First Glance
Who was the “historical” Jesus? For some recent New Testament scholars, he was a reformer who, in mingling with the poor, healing lepers and preaching to the outcast, deliberately flouted Jewish purity laws—and the Temple system associated with them—attacking these laws as perpetuating social, economic and gender distinctions. Instead of a “politics of purity,” Jesus brought a “politics of compassion.” But that argument is flawed, according to Paula Fredriksen in “Did Jesus Oppose the Purity Laws?” The scholars who subscribe to this theory completely fail to understand the Jewish purity system, she points out, for neither sin nor social stigma attached to “impurity.” Indeed, Jesus may have ritually cleansed himself before entering the Temple, thus paying respect to ancient Judaism’s most sacred site—radically changing our understanding of the historical Jesus.
Fredriksen is Aurelio Professor of the Appreciation of Scripture at Boston University and a 1994–1995 Lady Davis Visiting Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. A specialist on the early Church, she is author of From Jesus to Christ (Yale Univ. Press, 1988) and numerous articles on Augustine, Paul, Christian observance of Torah and early Christian beliefs.
HMOs and universal health-care coverage, increased preventive medicine and shortened hospital stays—such debates over what makes an ideal health care system still rage in Washington, D.C., and throughout the country. But did similar controversies ever divide ancient Israelites? Did they even have health care? In “Ancient Medicine: In Case of Emergency Contact Your Local Prophet,” Hector Avalos argues that the Israelites did have a sophisticated health-care system, comprising herbal cures, surgeons, prophets, midwives and prayers to God. Disputes over how to treat the ill may even have encouraged the development of Christianity, which had a new approach to those struck with illness.
Avalos’s own struggle with a physical challenge led to his dissertation on health care in ancient Israel. Awarded his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1991, Avalos is assistant professor of religious studies at Iowa State University. He is the author of Illness and Health Care in the Ancient Near East: The Role of the Temple in Greece, Mesopotamia, and Israel (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1995); he also chairs a budding Latino Studies program at Iowa State University.
The heart is mentioned more than 850 times in the Hebrew Bible, but never as an organ pumping blood. Instead the biblical heart (in Hebrew,
North, a member of the Jesuit order, received his doctorate from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, where he taught archaeology and geography until 1985. He is the compiler of Elenchus of Biblica, an extensive bibliography of articles relating to the Bible. Director of excavations at Teleilat Ghassul, Jordan, North has also dug at Jericho, Dibon and Byblos.
While the Bible’s roots are in the ancient Near East, its continuing influence is as contemporary as this morning’s headlines. A case in point: “Should the Bible Be Taught in Public Schools?” we ask in this issue, raising hotly debated topics such as the role of religion in secular society and the nature of our educational institutions. Charles R. Kniker answers our query with an enthusiastic “Yes!” noting that such instruction, unlike prayer in public schools, is not only permitted by the courts, but is being given successfully in many school systems—to the general educational benefit of the students. “But…” counters a dubious John M. Swomley, pointing out a host of thorny problems: Which Bible translation should be used? How are teachers to convey the Bible’s miracle stories? Are such courses to be mandatory or only elective? (see “Should the Bible Be Taught in Public Schools? Yes!” and “Should the Bible Be Taught in Public Schools? But…”)
Kniker is president of Eden Theological Seminary, in St. Louis. Previously, he served as a professor at Iowa State University and assistant dean of the school’s College of Education. He has published widely on the topic of education and religion, including Teaching About Religion in the Public Schools (Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation, 1985) and You and Values Education (Merrill, 1977).
Swomley is professor emeritus of Christian social ethics at the St. Paul School of Theology, Kansas City, and the author of eight books. He is president of Americans for Religious Liberty, a vice-president of the national board of the American Civil Liberties Union and chair of the A.C.L.U.’s church-state committee.
A Note on Style
B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) and C.E. (Common Era), used by some of our authors and often used in scholarly literature, are the alternative designations corresponding to B.C. and A.D.