New Testament Readings: Disability, Healing, and Ancient Medicine

Undergraduate / Graduate

Within New Testament literature, one encounters numerous narratives of healing and embodied difference. How do these narratives inform our understanding of ancient discourses around the body? What interpretative insights do we gain from reading these texts alongside Greco-Roman discourses of medicine and healing? How have the insights of Disability Studies enriched our understanding of these texts? This Greek exegesis course will introduce students to modern historical, textual, and rhetorical-critical approaches in conversation with the history of interpretation. Students will engage in close readings of the Greek text of representative examples drawn from the canonical gospels. We will examine each passage's composition, structure, and theology. Through lectures and assignments, students will gain familiarity with the major interpretative trajectories of these narratives within the history of Christian thought. At the beginning of the quarter every student will choose an interpreter or interpretative approach - ancient, medieval, modern, or post-modern - to represent in class discussions.