"Jesus the Magician" by Morton Smith

Quaestor · Joined: 25 Jun 2007 Posts: 57 Location: Chorleywood UK

This book opens up a highly original and unconventional approach to the man Josephus describes as a wonder worker. It is a fascinating read and I notice that Helen Ingram has specialised in this area. I should be very interested to know of any further explorations of this particular aspect.
Dennis

hingram · Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 5:57 pm Post subject:

Dennis,

I would suggest John Hull's 'Hellenistic Magic and the Synoptic Tradition' as a good starting point, although finding a copy can be quite difficult. My own research focused on Smith's portrait of the Historical Jesus as a magician and I would recommend Stevan Davies' 'Jesus the Healer: Possession, Trance and the Origins of Christianity' and Graham Twelftree's 'Jesus the Exorcist' as two recent publications that engage with this aspect of Smith's argument, particularly in the area of magical spirit-possession. With regard to Josephus, some studies in the general field of magic and the NT that might prove useful on this front are: J. Samain ‘L’accusation de Magie contre le Christ dans les Evangiles’ (Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses 15, 1938, pp. 449-90), Eric Eve 'The Jewish Context of Jesus' Miracles', Howard Clark Kee 'Medicine, Miracle and Magic in New Testament Times' and H. J Klauck 'Magic and Paganism in Early Christianity: The World of the Acts of the Apostles'. By the way, the Greco-Roman magical materials discussed by Morton Smith are available in an edition by Hans Dieter Betz ('The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation Including the Demotic Spells') and these make for very interesting reading indeed!

Happy reading! Smile

Helen

rgoode · Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 8:01 am Post subject:

Dennis,
Just in case Helen hasn't provided you with enough reading Laughing

.

I'm not sure whether you are aware of the controversies behind Morton Smith's book? Over the years there have been suggestions that his Secret Mark was a fake. Over the last four or five years the subject has once again surfaced. One book which I'd recommend is Stephen Carlson's The Gospel Hoax: Morton Smith's Invention of Secret Mark. As the title suggests, he argues that it is in fact a hoax perpetrated by Smith. It was published in 2005 by Baylor University Press.
However a fairly comprehensive review of it can be found on the Review of Biblical Literature site: http://www.bookreviews.org/pdf/5707_6023.pdf

I must admit I was a little surprised that it would allow me to access it from here, as I've always had to log in previously, so please tell me if the link turns out to be dead - I did find another review somewhere, which I could track down to replace it.

Quaestor · Joined: 25 Jun 2007 Posts: 57 Location: Chorleywood UK

Richard and Helen,
Thanks to you both.
I've got a copy of "the Secret Gospel", Richard, and Ehrman deals with it extensively in "Lost Christianities". Leaving aside the forgery question,however,it strikes me as highly probable that a gnostic version of Mark could have been produced.
A note for Helen. When googling "Jesus the Magician", I came across www.rome101.com which lists 68 sarcophagus pictures showing Jesus with a magician's wand - an interesting site if you are not aware of it.
Dennis

hingram · Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 8:49 pm Post subject:

Thanks Dennis - yes I've come across a handful of sarcophagi images depicting Jesus with a wand during my research...but 68 of them certainly demands attention doesn't it?! Shocked

There is an interesting discussion of these curious depictions in third-century Christian art in T. F. Mathews' 'The Clash of Gods: A Reinterpretation of Early Christian Art ' if you want to read more about it. Thank you very much for the link!

	SYNEIDON Forum Index » Book Recommendations	All times are GMT
Page 1 of 1