Miracle in the Early Christian World: A Study in Sociohistoric Method

330 Pages·1984·55.376 MB·English

by  Howard Clark Kee

MIRACLE· ·
IN THE _, _.._.
. . . -
EARLY
CHRISTIAN
WORLD
A STUDYI N
SOCIOH ISTORICAL
METHOD
Howard Clark Kee
N\ I Kf\Llt ll'\l I M t:
EARLYC HRISTIANW ORLD
A Studyi n SociohistoricAalf ethod
Howard Clark Kee
Though archaeological and inscriptional finds
have stimulated the study of ancient religions,
historical methods for interpreting new data have
not kept pace. In this provocative book, nOled
scholar Howard C. Kee proposes a historical
method that more faithfully portrays religious
phenomena by focusing on the world-views, aui
tucles, and feelings of the recorders of events and
of the people whose acts they record . He illus
trates his method with a detailed study of the an
cient attitudes toward one highly significant as
pect of classical and early Christian works- the
miracle.
Kee begins by critically analyzing the hisrorical
methods used in history of religions from the En
lightenment to the presem. He then explores the
evolution of the Graeco-Roman Asklepios and
Isis cults, with their changing views of healing
and attendant tradition of miracle. This leads
him to a thorough examination of the miracle
tradition in early Christianity and in non-Ch1·is
tian religions of the same period. He finds chat
Mark portrays miracle as part of the apocalyptic
world-view; that Matthew and Luke were influ
enced by literary genres through the historians
Suetonius, Tacitus, and Josephus; that the sym
bolic nature of miracle is central to John. as it was
for Plutarch writing about Isis.
By showing the diverse meanings of miracle for
each .Evangelist, in light of changing cultural cli
mates and literary styles, values, and assump
tions, Kee makes a convincing case for his plea to
understand the past through sensitivity to its own
rich and various contexts.
HowardC larkK ee.i s Aurelio Proressor of Biblical
Studies al Boston University.
ISBN0-300-03008-8
Miracle in the
Early Christian World
A Study in Sociohistorical Method
HOWARD CLARK KEE
Yale University Press
. New Haven and London
Copyright© 1983 by Yale University.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form
(beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S.
Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press}, without
written permission from the publishers.
Designed by Nancy Ovedovit2. and set in Baskerville type. Printed
in the United States of America by Edwards Brothers, Inc., Ann
Arbor, Michigan.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Kee, Howard Clark.
Miracle in the Early Christian world.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Miracles-History. 2. Religion-Methodology-History . 3. Isis-
Cult-Rome. 4. Aesculapius (Greek deity)-Cult-Rome. I. Title.
BL487.K43 I 983 291.2' 11'0722 83-4004
ISBN 0-300-03008-8
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
CONTENTS
Preface vu
.
Acknowledgments IX
.
Abbreviations XI
CHAPTER ONE
When the Golden Bough BreaUs
The Decline and Fall of the History-of-Religions Methods 1
Beyond the Issue of Facticity, 2 The Logical and Empiricist Anteced
ents of Critical-Historical Inquiry, 3 The Subjection of the Divine to
Natural Law, 8 The Rise of Historical-Critical Method, 12 The Locus
of History: Mind or Fact?, 14 Myth and History, 16 The Focus on
Historical Context, 20 The Search for Primal Patterns: Myth versus
History, 21 The Escape from History, 24 History as the Transfor
mation of Structures, 31 Anachronistic Reconstruction of the Socio
historical Context, 34
CHAPTER TWO
Personal Identity and World-Construction 42
Max Weber's Contribution to Historical Method, 43 Phenomenology
and the Recovery of the Life-World, 50 Personal Identity and the So
cial Perception of Reality, 57 Voluntary Participation and Hostile Pow
ers, 60 The Promise of Order and the Experience of Anxiety, 64 The
Jewish Quest for Political and Personal Identity, 68 Are the Gods in
Control?, 73
CHAPTER THREE
78
Asklepios the Healer
The Origins of Asklepios, 78 Asklepios as Medical and Cult Healer,
83 Asklepios as Benefactor and Personal Guide, 88 Asklepios as Sav
ior: Aelius Aristides, 93
CHAPTER FOUR
105
Isis
The Ancient Origins of the Isis Cult, 105 Isis as Agent of Order 108
1
Isis as Instrument of Justice, llO Isis and the Maintenance of Law,
· 116 Isis and Sarapis, 119 The Praises of Isis, 122 Isis as Benefac-
V
vi Contents
tress, 125 Miracle in the Service of the Struggle for Imperial Power,
128 Isis and Mystical lllumination: Lucius Apuleius, 131 Isis in Myth
and Symbol: Plutarch, 141
CHAPTER FIVE
Miracle and the Apocalyptic Tradition 146
God's Acts in Behalf of His Peopfe, 147 Miracle as Sign of the Defeat
of Evil Powers, 151 Jesus and His Followers as Agents of Divine
Triumph: The Q Source, 156 Through Jesus the New Age is Dawn
ing: Mark, 159 Visions of Conflict and Encouragement to Persevere,
165 Miracle as Sign of the Spirit: Paul, 170
CHAPTER SIX
Miracle in History and Romance
Roman and Early Christian Sources 174
Portents of Divinely Shaped Destiny, 174 Portent in the Gospel of
Matthew, 183 TelJing the Story in Graeco~Roman Style: Luke and Acts,
190 The Divine Purpose at Work through History, 200 The Social
Implications of Miracle in Matthew and Luke, 218
CHAPTER SEVEN
Miracle as Universal Symbol 221
The Transformation of Miracle in the Gospel of John, 221 Miracle as
Sign and Symbol, 225 Symbolic Intention in John, 236 Symbol and
Myth in Philo and Plutarch , 241 Symbolic Interpretation of Asklepios:
Aelius Aristides, 24 7
CHAPTER EIGHT
Miracle as Propaganda in Pagan
and Christian Romances 252
Apollonius as Divinely Attested Man of Wisdom: Philostratus, 256
Discrediting Miracle-Workers: Lucian, Celsus, and Eusebius, 265 Mir
acle as Exploited by Christian Propagandists, 274 The Life-v\Torld Im
plicit in the Romances, 286
CONCLUSION
Some Observations about Method
in the History of Religion 290
Excursus on the "Divine Man" 297
Index 301
PREFACE
The study of history, and particularly the history of religion, has
been stimulated by mounting evidence of the ancient world: ar
chaeological and inscriptional discoveries, and especially the re
covery of major collections of writings, as from Qumran, Nag
Hammadi, and most recently, from Ebia in Syria. These finds
have in turn given rise to reappraisal of chronological, philolog
ical, and conceptual perceptions of human life in the past. What
has failed to keep pace with the emergence of new data, how
ever, is the refining of historical method for the interpretation
of the evidence, old and new. What has often passed for histor
ical analysis is little more than a classification system of phenom
ena along formal or simplistic conceptual lines. Historians have
read modern categories and values back into ancient cultural
epochs, rather than making the effort to enter empathetically
into the world of a past time, place, and outlook.
This book is an effort to achieve that goal, and to do so by
self-conscious development of historical methods which make
the historian aware of differences between his own culture and
the one he is studying. Rather than proceeding on a broad, gen
eralized front, the subject matter of this work concentrates on a
phenomenon that was widespread in the ancient world and fig
ures importantly in the literature of the Graeco-Roman period
which is the focus of our interest here: miracle. The aim is to
enter into the ways in which miracle was understood in this pe
riod rather than to impose on the data modernjudgments about
the claims made by or on behalf of miracle-workers. It is hoped
that the results will not only shed some light on this particular
subject but will also have implications for historical investigation
of other subjects, espedally in the study of religions in the an
cient world.
1viore than three decades ago at Yale, two brilliant professors
sought to instruct me and other students in how to read texts
from the Hellenistic and Roman periods. One stressed the his
torical and archaeological dimensions; the other aroused sensi-
vii
viii Preface
tivity for the symbolic and affective aspects of the works. It is to
the memory of these esteemed mentors, Carl Hermann Krae
ling and Erwin Ramsdell Goodenough, that this work is dedi
cated.
Boston University H.C. K.
October 1, 1982
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My gratitude is hereby expressed to the following:
To the President and Trustees of Boston University for the
grant of a sabbatical leave for the academic year 1980-81
To the staff of the Boston Athenaeum for access to that fine
collection and for study space in that handsome structure
To the McMaster University project on ''Jewish and Christian
Self-Definitiont which stimulated my research on Asklepios
To the Boston University Institute for Philosophy and Theol
ogy for the invitation to lecture on Isis, Wisdom, and the
Logos, and on the importance of Max Weber for historical
study
To the Theological Faculty at the University of Tubingen, for
the invitation to lecture on Roman and early Christian his
toriography
To my doctoral students in seminars on miracle in the Early
Christian world
To Professor Stephen D. Crites of Wesleyan University and to
Professors Emily Hanawalt and Charles Beye of Boston
University for helpful, critical reading of portions of the
manuscript
ix
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
BZNW B eiheft zur Zeitschrift f ilr die neutestamentliche Wissen
schaft
FRLANT F orschungen zur Religion und Literatur des Alten Tes
tament und N euen Testament, 1903 ff.
JG Inscriptiones Graecae, ed. Preussische Akademie d.
Wissenschaften zu Berlin, 1873 ff.
]BL journal of Biblical Literature
NTS New Testament Studies
P. Oxy. The Oxyrynchus Papyri, ed. B. Grenfell and A. Hunt,
1898 ff.
SBLDS Society of Biblical Literature Dissertation Series
SEC Supplementum epigraphicum Graecum
SIC Sylloge inscriptionum Graecorum, ed. G. Dittenber
ger, I-HI. Leipzig, 1915-24
ZPE Zeitschrift fur Papyrologie und Epigraphik
xi