exorcism and the early church

Graham Twelftree has established himself as an authority on the subject of miracles, with special expertise shown in the field of exorcism.  His latest contribution to the field, In the Name of Jesus: Exorcism among Early Christians (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007), is a continuation of the fine scholarship he has provided over the last two decades.  While I do not attempt to provide a thorough analysis here, I wanted to offer a brief summary of the book and allow further posts to draw out more specific comments.

This study is clearly one of the most comprehensive to examine the perspective of the early Christians in faith and practice surrounding exorcism.  Such a study is an interesting and insightful look at the emerging theology of the church, its specific historical background and context, and pattern of expectation for its adherents.  It is best that the reader understand this book to be the latest of three specific studies which Twelftree has given regarding Jesus and exorcism, so some of the arguments are either assumed or summarized in this present volume.  Still, it is of great benefit to those who study this period and those interested in the spiritual perspective(s) of the early church.

Twelftree begins by setting the background and context of the study (ch. 1), and then presents an examination of Jesus among other exorcists of his day (ch. 2).  This second chapter sets forth the various methods of ancient exorcism and offers an evaluation of how they may/may not be reflected in the ministry of Jesus.  What is always most striking about Jesus' approach to miracles/exorcism is that he refrains from any incantation or appeal to magical text or formula.  Rather, he moves of a certain power authority which is meant to reflect the Spirit (Finger) of God working through him.  Yet, this book is more about his followers and their practice of exorcism. . .

He continues this through the second section of the book: examining Paul (ch. 3); reviewing Q material (ch. 4); working through Mark (ch. 5), Luke-Acts (ch. 6), and Matthew (ch. 7); reading 1 Peter, Hebrews and James (ch. 8); and evaluating the Johannine material (ch. 9).  There are no real surprises in this material, although many readers who have not considered this material before might be caught off guard to learn that John's Gospel has no mention of exorcism at all.  Twelftree navigates the material well and makes solid points throughout, especially in working to understand John's unique perspective (which I think works with the overall uniqueness of the gospel's point of view).  What is always interesting is the way in which the New Testament material (especially the gospels) can be "read backwards" to provide a mirror into which we can see the communities which stood behind, influenced, and were influenced by these emerging texts.

The third part of the book moves into the Second Century literature.  While Twelftree examines a good number of writers, the rather limited treatment of exorcism makes for only brief overviews of the various writers.  He begins by looking at the Fathers, Apologists and Early Second Century writers (ch. 10) who (interestingly) do not offer much to say regarding exorcism.  As Twelftree notes, "In light of the view that exorcism was very important in the early church it is remarkable that, so far, we have not come across any interest in exorcism" (229).  Yet, when one turns to his evaluation of Mark's longer ending and the Later Second Century (ch. 11), the discussion of exorcism comes much closer to the forefront (even sparking texts which lead away from the gospel message - i.e., Mark's longer ending).  Twelftree then includes a chapter of those who were critical of Christianity and seeks to understand the practice of the church by those statements which were meant to refute such activity (ch. 12).

His final chapter brings together his conclusions and offers a "contemporary coda" (ch. 13).  While the conclusions he offers are sound and flow easily from his study, the contemporary turn to the book might leave some readers lacking.  While it is quite right to say that the point of exorcism in the early church is to focus upon Jesus, did we really go any further than C. S. Lewis' point about the demonic as is given on pg. 294?  I agree somewhat with Twelftree that (his final point of application) that a confronted darkness is a defeated darkness - but I would like more of the implications of that statement before committing to it.  From a study which seeks to understand the practice and teaching of the early church, I am wondering if there is anything which applies to the contemporary church in our movement of faith and practice in regards to exorcism.  This is not an idea relegated to the ancients.

In the end, such are minor quibbles to a wonderful study.  Perhaps Twelftree has covered this contemporary application in another of his works, but more is desired here.  As it is clear that exorcism played an important part of the gospel accounts and the early church, I would recommend Twelftree's book as a strong contribution to our overall understanding.

ah, mr bond

But when you want to enjoy something, you must never let logic get too much in the way.  Like the villains in all the James Bond movies.  Whenever Bond breaks into the complex: "Ah, Mr. Bond, welcome, come in.  Let me show you my entire evil plan and then put you in a death machine that doesn't work."

The other odd thing about the Bond movies is they have the most evil guy in the world vs. the most good guy in the world and you leave liking both of them equally.

-Jerry Seinfeld, SeinLanguage, 111.

haggai ever told you. . .?

For the last few weeks at the church we've been working through Haggai, a small collection of prophecies which are largely ignored because: 1) evangelicals as a whole ignore those parts of the Old Testament which haven't been taught with cut-outs; 2) evangelicals as a whole ignore those parts of the Old Testament which don't detail the antichrist and the end of the world; 3) evangelicals as a whole ignore the parts of the Old Testament which cannot be repeated, printed, prayed and turned into multi-million dollar Christianize merchandise.

Still, I am convinced that this message packs a powerful punch for the modern church - speaking directly to our contemporary situation.  While it is often dismissed because it is about the rebuilding of a temple, I have found that most people can quickly identify with the transfer of temple to church that is embedded within the people of God motif.  Hence, my four week are outlined like this:

1. the house of the Lord is a priority (1:1-15)

2. the house of the Lord is our passion (2:1-9)

3. the house of the Lord is our purpose (2:10-19)

4. the house of the Lord is our promise (2:20-24)

My only hope of posting this here is that it might open up the letter to others who've not considered it before.  I want to unpack a few of the concepts a bit more, and will do so in order to invite more conversation into the current situation of the church.  It has been pointed out to me that my perspective on the church is a bit more pessimistic than the average person (esp. pastor).  To this I readily agreed, but added that my perspective on the church is also quite a bit more optimistic than the average person.  Yet it follows that a theologian is both a servant and a critic of the church, so I believe our best work begins with a realistic evaluation of where we are (beyond using spiritual metal detectors to blow up insignificant issues into platforms which too often drive many under-qualified preachers).

failing to plan is. . .

Presupposition might not be a wonderful thing, but self-recognition of presupposition certainly is.  By this I mean that scholars who write with a self-awareness of their own approach to the text but set it within its proper perspective (not just the false-humility under the pretense of complete objectivity) seem to have a more well-rounded exegesis.  It is fine to presuppose and to come with some conclusions already made, but to complete a study (especially research) these need to be open for reconsideration.  My present grievance is when conclusions are drawn too early in the process of biblical interpretation.

I'm presently working through a thesis for my own doctoral research: Guy D. Nave, The Role and Function of Repentance in Luke-Acts (Atlanta: SBL, 2002).  Admittedly, I don't know much about Nave, so there might be aspects here that are more apparent to others.  I am in the beginning stages of reading through his study, his proposed methodology and such, when I came across some presupposition that seems oddly out of place.

The author states:

Finally, not only is everything that has been accomplished among the author and his reader in accordance with God's divine plan, but God's plan has predestined these events to take place.  In Luke-Acts the plan of God was predetermined by God, and the plan itself has predetermined the events which have taken place (p. 17).

This point is presented quite early in regards to the thesis and seems to shut the door on some other legitimate interpretation before such passages are investigated.  Such an assertion is clearly made to *predetermine* the author's conclusion at the outset of his thesis.  And it is done unnecessarily at this point of Nave's work, when he has made some wonderful comments regarding the nature of narrative and authorial intent.  The fact that there is a plan does not necessitate a comprehensive design of every action - hence, God's exact plan cannot be that things do not work according to his exact plan.  Rather, the notion of a plan among free creatures captures the sentiment much better (as does other, more thoughtful deterministic views).

In the interest of full disclosure, my presupposition is that of a free-will theist.  However, I do not necessarily agree/disagree with an author on this basis; I have found that many scholars from the Reformed camp have made wonderful contributions to the discussion, when they have done so properly.

return of SeinLanguage

I was cleaning out a closet the other day when I found an old copy of SeinLanguage.  This book was published in 1993 and is basically a print version of many of comedian Jerry Seinfeld's acts observations, some of which made it on his show (or other tv appearances) and some that didn't.  It has been fun to randomly read through parts of it and I thought I would share some of the better ones as I leave it on my desk for diversion-time.  Here are two:

Magazines are another medium I love because, like TV, 95% of it is simply based on "How the hell are we going to fill all this blank space?"  You can always tell it's a slow news week when you see articles like, "Did Comets Kill the Dinosaurs?"  Here's a hot topic - who's got time for this?  "Hey, what happened to the dinosaurs?  Weren't they just here?"  Maybe comets killed the dinosaurs, maybe they tripped and fell.  What's the difference?  We'll never know.  We couldn't solve the Kennedy Assassination, we had films of that.  Good luck with the Stegosaurus.

and

Sunday paper is the worst.  Weekend.  You want to relax.  "Oh, by the way, here's a thousand pages of information you had no idea about."  How can they tell you everything they know ever single day of the week and then have this much left over on Sunday when there's nothing going on?

Good Stuff.

to speak or write from another. . .

The gospel we preach shapes the kind of churches we create.

The kind of church we have shapes the gospel we preach.

Scot McKnight, A Community Called Atonement (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2007), 5.

authenticity

Editorial Note: This is from a previous blog which I kept for a year. . .I wanted to return to the idea, though.

On what makes an authentic blues club, as described by one sociologist:"Regulars experience B.L.U.E.S. as a place of refuge where authenticity is measured in terms of the club's ability to represent an idealized vision of community and moral order...By forging nocturnal selves that emphasize membership in such a community, these regulars can experience the blues club as regulars by enjoying the emotional benefits associated with the role, including a sense of individual worth...

"Meanwhile, among more professional musicians, concerns over authenticity always play a role in determining how they view their own status as musicians, but unlike their audiences, they tend to search for authenticity within the musical performance itself, as opposed to the racial ascription of the performer or the clubs where their performances occur...In fact, for some of these performers, the sliding scale of authenticity was not the yardstick by which they measured their worth as musicians, but served as a stumbling block to their success and happiness, and thus represented a false stereotype - an expectation to be overcome, rather than achieved." *

On what makes an authentic church, as described by this theologian:

People search for a place of refuge and acceptance, a place to fill this God-shaped vacuum in their lives. Many will evaluate a church's ability to represent an idealized vision of community and moral order by forging pious selves that emphasize membership in such a community, complete with all of the right words and actions that characterize the community. These regulars can experience a church as members by enjoying the emotional benefits associated with the role, including a sense of individual worth.

Meanwhile, from God's perspective, concerns over authenticity always calls individuals to a deeper and more profound experience of himself. And unlike church gatherers who often act more like audiences than worshipers, he tends to search for authenticity within the single-minded devotion of these very people, as opposed to any socio-cultural ascription of what his followers must look like or the churches where their meetings occur. In fact, God does not view the sliding scale of authenticity as some yardstick by which he measures our worth as his people, but calls it what it is: a hypocritical standard of a hallow piety that serves as a stumbling block to our spiritual success and joy. Thus, our own merit is a false stereotype - an expectation to be overcome, rather than achieved.

For he does not search out performance...



*quote from: David Grazian, Blue Chicago: The Search for Authenticity in Urban Blues Clubs (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003), 24-25.

an important christmas message

I know it's late, but I wanted to spread the good news found in Luke's infancy narrative.  Rather than expound on the text, let me share the quotation found on this piece of stupid-"Christian"-store-sold-bunch-o-crap-merchandise item.

As is clearly stated on this letterhead, "An upside-down candy cane forms the letter 'J' - the first letter of Jesus' name. Luke 1:31"  A wonderful message given by the evangelist.  Go in peace and blessed understanding.

Editorial Note: There's a reason why I don't frequent these shops (and another reason why I'm banned from many of them).