=healing).

------

Jesus’ healing acts are viewed as political deeds:

See Pilch 2009.

Matt 12:22-28, 43-45

    Explain = Diagnosis

    Predict = Prognosis

    Control  = Therapy

Matt 21:23-27  - who gave you this exousia?
 

Matt 26:3-5 - Unauthorized political activity is treason resulting in death. 

Conclusion:

How can we try to understand the healing stories in the Bible, the NT?

1. The problems are "conversion disorders."  Unresolved "psychological problems are "converted" into physical ailments. A kindly folk-healer can resolve the psychological problem.

    Howard, J. Keir. Disease and Healing in the New Testament: An Analysis and Interpretation.  Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2001.  See my review:             http://www.bookreviews.org/pdf/1502_3268.pdf .

2.  The amelioration of the problem (healing) is the result of the patient's construction of a "meaning response."
    Moerman, Daniel.  Meaning, Medicine, and the 'Placebo Effect."  Cambridge: University Press, 2002.  See my article applying this concept to the healing reports in Matthew's gospel (Pilch 2008)

3. The amelioration of the problem (healing) is the result of  a culturalbiological process involving the belief system of the patient, the abilities of the healer, and the biological make-up of the patient.     See Greenfield 2008.

    Did Jesus "cure" anyone? Did Jesus "heal" anyone? How can one explains the results of Jesus' interventions with sick people resported in the NT?  I think the three "etic" suggestions listed above help to understand.

   
For Further Reading:

Sidney M. Greenfield,  Spirits with Scalpels: The Culturalbioology of Religious Healing in Brazil.  Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press, 2008.

Daniel Moerman, Meaning, Medicine and the 'Placebo Effect.  Cambridge: University Press,  2002,

John J. Pilch, "Healing."  Pp. 102-106 in Handbook of Biblical Social Values. John J. Pilch and Bruce J. Malina (Eds).  Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998.

John J. Pilch, "Healing."  Pp. 72-78 in The Cultural Dictionary of the Bible.  Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1999.

John J. Pilch, Healing in the New Testament: Insights from Medical and Mediterranean Anthropology. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press,  2000.

John J. Pilch, Visions and Healing in the Acts of the Apostles. How the Early Believers Experienced God.  Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2004.  

John J. Pilch,  "Disease" in The New Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible Vol. 2  Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2007. Pp. 135-140; also "Leprosy" in Vol. 3 (2008), pp. 635-637.

John J. Pilch,  "The Usefulness of the “Meaning Response” Concept For Interpreting  Translations of Matthew’s Gospel."  Pp. 97-108  in  The Social Sciences and Biblical Interpratation, ed. by Dietmar Neufeld.  Atlanta, GA: SBL and Leiden, Netherlands: E.J. Brill, 2008.

John J. Pilch,  “Jesus’ Healing Activity: Political Acts?”  in Understanding the Social World of the New Testament.  Edited by Dietmar Neufeld and Richard E. DeMaris.  London and New York: Routledge,  2009.

See http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/pilchj - click on “healing”
 and/or consult my publications list for my complete bibliography on healing in antiquity.