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Stanley Hauerwas
Stanley Hauerwas
Was Jesus’ miracle work unique?
John Dickson
| Virtually all experts on the history of Jesus—whether Jewish, agnostic
or Christian—agree that the man from Nazareth performed deeds which his
contemporaries interpreted as miraculous. That he enjoyed the
reputation as a healer is beyond dispute. But is the Jesus described by scholarly consensus exceptional, or were there others in the ancient world who were also known for their miraculous powers? The answer is … yes! There are numerous reports of healing and exorcism from the period of Jesus, some of them Greek, others Roman, still others Jewish. So, in one sense, Jesus was not as unique as some Christians might like to think. Their Lord fits into a cultural context well accustomed to the supernatural; it was a ‘magical’ world. |
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Having said that, there is a real sense in which the reports about Jesus are unique. The kind of evidence we have for Graeco-Roman and Jewish healers is greatly inferior to that found in connection with Jesus. How so? For the most part, the non-Christian healers appear in texts written long after the events themselves and in only one or two sources. Hence, the two fundamental historical criteria of date and multiple attestation do not produce a favourable conclusion in respect to these figures. As a result, very few scholars are willing to attach the same level of historical certainty to the Graeco-Roman and Jewish reports about healers as they do to the reports about Jesus. A sceptic wanting to dismiss all talk of miracles as legendary or fraudulent would have a much easier time with the non-Christian examples than with those found in the Gospels. Let me offer some concrete examples.
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The healing god Asclepius One type of miracle story from antiquity involves the Greek god Asclepius. Temples and shrines to this healing god were found all around the Mediterranean. People would bring their requests to the deity, often sleeping in the temple all night, a practice known as ‘incubation’, in the hope that various ailments would be cured. If the plea was heard, the beneficiary would write out a ‘thank you’ to the god and leave it at the shrine (as a votive offering). None of these has survived but some were copied out by the priests of Asclepius and inscribed onto stone monuments, stelae, which have survived. While this does not offer a true parallel to a historical healer like Jesus, it does illustrate the widespread belief in healing in antiquity.1 |
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Emperor Vespasian as a healer?
Still in the Graeco-Roman world, there is one, almost humorous miracle story recorded by Tacitus (AD 114-117). It involves the great Roman general Vespasian, who would soon be confirmed Emperor. While in Alexandria in the north of Egypt in AD 69-70 on his way to Rome to assume the throne, he was approached by two men, one blind, the other lame, who threw themselves in front of him and begged for healing. At first Vespasian scoffed, but the poor men persisted saying that the local deity Sarapis had sent them to him. Feeling lucky and having already received ‘prophecies’ about his good fortune, Vespasian complied. Tacitus continues:
| So Vespasian, believing that his good fortune was capable of anything and that nothing was any longer incredible, with a smiling countenance, and amid intense excitement on the part of the bystanders, did as he was asked to do. The hand was instantly restored to use, and the day again shone for the blind man. Both facts are told by eye-witnesses even now when falsehood brings no reward.2 |
Suetonius (AD 120) also offers an account which suggests the story was widely known.3 Indeed, that may have been the point from the start. As Professor John P. Meier (of Notre Dame University) notes, Vespasian did not belong to the rightful line of emperors—Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero—and so needed a sign of his legitimacy in addition to his military victories: and ‘there is nothing like a miracle story to give one indisputable legitimacy, which Vespasian particularly needed as he travelled from Judea via Alexandria to Rome.’4 Meier reaches the following sceptical conclusion:
| Suetonius and Tacitus seem to tell the whole story with a twinkle in their eyes and smiles on their lips, an attitude probably shared by Vespasian. The whole event looks like a 1st-century equivalent of a ‘photo opportunity’ staged by Vespasian’s P.R. team to give the new emperor divine legitimacy.5 |
In other words, this is probably not a miracle story at all, but an obvious and expedient fraud.
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