Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

corpus-paul - Re: Paul as Exorcist

corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Corpus-Paul

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Graydonsny AT aol.com
  • To: corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Re: Paul as Exorcist
  • Date: Thu, 6 May 1999 10:43:34 EDT


John,

Hi!. None of the texts mentioned refer to demon possession. Paul no doubt
was involved in healing (1 Cor. 12:9), and he surely faced a dark side. But
we have no mention of demonic possession and exorcism. I am puzzled by the
entire matter. Why do Paul and the author of John speak of healing, but
never of demon possession as the cause of it? They come from the same time
and culture, more or less, as the authors of the Synoptics and Acts. What
was the difference?

Let me put it more radically. If we had as our canon the Hebrew Scriptures
(sans Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha), the Gospel of John and the letters of
Paul, we would never suspect that demon possession was a cause of illness in
the biblical tradition. Why?

Graydon F. Snyder
Chicago Theological Seminary




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page