There are over thirty-five references to Christ's healing power in the four gospels, the most numerous being in Matthew. The spread of the image of the miracle-working Christ can be partly explained by a rivalry with Christian opponents.
Issues of Terminology: Miracle, Medicine, and Magic
Asclepius' stories probably enjoyed the most prominence, given his reputation as a healer of the people. 47 Fritz Graf, "Excluding the Charming: The Development of the Greek Concept of Magic," in Ancient Magic and Ritual Power.
Review of Secondary Literature
It is important to include Morton Smith's work because it is one of the few that directly links Jesus to ancient magicians. More recent contributions have been made by Harold Remus, François Bovon and Bernd Kollmann.80 The most useful materials for the subject are the images of Christ the.
Outline
Just as Moses is relevant to the image of Christ the Miracle Worker, so is Peter. A discussion of the development of the image of Christ the Wonderworker after the fourth century mainly introduces the concluding Chapter Eight.
Superstition and Magic as Terms of Slander
In Plutarch's case, anything that did not involve excessive fear of the gods or sheer ignorance was safe in a comfortable environment. Miracles can happen in the worship of the gods, just as visions appear during sleep.
The Role of Magic in Antiquity
Celsus on Magic and Miracles
Celsus claimed that "Christians obtain the power they seem to possess by pronouncing the names of certain demons and spirits," implying that Christians use chants and magical charms to gain power.26 Magic is not the mark of a true philosophy.27 By placing Christianity in the realm of magic, Celsus was pulling the philosophical rug from under it. 33 See Harold Remus, The Pagan-Christian Conflict over Miracle in the Second Century (Cambridge, MA: Philadelphia Patristic Foundation, 1983), 58.
The Practice of Magic in Late Antiquity and the Greek Magical Papyri (PGM) The use and practice of magic was fairly widespread from the sixth century BCE
The PGM indicates such an emphasis by insisting on the correct wording of the formula. Uttering 'the wrath of Apollo, far-flung Lord' will heal the bloody stream, and carrying around the inscription 'you are doomed to be unborn and die unmarried' serves as a preventive measure.43 There are countless proverbs to restore eyesight and for sleeping pills.
Apollonius of Tyana
Bring him to me, to the riverbank where there is wrestling. He did not dispute that Apollonius performed miracles, but he pointed to the source of the power.
Apuleius of Madauros
Apuleius was accused of practicing black magic in his own life and wrote a non-fiction Apology on the use of magic. Apuleius was accused of marrying a wealthy widow, the mother of one of his friends and fifteen years his senior, which caused a minor scandal.95 The widow's wealth was probably the motivation for accusing Apuleius of practicing magic.
The Cult of Asclepius in Antiquity
Aelius Aristides’ Sacred Tales
The cult and temple of Asclepius in Pergamum became the preeminent cultic center for healing in Late Antiquity. However, Aristides provided some telling details about the cult of Asclepius as well as the relationship between healing and religion. Similar to Aristides, Apellas' treatment changed the course of his life, and he sincerely believed that his life was now under the care and protection of the god.144 The compassion of Asclepius as a result of the recovery of health prompted many to express such sentiments. to feel
Julian the Apostate: Pagan Appropriation, Christian Appropriation Asclepius devotion continued to sustain popularity in Late Antiquity from the
Julian identified several features of the Christians that he believed pagan religion must adopt or die. Julian's ridicule of the inferiority of Christ's miracles followed the typical playbook of pagan-Christian polemical debates. He also needed Asklepios to fulfill all the qualities that the Christians proclaimed in Jesus.
Christian Impressions of Asclepius
Scriptural Material
The Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles are the source of the depiction of Christ as the divine physician. The serpent in Malta can be seen as a characterization of the serpent savior Asclepius, who tried to attack Christ's apostle Paul. 27 For an example, see Ben Witherington, "The Journey to Rome," The Acts of the Apostles, vol.
Second and Third Century Evidence
But he characterized Christ as the "physician" who introduced saving medicine to his people in his treatise on The Resurrection of the Dead 1 (PG 6, 976C). Although his citations of Christ as the Physician did not specifically identify the competing god of healing, they were not unrelated to the competition with Asclepius. For Origen, the reading of the Word heals and was an infallible proof of the saving nature of Christ.
Latin Authors: Tertullian and Arnobius
The health that Christ provided, and that Arnobius and earlier church fathers advocated, was the health of the soul at the final resurrection. Material evidence of Asclepius has diminished, as the last coins depicting Asclepius are from the time of Emperor Valerian (AD 253–260). To answer the vexing question of why the number of mentions of Asclepius declined among fourth- and fifth-century authors while the number of mentions of Christ the Physician skyrocketed, we must carefully consider the writings of Ambrose and Augustine.
Ambrose and Augustine on Christ the Physician
Ambrose's sermons illustrated that the power of the image of the doctor was real and realized by the end of the fourth century. Unlike Ambrose, Augustine mentioned Asclepius by name in his writings, which suggests that the god was still on Augustine's radar.117 The mention of the god cannot be compared to the large amount of quotations of Christ the Physician in Augustine. Augustine likely understood the value of the image due to his frequent use of the term in his sermons.
Ambrose and Augustine on Miracles
With such an emphasis on Christ's healings and miracles in the material arts, it is useful to examine how healings and miracles have occurred in the life of the Christian church. Ambrose's letter to his sister, describing the discovery of the relics of Gervase and Protase, provides invaluable insight into the bishop's concept of miracles. Ambrose and Augustine listened to the ears of the populace by preaching the dominant nature of Christ.
Patristic Attitudes towards Healings and Imagery
Since Christians of the third century could not actually witness Christ's healings, they could witness them in art. Harnack found Eusebius' statue as possible visual evidence of the rivalry between Asclepius and Christ. Such a move suggests a Christian appropriation of the pagan tradition of healing, namely the cult of Asclepius.
Catacomb Scenes of Christ Healing
The Healing of the Paralytic (Figures 1-2)
Church Fathers such as Augustine found the paralytic story helpful in preaching the healing power of Christ. However, in John's Bethesda account, the healing of the paralytic is also associated with baptism. Later examples of the paralytic in Christian art will follow the precedent set by the catacomb examples.
The Woman with the Issue of Blood (Figure 3)
The paralyzing scenes depict the end result rather than the momentous action of Christ's healing power. The paralyzed man only indicates the denouement of an encounter with the healing power of Christ. Its inclusion in the corpus of healing images is not unexpected, as it depicts successful healing through physical interaction with the figure of Christ.
The Visual Appearance of Asclepius (Figure 4)
The cult of Asclepius wanted to be seen as attentive to the sick and also as a preserver of health. Hygieia, the personification of Health, was invoked to express this message.28 With the dual personification of healing the sick and preserving the healthy, the cult of Asclepius could apparently attract larger crowds to the temples. The incorporation of Hygieia into the iconography of Asclepius expressed the desire to call the sick and the healthy to the local Asclepieion.
The Visual Appearance of Christ (Figure 5)
Christians were members of late antique society and as members they dressed in the typical fashion of the time. In addition to the physical depiction of Christ, it is the context and action of the figures in the scenes that reveal a contest. If it is an image of Jesus, it is unlike any other painting found in the catacombs.
The Anatomy Lesson (Figure 6)
The inclusion of the inert body at the physician's feet evokes the action of Christ performing resurrections. 50 Depictions of inert bodies include the widow's son and Christ as Ezekiel in the Valley of the Dry Bones. The image of the anatomy lesson at Via Latina also shows the selective nature of the images chosen to decorate the catacombs.
Patristic Citations of Competing Deities
The author of the Apostolic Constitutions described Jonah, Daniel and the three youths as models of Christ; the very figures which the early Christians used to adorn their catacomb walls. The author of the Apostolic Constitutions included these incidents from scripture to emphasize Jesus' superiority over. The writer of the Apostolic Constitutions not only quoted the figures from scripture, but directed the unbelievers to look also to the Sibylline oracles.
Hercules, Orpheus and Asclepius in the Catacombs
Thus, the images of Hercules or Orpheus in the catacombs are not actually representations of Christ. In the absence of images of Asclepius or images of Christ represented as Asclepius, this is the subject of the images. In the paintings of the catacombs, Greco-Roman images and themes were malleable for the Christians.
The Raising of Lazarus (Figures 7-12)
The scene at the catacomb of Callistus is unique in this account of the raising of Lazarus. The staff is not just an accessory as in the catacomb of Callistus statue, but is part of the miracle. At the Via Latina catacomb there is at least one depiction of the raising of Lazarus.
Moses in the Catacombs (Figure 13)
See also the early fourth century image in Priscilla's catacomb of the striking of the rock, also in connection with the raising of Lazarus, see fig. 4. It is no surprise that the iconography of Jesus' miracles, such as the raising of Lazarus, would contain a similar miracle-working instrument as Moses' rod in striking the rock and crossing the Red Sea. The raising of Lazarus was a funerary theme that emphasized resurrection, but when seen in combination with the image of Moses striking the rock as in the catacomb of Domitilla, the combined power of the images shows Christ as the new Moses.
Other Catacomb Images of Miracles (Figures 2, 14-15)
In a separate cubicle in the catacomb of Peter and Marcellinus, the miracle at Cana is portrayed, surrounded by scenes of the baptism of Christ and Moses striking the rock (Figure 14). Eucharistic influences on the breaking of the loaves and the miracle of Cana are evident. The scene of the miracle of Cana should also be interpreted together with the corresponding scenes in the arcosolium of the baptism of Christ and Moses striking the rock.
The Significance of the Catacomb Paintings
The images from the catacombs show that early Christians found the image of Christ's healings and miracles particularly resonant in their experiments. In the evidence found from the third, fourth, and fifth centuries, Christ's miracles are a constant theme. Third-century Christians understandably included many depictions of Christ the Wonderworker in their catacomb paintings.
The Chronology of Christian Sarcophagi
A late antique viewer might have expected nothing less than an image of the heroic exploits of their devoted god greater than any other. Combined with the many attacks on pagan pagans who preached from the Christian pulpit and were covered in Christian debates, as detailed in previous chapters, it can be argued that the images of Christ healing and performing miracles were considered propaganda against all.
