{Gospel Miracles}[18th May 1989]

[Redbook6:128-129)][19890518:1657]{Gospel Miracles}[18th May 1989]

.1657

It is interesting that all, or almost all, of the Gospel healing miracles were to do with defects of control rather than visibly lost limbs: Rise, take up your bed and walk; but not: Your faith has restored your severed foot. I suppose that leprosy is a borderline case;* the woman bleeding internally** would hardly have been a visible miracle. I suppose what I am driving at is that they all – even blindness, even a skin disease like leprosy, even Lazarus?*** – were or might have been nervous diseases**** or diseases responsive to nervous conditions. No broken bones, if I recall correctly, were instantly set and fused: no flesh wounds instantly healed. Did no one ask? Or did the people know the rules?#

*as is the withered hand? <890712>

**menstrually, I assume

***[Who according to St John’s Gospel (Chapter 11) was raised from the dead – four days after death.]

****[Probably meant in the sense: diseases of or caused by the nervous system, which would in current understanding probably include auto-immune and other immune system malfunctions, and functional neurological disorders. <20190826>]

#In fact there are 4 categories:

(1) Faith healing: Your faith has made you whole.#*

(2) ?Medical cures: spittle on blind eyes and dumb tongue, finger is death ears, etc.

(3) Psychological treatment: Driving out devils (by commandment [sic]).

(4) Psychiatric conditions: the epileptic, who could only be cured by prayer (which is not what Jesus did, so he may not have been cured). ([Gospel of ]M[ar]k9:47)

<890713>

#*[But cf next entry]

{But see later [Possibly [Redbook6:157-159][19890717:2354]{The Gospels}[17th July 1989]?]}

[continues]

[PostedBlogger18for19102019]