Books and Book Chapters by University of Dayton Faculty
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Description
The study of the Synoptic Gospel healing and exorcism stories has been dominated by contemporary medicalized ways of viewing the human body. This essay challenges those approaches, which assume that there are universal ideals of the body that transcend time and space, and privileges approaches which seek to rigorously contextualize the healing and exorcism stories amid ancient conceptions of the body. One primary way in which ancient conceptions of the body differ from the contemporary is through the ancient overlap between healing and exorcism. This essay argues that one should view exorcisms as ancient healing narratives. Through comparison with other ancient depictions of healing in medical literature and inscriptions, this essay demonstrates that the Synoptic stories of healing and exorcism were operating within cultural discourses about the body. Attention to bodily discourses enables interpreters to identify and respond to the power dynamics in play in narratives of bodily transformation.
ISBN
9780190887452
Publication Date
3-2023
Publication Source
The Oxford Handbook of the Synoptic Gospels
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Keywords
healing, exorcism, miracle, ancient medicine, disability, faith, demon, gospels, form criticism
Disciplines
Biblical Studies | Religion
Recommended Citation
Henning, Meghan, "Healing and Exorcism" (2023). Books and Book Chapters by University of Dayton Faculty. 122.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/books/122
Comments
The document available for download, following the publisher's required embargo, is the author's accepted manuscript, provided in compliance with the publisher's policy on self-archiving. Permission documentation is on file. To access the chapter prior to the embargo, use the DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190887452.013.13