Come out of him! Exorcisms in Ancient Mesopotamia, in the Hebrew Bible and in the ministry of Jesus Christ Cover Image

Wyjdź z niego! Egzorcyzmy w starożytnej Mezopotamii, w Biblii Hebrajskiej oraz w posłudze Jezusa Chrystusa
Come out of him! Exorcisms in Ancient Mesopotamia, in the Hebrew Bible and in the ministry of Jesus Christ

Author(s): Krzysztof Napora
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion, Theology and Religion, Biblical studies
Published by: Wyższe Seminarium Misyjne Księży Sercanów
Keywords: exorcism;The Hebrew Bible;

Summary/Abstract: The article in a concise way presents phenomenon of exorcism in the context of Ancient Mesopotamia, in the Hebrew Bible, and in the ministry of Jesus as described in the synoptic Gospels. In the first part it suggests that the Ancient Near East constitutes an important point of reference in the reflections concerning the practices of exorcism in the Bible. It is exactly against the background of Ancient Near East that the Hebrew Bible reveals its uniqueness. The context of exorcistic practices of the Ancient World emphasizes the guardedness of the redactors of the Hebrew Bible in regard to the exorcism and to the combat with the evil spirits. The examples of intertestamental literature, mentioned only cursorily in this article, allows the reader to discover theological context of Jesus’s exorcistic activity. At the same time, the Gospels reveal the uniqueness of ministry of Jesus-Galilean Exorcist.

  • Issue Year: 25/2013
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 9-28
  • Page Count: 20
  • Language: English, Polish