Abstract
What does the gospel have to do with human bodies? Quite a lot, according to Henriksen and Sandnes! In academic theological literature, however, there has been a conspicuous lack of attention given to health and healing in general, and to Jesus’ healing ministry in particular. In Jesus as Healer, two scholars team up to restore healing to the center of Jesus’ ministry and to reflect on the theological implications of the fact that Jesus was remembered as a healer. The book consists of two parts.
In part one (“Remembering Jesus as a Healer”), Karl Olav Sandnes (professor of New Testament) charts the traditions and importance of Jesus’ healing activity in the New Testament, Jewish, and pagan sources, the New Testament apocrypha, and the early Church. Along the way, he helpfully situates Jesus among other ancient healers to reveal similarities and distinctions. Sandnes observes that “Jesus was not unique in being the only healer,” but he does appear “extraordinary” (p. 23). Sandnes then examines and critically assesses several prominent interpretive models in current New Testament scholarship used to explain (or explain away) the wonders of Jesus’ ministry. None of them, in Sandnes’ judgment, is more than partial help. He discovers a troubling trend: when researchers concentrate on history, analogies, and meaning, the healed persons of the biblical stories—their needs, experiences, and bodies—are often neglected. Yet, bodies seem to have been very important to Jesus. That Jesus’ early followers told these stories likely means that bodies were important to them, too. As Sandnes notes, “The stories about the past concern the present audience and aim at some kind of continuity in terms of attitude and practice” (p. 115).
In part two (“Jesus as Healer and Contemporary Theology”), Jan-Olav Henriksen (professor of systematic theology and philosophy of religion) attempts an answer to the following question: “What is the enduring theological significance of the fact that Jesus was a healer” (p. 133)? He first explores healing in light of contemporary knowledge of science, medicine, psychology, and interreligious testimony. An appreciation of the plurality of healing soon emerges. Henriksen observes that “Healing takes place in various shapes, forms, practices, and contexts … Furthermore, healing often seems to depend on an interplay between the physical, psychological, social, and environmental conditions of human existence” (p. 137). Henriksen then gives an overview of the “modern embarrassment” regarding miracles, tries to disentangle and clarify the relationship between “healing” and “miracle,” and tackles the puzzles of divine action and theodicy. Finally, he offers the contours of a theology of healing that is relevant for Christians today.
I appreciate the way Henriksen brings nature and grace together. “[Healing events] need not be seen as violations of natural laws, but can be seen as events that enhance rather than disrupt the integrity of the natural order and God’s intentions for the world” (p. 200). Grace perfects nature rather than destroying it. Healing is not deliverance from embodied life but the experience of embodied/relational wholeness. There truly is a gospel for the body! Nevertheless, as the authors realize, healings are concrete and broken symbols. Even those who experience healing will one day die. Thus, healings “testify to and reveal the care, compassion, and love of God, which is not fully realized in the world.” They provide an orientation for Christian life, teaching followers of Jesus “to care for others and alleviate their sufferings in any way possible” (p. 230).
I highly recommend Jesus as Healer to seminary students, pastors, and professors. Readers will discover that there is something here for everyone. The book’s two halves are distinct but not uninformed by each other. Together, they cover a wide range of questions and offer carefully reasoned findings for reflection. Most importantly, unlike many Christian thinkers past and present, both authors refuse to eclipse the human body. This incisive work will enlighten and challenge all who struggle to make sense of the healing narratives of Jesus, the ongoing reality of human suffering, and the mystery of divine action. Some sections are more difficult than others, but any struggle in reading will be rewarded.