The Devil, Disease and Deliverance: Origins of Illness in New Testament Thought

319 Pages·1998·12.395 MB·English

by  John Christopher Thomas

<rff&Anvrrv n /hvch ^ '
"-^-pp7,v--r-Z-o--^--«-7-.-^7--/^-Q--T-r--v--7w---^r--^-r- -^m--r->-T- -r-*-T-\~--—c-- -T--C-— -<-.-/--:£---,- -------------------------7---/-- !V--_- -/- -J--a-y-- -,,-a &
Ttte C'U
cT 7(vs velvets
// n r \ -
The Devil,
Disease and
Deliverance
Origins of Illness in
New Testament Thought
(^Jbrfcpkfe. / <fc^4 j'
John Christopher Thomas
G> 0c<Tb6d:-v 2
/ do&
LC Sheffield Academic Press
1
1
\
Journal of Pentecostal Theology
Supplement Series
13
Editors
John Christopher Thomas
Rickie D. Moore
Steven J. Land
Sheffield Academic Press
Sheffield
For my parents, Wayne and Betty Fritts, who first taught me
to love the biblical text, to search for its meaning,
and to struggle with its implications.
Copyright © 1998 Sheffield Academic Press
Published by
Sheffield Academic Press Ltd
Mansion House
19 Kingfield Road
Sheffield SI 1 9AS
England
Typeset by Sheffield Academic Press
and
Printed on acid-free paper in Great Britain
by Cromwell Press
Melksham, Wiltshire
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
ISBN 1-85075-869-7
Contents
Preface 7
Abbreviations 10
Introduction 13
Chapter 1
JAMES 5.14-16 17
Chapter 2
THE PAULINE LITERATURE 38
Chapter 3
THE JOHANNINE LITERATURE 91
Chapter 4
The Gospel according to Mark 130
Chapter 5
The Gospel according to Matthew 162
Chapter 6
the Gospel according to Luke 191
Chapter 7
THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 229
Chapter 8
TOWARD A NEW TESTAMENT THEOLOGY OF THE DEVIL,
Disease and deliverance 296
Chapter 9
IMPLICATIONS FOR PENTECOSTAL THEOLOGY AND MINISTRY 310
6 The Devil, Disease and Deliverance
Bibliography 320
Index of References 340
Index of Authors
353
/
PREFACE
Upon the completion and publication of my PhD thesis on ‘Footwash­
ing in John 13 and the Johannine Community’, I began to spend a good
deal of time in prayer and reflection with regard to the nature and pur­
pose of my next major research project. Those who have invested the
required time and energy on a PhD thesis know well how one’s life
tends to be defined by the periods before and after completion of this
postgraduate journey. In my own case it was not too long until I began
to sense that my next project should be devoted to a topic that in many
ways is one of the most troublesome issues currently facing those work­
ing and ministering within the Pentecostal and charismatic traditions.
This leading did not come as a bolt out of the blue but emerged as a
result of the confusion within the tradition over the role of the demonic
in illness. Somewhat to my surprise, there was no readily available
comprehensive study of New Testament texts which focus on the
origins of illness. Thus, my own interpretive journey began with an
examination of Jas 5.14-16, which in turn led to a study of the many
other relevant New Testament texts.
The method of the study will be discussed in the Introduction. With
regard to the scope of the research, I have attempted to read everything
I could locate on the various texts examined. Inevitably, some sources
have been overlooked. I fear this is particularly true with the earlier
portions of the book. Unfortunately there comes a time when one must
simply stop looking at the secondary literature and finish the project. I
apologize in advance for the inevitable lacunae.
This research, which has taken place over the course of the last seven
years, has been aided by many, and I am happy to acknowledge my in­
debtedness to a number of those who have facilitated its completion.
The Church of God School of Theology has provided periodic study
leaves over the course of the last few years and graciously granted a
sabbatical leave to bring the project to completion. The Woodward
Ave. Church of God and the Church of God Executive Committee
8 The Devil, Disease and Deliverance
generously underwrote much of this research when other sources of
funding became unavailable owing, in part, to the subject matter of the
research. At a time when many Pentecostal scholars continue to be
ignored by funding agencies, I was blessed to have such benefaction.
My good friends William and Peggy Bridges continue to include the
support of Pentecostal scholarship as part of their faithful stewardship.
Aside from brief periods of research at Emory University and St
John’s Theological College (Nottingham), the bulk of this book was
written at Tyndale House, Cambridge. The warm environment provided
by this residential library is surely one of the best places in the world to
conduct biblical research. My sincere thanks to all those who have
made a place for and welcomed me there over the years.
My thanks also go to many friends, students and colleagues who
have listened to me, critiqued the work, discerned its meaning and
prayed for me during the process of writing. Special mention should be
made of colleagues who have encouraged me often in this journey:
Steve Land, Cheryl Bridges Johns, Corky and Kimberly Alexander,
Rick Waldrop, Jackie Johns, Bob Crick, Lee Roy Martin and Hollis
Gause. Heartfelt thanks are due my friend and colleague, Rick Moore,
who not only suggested the title for this monograph, but carefully read
and edited the whole of the manuscript. A succession of graduate assis­
tants have each made contributions toward the publication of this
volume. They include Marcia Anderson, Daniel Chatham, Jerry In­
gram, Everett Franklin and Scott Ingram. Specific mention should be
made of Lance Giannone who read the proofs of this manuscript. The
prayer group at Woodward (Ronnie Davis, Jerry Stephens, Merville
Weerasekera and many others) provided much-needed spiritual support.
As usual, the people who have sacrificed most for the completion of
this and many other research projects are my wife, Barbara, and my
daughters, Paige and Lori. Their love, energy, consistency, companion­
ship and faith contribute more to me than any of them can know.
Thanks for bearing with all those (transatlantic) separations!
My parents, Wayne and Betty Fritts, who each encountered more
than one serious illness during the course of this project, have taught
fne much about this topic and life. From very early in my life their love
for the biblical text nurtured my own. Without their spiritual, financial
and emotional support, I would never have had the opportunity to
pursue the academic study of the New Testament and certainly would
not have been able to bring any of the many programs or projects to
Preface 9
completion. My love and gratitude for them cannot be adequately
expressed. This book is dedicated to them as a small token of my love,
admiration, respect and thanks.
It is my prayer that this work will contribute in a small way to a
better understanding of an aspect of Pentecostal thought and ministry
which is controversial and at the same time, extraordinarily important.
ABBREVIATIONS
AusBR Australian Biblical Review
BAGD Walter Bauer, William F. Arndt, F. William Gingrich and
Frederick W. Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New
Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 2nd edn, 1958).
BDF Friedrich Blass, A. Debrunner and Robert W. Funk, A Greek
Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian
Literature (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1961)
Bib Biblica
BibSac Bibliotheca Sacra
BJRL Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of
Manchester
CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly
CTR Criswell Theological Review
DNTT New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology
DPCM S.M. Burgess and G.B. McGee (eds.), Dictionary of the
Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 1988)
EDNT Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament
EPTA European Pentecostal Theological Association Bulletin
EstBib Estudios blblicos
ETL Ephemerides theologicae lovanienses
ETR Etudes thdologiques et religieuses
EvQ Evangelical Quarterly
Exp Expositor
ExpTim Expository Times
HeyJ Heythrop Journal
HTR Harvard Theological Review
Int Interpretation
JBL Journal of Biblical Literature
JETS Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
JPT Journal of Pentecostal Theology
JPTSup Journal of Pentecostal Theology, Supplement Series
JSNT Journal for the Study of the New Testament
JTS Journal of Theological Studies
Neot Neotestamentica