Continuing our summary/review of Tom Wright and Marcus Borg's discussion...

Today, some key insights from Marcus Borg:

'Behind the picture of Jesus as healer and exorcist, I affirm a historical core. In common with the majority of contemporary Jesus scholars, I see the claim that Jesus performed paranormal healings and exorcisms as history remembered. Indeed, more healing stories are told about Jesus than about any other figure in the Jewish tradition. He must have been a remarkable healer...

'[But] I do not accept a supernatural interventionist model of God and God's relation to the world...

'I also reject a common modern explanation of Jesus' healings as psychosomatic... I do not need to know the explanatory mechanism in order to affirm that paranormal healings happen...

' Few scholars have made healing as central to Jesus as John Dominic Crossan, who argues that healing and a shared meal were the two central features of Jesus' public activity...

'In short, Jesus' healing activity flowed out of and affirmed the immediacy of access to God.' (pp. 66-68).

[Note from Rowland: these quotes are meant to be 'teasers'. They can stand alone, but are best read within the context of the chapter/book].

More tomorrow... For other articles in this series visit http://jmm.aaa.net.au/catalog/section/jc1.htm.

Shalom! Rowland Croucher