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Contents of Jesus Traditions

Addenda (5)

Addendum O

1 SOME PRELIMINARIES

   •  Strictly speaking, it is anachronistic to apply the term miracle to the biblical world, since the term implies an event contrary to natural law; but since a concept of natural law is an essentially modern notion, the term is inapplicable. (If we continue to use it, we do so because it is convenient.)

    •  The biblical world operated without any notion of secondary causation: God was the direct cause of everything that happened, and did not work through a system of natural laws.

    •  Thus, no control existed for verifying accounts of miracles: if God was the direct cause of everything that happened, anything was possible. The recounting of miracles in the early church was not a scientific exercise, but an act of worship, in celebration of God’s power working through his Son.

2  ASSESSING THE DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE

In giving thoughtful consideration to miracles in the gospels, the reader needs to be aware as much as possible of the long and remarkable process by which events in the lifetime of Jesus were remembered and passed down from one person to another; aware also of the layers of interpretation which have sometimes accumulated in our written sources (as we find to be the case in the The Fig Tree episode). Accordingly, it is appropriate to inquire, as one is interpreting a miracle:

   •  Is there evidence of the enhancement of the miraculous element?

   •  Have there been editorial interests in the composition of a gospel which may have created confusion in the arrangement of the units of tradition?

3  CLARIFICATION OF THE PARTICULAR EPISODE, where we can bring some understanding to what is described:

   •  We can probably describe demon possession more accurately as mental disease, even if cures are not always easy to come by in a psychiatrist’s office.

   •  We can note where a case of epilepsy is a neurological problem which (today at least) can be treated with drugs, rather than a problem of demon possession; but without modern medical intervention, we quickly run out of explanations.

   •  We can acknowledge that there are some conditions which do not lend themselves to natural explanations: the healing of a leper (were the bodily members restored, or was the progress of the disease arrested?); the man whose withered hand is restored; and the cure of blind persons.

   •  There are events described which might be called “nature miracles” and for which the alternatives are discouragingly simple: it happened, or it did not. These include: walking on the water, stilling the storm, multiplying the loaves and fish, and some others.

   •  This is not to say that interpreters have not tried their hand at “natural” explanations: Jesus was really walking through the surf, where an unexpected sand spit was located; or, it was a coincidence that the storm which arose so quickly suddenly passed over; or, the generosity of one person offering his loaves and fish moved others in the crowd to share their lunches, which previously they had kept to themselves. (The killing of the fig tree deserves a separate discussion.) The number of assumptions which have to be made in these explanations is almost as incredible as the miracle itself.

Addendum P

LISTING:

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   §  LISTING:

   §  Mental Disease: Now—and Then

Major psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and depression are not unique to the modern era, though only relatively recently have they been adequately described, with appropriate etiology, diagnosis and treatment. Significant breakthroughs in psychopharmacology have brought relief, if not always cure, to people otherwise enduring unspeakable misery, and have enabled them to function with some degree of normalcy. 

For people in ancient times who were afflicted with mental disease, the outlook was dismal indeed. Demon possession was the common explanation for mental disease, and for many physical disorders, as well; therapy, apart from exorcism, was non-existent. 

All sorts of questions arise when we read of exorcisms by Jesus in the gospels. Apart from the question of whether there is such a thing as demon possession, we wonder whether Jesus believed in demons, or whether his methods were an accommodation to the thought world of the people in his day. Albert Schweitzer, philosopher, theologian, musician, and then missionary doctor, though trained in western medicine, was willing to exorcise demons from his patients, in order to relieve their affliction. Perhaps it is sufficient to observe that the gospels do provide evidence of Jesus’ concern with both mental and physical disorders, and that this parity of concern seems appropriate for other times and places.

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Contents of Jesus Traditions

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