Papyri and the Synoptic Miracle Stories

• Applicant: Mara Rescio, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Roman Catholic Theology ; Ancient History ; Religious Studies and Jewish Studies
• Term: from 2018 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 393546284

The research project 'Papyri and the Synoptic Miracle Stories' is aimed at investigating all the miracle stories reported by the three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) from a papyrological point of view. The starting question of the project is quite simple: How could the Synoptic miracle stories have been perceived or understood by an 'average' reader or listener of their time? To answer this, the analysis will seek to illuminate the language, key topics, and social scenarios of the Gospel narratives through a sound comparison with documentary papyri, ostraca, and tablets coming from the Greco-Roman world, taking also into account ancient semi-literary texts concerning magic and medicine (e.g. magical amulets or medical treatises, prescriptions, and recipes). As the most part of the miracle stories transmitted in the Synoptic tradition depict Jesus as a healer and exorcist, special attention will be paid to issues related to healing and disease, such as: (a) the relationship between Jesus and the healing practitioners of his time (including analysis of the use of medical and/or magical techniques by Jesus and his disciples); (b) the social construction of illness and the connections between disease, social status, ethnicity and gender; (c) the symbolic meaning of diseases, considering ancient conceptions of suffering and misfortune as a result of 'non-human' agents (particularly in the case of demoniac possessions or 'evil eye'); (d) the role and the status of doctors, healers, and magicians in antiquity as well as the importance of healing practices in the construction of Christian identity; (e) the question whether the authors of the Synoptic Gospels were influenced by or aware of the ancient Greco-Roman medical terminology. In all these aspects, the project will conduct ground-breaking research, as a papyrological approach together with the consideration of relevant semi-literary texts has never been chosen before to analyse the text of the Gospels in a systematic way. The final result will be a complete commentary on the Synoptic miracle stories, based on the model and methodology of the international series 'Papyrologische Kommentare zum Neuen Testament - Papyrological Commentaries on the New Testament' (PKNT) published by Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht (2003-). Due to its special topics and its strong interdisciplinary character, it is reasonable to assume that the expected volume will represent not only an important supplement to traditional biblical commentaries, but also an indispensable tool for further research in the fields of papyrology, New Testament studies, and the history of the ancient Mediterranean world.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants