Did Jesus, in the Memory of His Earliest Followers, Ever Nurse the Sick?

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avondale-bepress-to-dspace.facultyTheology
avondale-bepress.abstract<p><em>An increasing stream of recent Gospel scholarship designates Jesus a healer.1 “Jesus should be put in the general category of being a healer, even though an equivalent noun is not actually used of him in the Gospels.”2 A widespread and almost unchallenged assumption in this scholarship is that accounts of Jesus’s healings were intended by Gospel writers and editors to be read and understood as miraculous. In the words of Maurice Casey, “The study of Jesus’s healing ministry has traditionally been dominated by the Christian agenda of miracle.”3 But was this what they intended? This pair of assumptions, that Jesus was presented primarily as a healer and that his healings were to be understood as miraculous, dominates current scholarship, to the neglect of other aspects of Jesus’s engagement with the sick. In his recent summary of this approach, Justin Meggitt declared, “Although subsequent generations of Christians would become almost fixated by Jesus’s reputation as a miracle worker … there are good reasons to look closely at the earliest records of this activity.”4 This chapter takes up Meggitt’s call for that closer look. It poses and answers the question, “did Jesus, in the memory of his earliest followers, sometimes administer basic nursing care to the sick, rather than always healing them?” While Synoptic healing pericopes remain under intense scholarly scrutiny, the thesis of this chapter, that Jesus sometimes provided basic nursing care for the sick, is not addressed. This chapter’s focus is thus very specific. It does not inquire whether the sick whom Jesus encountered were healed, either “miraculously” or “naturally.” Its goal is to answer the question, “did Jesus, in the memory of his earliest followers, ever provide basic nursing care for the sick?” After reporting the results of a fresh examination of selected Synoptic Gospel passages against their most relevant Jewish and Hellenistic backgrounds, the chapter will then conclude there is some limited Gospel evidence that, in the memory of his early followers, Jesus on occasion provided basic nursing care for the sick. <br /></em></p>
avondale-bepress.articleid1147
avondale-bepress.authorsSteven W Thompson
avondale-bepress.context-key13646061
avondale-bepress.coverpage-urlhttps://research.avondale.edu.au/theo_chapters/143
avondale-bepress.document-typebookchapter
avondale-bepress.field.author_faculty_disciplineTheology
avondale-bepress.field.bookChristian origins and the establishment of the early Jesus movement pp. 196-223
avondale-bepress.field.comments<p>Due to copyright restrictions this book chapter is unavailable for download.</p> <p>This book may be accessed from the publisher <a href="https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004372740">here.</a></p> <p>Staff and Students of Avondale College may access <em>Christian origins and the establishment of the early Jesus movement</em> electronically via a PRIMO search <a href="https://www.avondale.edu.au/library">here.</a></p>
avondale-bepress.field.custom_citation<p>Thompson, S. (2018). Did Jesus, in the memory of his earliest followers, ever nurse the sick? In S. Porter, & A. Pitts (Eds.), <em>Christian origins and the establishment of the early Jesus movement</em>. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/avondale/detail.action?docID=5554989</p>
avondale-bepress.field.email_boxtrue
avondale-bepress.field.embargo_date2019-01-17T00:00:00Z
avondale-bepress.field.for220401 Christian Studies (incl. Biblical Studies and Church History)
avondale-bepress.field.isbn9789004372740
avondale-bepress.field.publication_date2018-08-07T00:00:00Z
avondale-bepress.field.reportable_itemsB1
avondale-bepress.field.research_centreScripture, Spirituality and Society Research Centre
avondale-bepress.field.source_publication<p>This book chapter was originally published as:</p> <p>Thompson, S. (2018). Did Jesus, in the memory of his earliest followers, ever nurse the sick? In S. Porter, & A. Pitts (Eds.), <em>Christian origins and the establishment of the early Jesus movement</em> (pp. 196-223). Boston, MA: Brill.</p> <p>ISBN: 9789004372740</p> <p>DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004372740</p>
avondale-bepress.keywordsBible
avondale-bepress.keywordsJesus
avondale-bepress.keywordsNursing
avondale-bepress.keywordsSick
avondale-bepress.keywordsEarly Church History
avondale-bepress.label143
avondale-bepress.publication-date2018-08-07T00:00:00Z
avondale-bepress.publication-titleTheology Book Chapters
avondale-bepress.statepublished
avondale-bepress.submission-date2019-01-17T19:42:53Z
avondale-bepress.submission-paththeo_chapters/143
avondale-bepress.titleDid Jesus, in the Memory of His Earliest Followers, Ever Nurse the Sick?
avondale-bepress.typearticle
dc.contributor.authorThompson, Steven W.
dc.date.accessioned2023-11-01T00:27:57Z
dc.date.available2023-11-01T00:27:57Z
dc.date.issued2018-08-07
dc.date.submitted2019-01-17T19:42:53Z
dc.description.abstract<p><em>An increasing stream of recent Gospel scholarship designates Jesus a healer.1 “Jesus should be put in the general category of being a healer, even though an equivalent noun is not actually used of him in the Gospels.”2 A widespread and almost unchallenged assumption in this scholarship is that accounts of Jesus’s healings were intended by Gospel writers and editors to be read and understood as miraculous. In the words of Maurice Casey, “The study of Jesus’s healing ministry has traditionally been dominated by the Christian agenda of miracle.”3 But was this what they intended? This pair of assumptions, that Jesus was presented primarily as a healer and that his healings were to be understood as miraculous, dominates current scholarship, to the neglect of other aspects of Jesus’s engagement with the sick. In his recent summary of this approach, Justin Meggitt declared, “Although subsequent generations of Christians would become almost fixated by Jesus’s reputation as a miracle worker … there are good reasons to look closely at the earliest records of this activity.”4 This chapter takes up Meggitt’s call for that closer look. It poses and answers the question, “did Jesus, in the memory of his earliest followers, sometimes administer basic nursing care to the sick, rather than always healing them?” While Synoptic healing pericopes remain under intense scholarly scrutiny, the thesis of this chapter, that Jesus sometimes provided basic nursing care for the sick, is not addressed. This chapter’s focus is thus very specific. It does not inquire whether the sick whom Jesus encountered were healed, either “miraculously” or “naturally.” Its goal is to answer the question, “did Jesus, in the memory of his earliest followers, ever provide basic nursing care for the sick?” After reporting the results of a fresh examination of selected Synoptic Gospel passages against their most relevant Jewish and Hellenistic backgrounds, the chapter will then conclude there is some limited Gospel evidence that, in the memory of his early followers, Jesus on occasion provided basic nursing care for the sick. <br /></em></p>
dc.identifier.citation<p>Thompson, S. (2018). Did Jesus, in the memory of his earliest followers, ever nurse the sick? In S. Porter, & A. Pitts (Eds.), <em>Christian origins and the establishment of the early Jesus movement</em>. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/avondale/detail.action?docID=5554989</p>
dc.identifier.isbn9789004372740
dc.identifier.urihttps://research.avondale.edu.au/handle/123456789/13646061
dc.language.isoen_us
dc.provenance<p>This book chapter was originally published as:</p> <p>Thompson, S. (2018). Did Jesus, in the memory of his earliest followers, ever nurse the sick? In S. Porter, & A. Pitts (Eds.), <em>Christian origins and the establishment of the early Jesus movement</em> (pp. 196-223). Boston, MA: Brill.</p> <p>ISBN: 9789004372740</p> <p>DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004372740</p>
dc.rights<p>Due to copyright restrictions this book chapter is unavailable for download.</p> <p>This book may be accessed from the publisher <a href="https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004372740">here.</a></p> <p>Staff and Students of Avondale College may access <em>Christian origins and the establishment of the early Jesus movement</em> electronically via a PRIMO search <a href="https://www.avondale.edu.au/library">here.</a></p>
dc.subjectBible
dc.subjectJesus
dc.subjectNursing
dc.subjectSick
dc.subjectEarly Church History
dc.titleDid Jesus, in the Memory of His Earliest Followers, Ever Nurse the Sick?
dc.typeBook Chapter
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