A reading of the leper’s healing in Matthew 8:1–4 through ethnomedical anthropology

dc.contributor.authorM’bwangi, Fednand Manjewa
dc.date.accessioned2022-03-14T11:08:06Z
dc.date.available2022-03-14T11:08:06Z
dc.date.issued2021-08-26
dc.description.abstractScholars offer several options for Matthew’s value of the leper’s story in his narrative that range from revealing Jesus’ attributes of compassion and sympathy, manifesting God’s empire, to portraying Jesus’ function as a temple. Although these suggestions aptly portray Matthew’s rhetorical use of the leper’s healing in his narrative to address societal concerns of his time, for lack of referring to the social setting of the narrative, they do not capture the holistic healthcare system embodied by Jesus in Matthew’s narrative that portrays Jesus as a superior healer to the rest of the other healers in the Roman Empire. The findings of the research for this article establish the argument that employing ethnomedical anthropology as a lens to read the leper’s healing narrative in Matthew 8:1–4 in the context of Matthew’s social setting reveals Matthew’s ideology for a transcendent and immanent Christology. The aim of the article is to demonstrate the effectiveness of medical anthropological theory in explaining the dynamics of health and healing reflected in biblical texts. CONTRIBUTIONS : This article contributes to the interdisciplinary approach to the study of religion by employing a ethnomedical anthropological perspective to read the leper’s healing in Matthew 8.1–4 in reference to the first century CE health systems in the Roman Empire. This approach procured that Matthew’s immanent and transcendent perspectives of Christology is crucial in demonstrating the text’s function in constructing and sustaining the identity of Matthew’s community in antiquity.en_ZA
dc.description.departmentScience of Religion and Missiologyen_ZA
dc.description.librarianam2022en_ZA
dc.description.urihttp://www.hts.org.zaen_ZA
dc.identifier.citationM’bwangi, F.M., 2021, ‘A reading of the leper’s healing in Matthew 8:1–4 through ethnomedical anthropology’, HTS Teologiese Studies/ Theological Studies 77(1), a6803. https://DOI.org/ 10.4102/hts.v77i1.6803.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn0259-9422 (print)
dc.identifier.issn2072-8050 (online)
dc.identifier.other10.4102/hts.v77i1.6803
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/84479
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherOpenJournals Publishingen_ZA
dc.rights© 2021. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.en_ZA
dc.subjectEthnomedical anthropologyen_ZA
dc.subjectChristologyen_ZA
dc.subjectHealingen_ZA
dc.subjectIdeologyen_ZA
dc.subjectMatthew 8:1–4en_ZA
dc.subjectRoman Empireen_ZA
dc.subjectLeperen_ZA
dc.titleA reading of the leper’s healing in Matthew 8:1–4 through ethnomedical anthropologyen_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA

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