B458: DISEASE AND DISABILITY IN THE BIBLE

McCormick Theological SeminaryJanuary Term 2016

Room TBDM-F 9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Jan. 4-15

Professor: Andrew M. LangfordE-mail: alangford@mccormick.edu

Office: TBDOffice Hours: by appt.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONIn this course, which may be taken for upper level credit in Hebrew Bible or New Testament, we will explore texts and physical evidence that give insight into the ancient experience and construction of disease and disability in the Bible. We will seek to determine how a culture’s understanding of the make-up of body and mind (and the nature of the relationship between those two) influence the ways in which impairments of the mind and body are described, categorized, labeled, legislated, suppressed, celebrated, feared, or revered. Always keeping one foot in the present, we will also consider the pastoral and theological implications of both biblical and modern disease and disability in contemporary ministry settings. While knowledge of Hebrew or Greek is not required, opportunities to utilize these skills will be ample.

British Museum. 1st BCE Ivory figurine.

COURSE GOALS▪ Analyze biblical texts with a critical eye towards the power dynamics

and ideologies of disease and disability at work in the text.▪ Contextualize biblical discourses about disease and disability by

appeal to the cultural and social artifacts of antiquity.▪ Articulate the social and theological significance of modern

conceptions of disease and disability, and distinguish them from their biblical counterparts.

▪ Hone skills in academic writing, argumentation, discussion, and presentation.

1

▪ Cultivate facility with theological and practical modes of biblical interpretation.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Daily Moodle Postings (15%)Students will write four posts that will be shared with the class via discussion board on Moodle, and will be expected to read all posts and to respond with prepared comments to the posts the next day in class. These posts may include critical reflections on primary and secondary readings, responses to crafted questions posed by the instructor, or the identification of certain “puzzles” in the material that are deemed worthy of further exploration. See Rubric for Postings below.

Daily Participation (25%)Daily attendance and active participation is required. In short, “active participation” means coming to class ready to engage the texts and one’s classmates, but see the Rubric for Discussion Participation below for a more fulsome description. Only emergencies or serious illness should prevent your presence (doctor’s excuse not required). More than one absence will result in an immediate lowering of the overall grade by one letter grade.

Critical Summary of Secondary Readings (10%)Students will each be responsible for one critical reading of an extra article or book chapter pertaining to one of the daily topics. Options are listed as EXTRA for each day, but an article of the student’s choosing is also welcomed. The presentation should not exceed fifteen minutes, and should include a concise summary of the argument, at least three points of substantive critique, and questions for further discussion by the class.

Presentation of Research Topics (15%)The final class session will be comprised of student presentations of their research topics, research questions, and preliminary bibliography. Rubrics for these presentations will be distributed.

Research Paper (35%)Students will also conduct research on a biblical passage of their choosing and write a 15 page minimum research paper, due on Sunday, January 24th at 5pm via email in a Word document format (.docx).

ACCESSIBILITY STATEMENT

Students with disabilities of any kind (physical, psychological, or learning-related) who require instructional, curricular, or assessment accommodations are responsible for informing me, preferably early on in

2

the course. Your success in this course is important to me, and I want to work with you to provide whatever accommodations, services, or adjustments that may be necessary. If you choose to self-disclose, I will work with you and the Seminary to provide appropriate access to the classroom, the course and its contents. All students are encouraged to approach me with any life circumstance (personal, health-related, family-related, or others) that may affect your participation in the course so that we can address the issue together and find a viable learning solution.

REQUIRED TEXTS1. An ecumenical study Bible of your choosing. Recommended are one of

the two following:a. The New Oxford Annotated Study Bible with Apocrypha. 4th

edition, 2010. ISBN: 0195289609. b. The HarperCollins Study Bible Student Edition. Revised and

Updated Version, 2006. ISBN: 0060786841.2. Hector Avalos, Sarah J. Melcher, and Jeremy Schipper, eds., This

Abled Body: Rethinking Disabilities in Biblical Studies (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2007). ISBN: 1589831861.

3. Access to Disease and Disability in the Bible will be made available through the JKM Library.

GRADING RUBRICS:

Discussion Grading Rubric

A range: Your attendance is nearly perfect and you regularly engage with in-class activities/discussions. You respect classmates and listen well. You actively participate in small and whole group discussions, and demonstrate that you have (prior to class) carefully read and thoughtfully considered the text(s). You ask important, relevant questions that are central to the meaning of the texts, discuss implications of the material, are supportive of the comments of others, and are adept at advancing the discussion through your participation.

B range: You come to class participate regularly with in-class activities/discussions. What you say during whole group and small group discussions demonstrates you have completed the reading and have somewhat considered the text(s). Your comments also indicate that you are listening to your peers and thinking carefully about what is being said during the discussion. You will sometimes engage your peers and can advance the conversation, but sometimes choose not to do so.

C range: You attend class regularly and generally exhibit that you are listening, but only occasionally speak during whole group discussions and small group discussions. Or you may be active in discussions, but irregular in attendance. Or you might participate, but do so in a way that shows little

3

evidence of having read fully or thought carefully about the texts prior to class. You rarely seek to advance the discussion, but are congenial when called upon to answer questions.

D range: You attend class irregularly or participate infrequently and/or occasionally detract from class activities/discussions (whole group and small group) by not having read or making irrelevant comments. When you do participate in the class discussion, you do not demonstrate much evidence of being prepared in advance of class or having thought deeply about the text(s). You rarely or never seek to advance the discussion in productive, relevant ways and/or exhibit little interest in class activities/discussion and/or the texts.

F: You miss class more than you attend. When you are present in class, you are rarely (or never) prepared for discussion, and do not participate in (or sometimes detract from) class activities/discussions (whole and small group). The few comments you make during discussion often indicate a superficial level understanding/familiarity of the text(s) and/or it is apparent you are not listening to the discussion and/or have thought very little about the text(s) prior to the class discussion.

Paper Grading Rubric

A range: An “A” paper has a compelling and interesting argument which does more than restate the text or class discussion. Moreover, the essay has style. Ideas are carefully analyzed and examples used to support points are well chosen, persuasive, and directly applicable to the argument. The paper is well organized: ideas flow logically, the structure of the essay is smooth, transitions are handled well and paragraphs are fully developed. Sentences are sophisticated, words chosen aptly, and the grammar is correct. Overall the paper is lively, well paced, and interesting. The reader comes away convinced that the writer cares about his or her ideas and about the language used to convey them.

B range: The B essay offers a worthwhile and interesting idea. The writer offers evidence and explains clearly how the evidence supports the argument. Some paragraphs may be awkward, but they each develop a specific point. The writing, although not necessarily elegant, is clear and draws the leader along a logical progression from point to point. Together the paragraphs build an argument. The reader does not have to read a paragraph two or three times to get the idea the writer is trying to convey. The B essay is, for the most part, mechanically correct. Spelling is good, punctuation is accurate, and the essay is, by and large, free of stylistic or grammatical problems. It does not digress in unexpected ways and the paper ends by keeping its promise to argue and inform the reader about the issue with which it began.

4

C range: The C essay has a thesis, but it is vague or obvious. It does not advance an argument that anyone might care enough about to debate: “Religion is an interesting topic to study.” The thesis is often based on a personal opinion. If the writer is a recognized authority, this expression of personal taste might be noteworthy, but writers gain authority by learning how to justify and support their opinions. Opinion by itself is never enough. It must be defended. The paper is not well-organized: the transitions between sentences and paragraphs are often awkward and the logical connections between ideas are often vague or unclear. The C essay often has grammatical and typographical errors, but a paper without such flaws may still be a C essay.

D/F range: An unsatisfactory paper is inadequate on all four counts. It has no thesis and describes the material in vague or uninteresting terms. There is little indication that the writer understands the material being presented. The paper jumps from one idea to another, and ideas are not developed from sentence to sentence. This essay usually repeats the same thoughts again and again, often in the same words. The essay is filled with mechanical and grammatical faults (subject-verb disagreement, faulty use of punctuation, obscure pronouns, sentence fragments and spelling errors).

5

COURSE SCHEDULE AND READINGS

DAY 1 (Jan. 4): Introductions, Preliminary Theoretical Considerations, and the Experience of Disease in Antiquity

Primary Sources: Plato, Timaeus 82a-89eHippocrates, Nature of Man (selected sections)

Secondary Sources:

1) Schipper, Jeremy, and Nyasha Junior. “Disability Studies and the Bible.” Pages 21–37 in New Meanings for Ancient Texts: Recent Approaches to Biblical Criticisms and Their Applications. Edited by Steven L. McKenzie and John Kaltner. First edition. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2013.

2) Sussman, “Sickness and Disease” in Anchor Bible Dictionary (Doubleday, 1992): 6.6-15.

3) Holmes, “Health and Disease: Rome” (3 pp)4) Walls, Neal H. “The Origins of the Disabled Body: Disability in Ancient

Mesopotamia.” Pages 13–30 in This Abled Body: Rethinking Disabilities in Biblical Studies. Edited by Hector. Avalos, Sarah J. Melcher, and Jeremy. Schipper. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2007.

5) Kelley, Nicole. “Deformity and Disability in Greece and Rome.” Pages 31–46 in This Abled Body: Rethinking Disabilities in Biblical Studies. Edited by Hector. Avalos, Sarah J. Melcher, and Jeremy. Schipper. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2007.

EXTRA:Martin, Dale B., The Corinthian Body (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995). Ch. 1 - The Body in Greco-Roman Culture (3-37)

DAY 2 (Jan. 5): The Social, Cultural, and Archeological Considerations - Places of Healing, Places of Exclusion, and Health-Care Personnel

Primary Sources: Inscriptions from Epidaurus (Edelstein & Edelstein [T.423], 229-237)Leviticus 21Galen, scenes of agonistic healings (selections)

Secondary sources:1) Hector Avalos, “Ancient Medicine: In Case of Emergency, Contact Your

6

Local Prophet,” Bible Review 11, no. 3 (1995): 26-2) Dorman, Johanna Helena Wilhelmina. “The Blemished Body:

Deformity and Disability in the Qumran Scrolls.” Dissertation, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, 2007, pp. 33-47 (Concerning Lev. 21)

3) Ackerman, Susan. “The Blind, the Lame, and the Barren Shall Not Come into the House.” Pages 29–46 in Disability Studies and Biblical Literature. Edited by Candida R. Moss and Jeremy. Schipper. 1st ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.

4) IldikóCsepregi, “Disease, Death, Destiny: The Healer as Σώτηρ in Miraculous Cures,” American Journal of Philology 107 (1986): 229–42.

EXTRASchipper, Jeremy, and Jeffrey Stackert. “Blemishes, Camouflage, and Sanctuary Service: The Priestly Deity and His Attendants.” Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel 2, no. 4 (2013): 458–78.

DAY 3 (Jan. 6): Theories of Disease Etiology and Theories of Disease Remediation (Modes of Healing)

Primary Sources:John 9:1-40Deut 28Psalms 6, 30, 38, 41, 103Anonymous Londinensis (trans. Jones)Greek Magical Papyri (selections)

Secondary Sources:1) Kee, Medicine, Miracle, and Magic, Ch. 1 “Healing in the Old

Testament and Post-Biblical Traditions” (9-26); 67-79 (on miracle); 107-112 on magic

2) Martin, Dale B., The Corinthian Body (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995). Ch. 6 - The Body, Disease, and Pollution (136-162)

3) Amundsen, Darrel W., and Gary B. Ferngren. “The Perception of Disease and Disease Causality in the New Testament.” Pages 2934–56 in ANRW. Vol. 37.3. II. deGruyter, 1996.

4) Ian Johnston, Galen on Diseases and Symptoms (Cambridge, UK; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006), “Chapter 1.6 - Causation in disease and symptoms” (pp. 81-125; focus on 84-106)

EXTRA:Preuss, Julius, and Fred Rosner. Julius Preuss’ Biblical and Talmudic

7

Medicine. New York: Hebrew Pub. Co., 1983. (Ch. 3 - Illness and its Healing (General Pathology & Therapy) - 139-150Hogan, Healing in the Second Temple Period, Ch. 1 “Healing in the Hebrew Scriptures” (3-26)

DAY 4 (Jan. 7): Dermatological Issues

Primary Sources: Lev 13-14; Numbers 19; 2 Kings 5 (cf. 2 Kings 20; Isa 38:16-20);Mark 1:39-45//Matt 8:1-4//Luke 5:12-16P. Egerton 2 (Pryor in NewDocs 9.99-101)Temple Scroll (11QT 45, DSS Critical Edition trans., p. 1263-1265)Aretaios of Cappadocia, On Acute and Chronic Diseases (Miller & Nesbitt,

Appendix 1 (pp. 163-72)

Secondary Sources: 1) Joel S Baden and Candida R Moss, “The Origin and Interpretation of

Ṣāraʻat in Leviticus 13-14,” Journal of Biblical Literature 130, no. 4 (2011): 643–62.

2) Timothy S. Miller and John W. Nesbitt, Walking Corpses: Leprosy in Byzantium and the Medieval West (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2014), Ch: 1 “The Ancient World” (10-26)

DAY 5 (Jan. 8): Sensory and Mobility Disabilities

Primary Sources: Mark 8:22-26; 10:46-52John 9:1-34; Acts 3:1-10John 5:1-17[Aristotle] Physiognomy (Hett ed. [LCL]) or Smith and Ross ed.)

Secondary Sources:1) Rose, M. Lynn. “Deaf and Dumb in Ancient Greece.” Pages 17–22 in

The Disability Studies Reader. Edited by Lennard J. Davis. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2006.

2) Parsons, Mikeal C. “‘His Feet and Ankles Were Made Strong’: Signs of Character in the Man Lame from Birth.” Pages 151–64 in Disability Studies and Biblical Literature. Edited by Candida R. Moss and

8

Jeremy. Schipper. 1st ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.3) Thompson, Trevor. “Blindness” in Encyclopedia of the Bible and its

Reception, ed.

EXTRA:Lawrence, Louise Joy. Sense and Stigma in the Gospels: Depictions of Sensory-Disabled Characters. Oxford University Press, USA, 2013. Chapter 2: “Blind Spots and Metaphors: Refiguring Sightless Characters in the Gospels” (31-56)

DAY 6 (Jan. 11): Mental Illness and Epilepsy

Primary Sources: David’s feigning of madness (1 Sam 21:10-15)Saul - 1 Sam 16:14-23; Deut 28:20Mark 5:1-20//Matt 8:28-34//Luke 8:26-39Mark 9:14-27//Matt 17:14-21//Luke 9:37-42Galen, On the Differentiae of Symptoms 1.1-3.4 (Johnston trans., pp. 182-192)[Hippocrates] The Sacred Disease“Galen’s ‘Advice for an Epileptic Boy’” trans. OwseiTemkin; Bull. Hist. Med. 2 (1934): 179-89.

Secondary Sources:1) Toensing, Holly Joan. “‘Living among the Tombs’: Society, Mental

Illness, and Self-Destruction in Mark 5:1-20.” Pages 131–43 in This Abled Body: Rethinking Disabilities in Biblical Studies. Edited by Hector Avalos, Sarah J. Melcher, and Jeremy Schipper. Semeia studies no. 55. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2007.

2) Olyan, Saul M. Disability in the Hebrew Bible: Interpreting Mental and Physical Differences. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Chapter 4: “Mental Disability in the HB” (62-77).

3) Kelley, Nicole. “‘The Punishment of the Devil Was Apparent in the Torment of the Human Body’: Epilepsy in Ancient Christianity.” Pages 205–22 in Disability Studies and Biblical Literature. Edited by Candida R. Moss and Jeremy. Schipper. 1st ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.

EXTRA:1) Preuss, Julius, and Fred Rosner. Julius Preuss’ Biblical and Talmudic

Medicine. New York: Hebrew Pub. Co., 1983. Chapter 11 - “Mental disorders” (311-321).

2) Robert McQueen Grant, “Views of Mental Illness among Greeks,

9

Romans, and Christians,” in New Testament and Early Christian Literature in the Greco-Roman Context (Leiden: Brill, 2006), 369–404.

3) Martin, Dale B. Inventing Superstition: From the Hippocratics to the Christians. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2004. Ch. 4 “Dealing with Disease: The Hippocratics and Superstition” (36-50)

DAY 7 (Jan. 12): Reproductive and Sexual Disabilities, Male and Female

Primary Sources:

Gen 29; Ex 23; Deut 7; Judges 13 Ps 113; Job 24Mark 5:21-43//Matt 9:18-26//Luke 8:40-56Soranus, Gynaecology 3.1 (Temkin trans., pp. 128-143)Isaiah 56:1-8; Acts 8:26-40

Secondary Sources:1) Moss, Candida R. “The Man with the Flow of Power: Porous Bodies in

Mark 5:25-34.” JBL 129, no. 3 (2010): 507–19.2) Stewart, David Tabb. “Sexual Disabilities in the Hebrew Bible.” Pages 67–

88 in Disability Studies and Biblical Literature. Edited by Candida R. Moss and Jeremy. Schipper. 1st ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.

3) Melchor, Sarah J. “A Tale of Two Eunuchs: Isaiah 56:1-8 and Acts 8:26-40.” Pages 117–28 in Disability Studies and Biblical Literature. Edited by Candida R. Moss and Jeremy. Schipper. 1st ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.

4) Holt N. Parker, “Women in Medicine,” in A Companion to Women in the Ancient World, ed. Sharon L. James and Sheila. Dillon, Blackwell companions to the ancient world. Ancient history (Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012), 107–24.

EXTRA:1. Moss, Candida R. and Joel S. Baden. Reconceiving Infertility: Biblical

Perspectives on Procreation and Childlessness. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2015. (Introduction, 1-20).

2. Hentrich, Thomas. “Masculinity and Disability in the Bible.” Pages 73–87 in This Abled Body: Rethinking Disabilities in Biblical Studies. Edited by Hector. Avalos, Sarah J. Melcher, and Jeremy. Schipper. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2007.

3. [Hippocrates], “On the Diseases of Virgins”

10

DAY 8 (Jan. 13): Paul and Disability, ‘Heresy’ as Disease, and the Power of Metaphor

Primary Sources:2 Cor 12:1-10; Gal 4:12-20; 1 Cor 11:27-341 Tim 4:1-5; 2 Tim 2:14-26Ignatius, Eph (esp. 6-7)Epiphanius of Salamis, Panarion (selections)

Secondary Sources:

1. Albl, Martin C. “For Whenever I Am Weak, Then I Am Strong”: Disability in Paul’s Epistles.” Pages 145–58 in This Abled Body Rethinking Disabilities in Biblical Studies. Edited by Hector. Avalos, Sarah J. Melcher, and Jeremy. Schipper. Vol. no. 55. Semeia studies. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2007.

2. Collins, Adela Yarbro. “Paul’s Disability: The Thorn in His Flesh.” Pages 165–84 in Disability Studies and Biblical Literature. Edited by Candida R. Moss and Jeremy. Schipper. 1st ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.

3. Sontag, Illness as Metaphor [selections]

DAY 9 (Jan. 14) Practical, Pastoral, and Homiletical Considerations

Primary SourcesMatt 5:1-11//Lk 6:20-26

Secondary Sources:1) Satterlee, Craig A. “Learning to Picture God from Those Who Cannot

See.” Homiletic 36, no. 1 (2011): 45–55.2) Nashville, TN : Abingdon Press, 1996. pp. 19-56 (Ch. 1 - Healing and

Theodicy, Ch. 2 - Hermeneutical Hazards)3) John Swinton, “The Body of Christ Has Down’s Syndrome: Theological

Reflections on Vulnerability, Disability, and Graceful Communities,” Journal of Pastoral Theology 13, no. 2 (2003): 66–78.

EXTRA

John Swinton, “Who Is the God We Worship?: Theologies of Disability: Challenges and New Possibilities,” International Journal of Practical Theology 14, no. 2 (2010): 273–307.

11

DAY 10 (Jan. 15): Presentations and Conclusion

12