The author is a professor of religion at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. He received his doctorate in philosophy from Princeton University and is the author of four hooks. These Luce Lectures on Religion and the Social Crisis were delivered by the author at Wake Forest University in April, 1988. The author wishes to thank the Department of Religion at Wake Forest for the invitation which provided the opportunity and the occasion to think about the topics treated in the lectures.
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References
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It is, therefore, difficult to understand what Shelp and Sunderland mean when they write: “Jesus rejected the notion that God had deliberately disabled this man — and, conceivably others — on account of sin, or merely to provide an opportunity to demonstrate God's power” (p. 62).
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Shelp, and Sunderland p. 55.
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Cf. NinehamD. E.The Gospel of Mark (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1963), p. 84: “The true significance of all the words and mighty works of Jesus is that they ‘proclaim’ … and usher in the kingdom. Any response to them, however favourable, which does not recognize that as the essential truth about them is unacceptable. …” Cf. also C.E.B. Cranfield. The Gospel According to Saint Mark (Cambridge University Press, 1966), p. 83: “According to Jesus himself his miracles are the activity of God, wrought by God's Spirit or ‘finger', and the manifestation of God's kingdom. …” Cranfield does make clear (p. 85) that compassionate response to particular need is not to be ruled out as a motive for Jesus’ healing miracles. (Cf. also Hans Conzelmann, The Theology of St. Luke (NY: Harper & Row, 1961), p. 192.) “The part played by miracle in Luke is not adequately explained by reference to a ‘seeking for wonders'. It is true that this is a feature of the age, which Luke shares, but we must not overlook the fact that he seeks to include the Christological aspect of miracle within the framework of his general conception. Jesus’ deeds are for Luke the evidence of the time of salvation, which has ‘arrived’ with Christ.”
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This premise, now commonly granted, may prove incorrect, Cf. FumentoMichael A.“AIDS: Are Heterosexuals at Risk?”Commentary (Nov., 1987), pp. 21–27.
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Countryman, WilliamL.“The AIDS Crisis: Theological and Ethical Reflections,”Anglican Theological Review, 69 (April, 1987), p. 126. Jesus knows better. He does transgress the impurity boundaries — as, for example, in healing lepers. But He also recognizes the limits within which governing authorities must work in their attempts to do justice, and He sends the cleansed lepers to the priests as the purity laws require.
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My thanks to David H. Smith and Ronald Thiemann for their comments on an earlier draft of this essay.
