Cultural comparisons for healing and exorcism narratives in Matthew’s Gospel

Abstract

Majority World readings of Matthew (and the Gospels generally) often help us to appreciate the very sorts of stories that seem most alien to readers in the West: stories of unusual cures and exorcisms of hostile spirits. Rather than simply allegorising these narratives, many Majority World readers treat them as models for experiencing healing and deliverance. Accounts of these experiences appear in a wide variety of cultures; in addition to a range of published sources, the article includes some material based on the author's interviews with people claiming first-hand experiences of this nature in the Republic of Congo. Such readings invite a more sympathetic hearing of some Gospel narratives than they often receive in the West.

Jesus as healer in the Gospel of Matthew, part 1: Methodology

“…Practitioner and patient participate in a cultural conceptual system or explanatory model whether the healing is ascribed to modern medicine, faith and prayer, or the practice of meditation (cf. Fiffer 2014;Keener 2010). Symbols are manipulated in the encounter between healer and patient, and patients experience a return to health.…”