KAIROS                                                                                                              Frederick J. Gaiser

Summer 2003                                                                                                       GH 203 (641-3210)

                                                                                                                       fgaiser@luthersem.edu

                                                                                                                                               

BIBLICAL HEALING FOR MINISTRY TODAY

 

DESCRIPTION

This course considers implications of biblical healing for the ministry of the church today through a study of God as healer in the Old Testament and the healing ministry of Jesus. We will examine particular texts to develop a biblical theology of healing.

GOALS

      To examine significant biblical texts on sickness and healing

      To gain an overall understanding of the place of healing in biblical theology

      To relate the biblical understanding to current thinking about healing in both church and society and in the contexts of other cultures

      To consider the biblical material in the light of the contributions of other theological disciplines

To reflect on and practice contemporary healing ministry in the light of biblical theology

RECOMMENDED READING

      Morton Kelsey, Healing and Christianity (Augsburg, 1995)

      Martin Marty, Health and Medicine in the Lutheran Tradition (Crossroad, 1986)

      Note also the other volumes in this series (Health/Medicine and the Faith Traditions), viewing health and medicine in various other faith traditions

      John Pilch, Healing in the New Testament (Fortress, 2000)

      Klaus Seybold and Ulrich Mueller, Sickness and Healing (Abingdon,1981)

      John Wilkinson, The Bible and Healing (Eerdmans, 1998)

      Joel J. Shuman and Keith G. Meador, Heal Thyself: Spirituality, Medicine, and the Distortion of Christianity (Oxford, 2003)

 

SCHEDULE OF THEMES AND TEXTS

 

Monday, 14 July

      Introductions and methodology

      “O Lord, heal me” — Psalm 6

 

Tuesday, 15 July

      Healing, Saving, and Cure — Luke 17:12-19

      Healing in Biblical Theology — 1 Samuel 1:1-2:10

 

Wednesday, 16 July

      Healing and Medicine — Sirach 38:1-15

      Jesus and the Demons — Mark 9:14-29

 

Thursday, 17 July

      Healing in the Name of Jesus — Acts 3:1-26

      Locating Healing in Christian Theology

 

Friday, 18 July

      Healing under the Sign of the Cross — Isaiah 52:13-53:12

      Healing in Biblical Perspective — Summary Theses

 

DESIRED OUTCOME

 

Participants will be able to formulate a vision of healing within the broad perspective of biblical theology; they will be better prepared to conduct a contemporary healing ministry that understands itself within a Christian biblical framework.

BOOKS ON RESERVE IN THE LIBRARY

      Avalos, Hector. Health Care and the Rise of Christianity.  Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1999.

      Bakken, Kenneth. The Journey into God: Healing and Christian Faith. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 2000.

Fadiman, Anne.  The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures.  New York: Farrar, Straus and Giraux, 1997.

Howard, J. Keir.  Disease and Healing in the New Testament: An Analysis and Interpretation.  Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2001.            

Kee, H. Medicine, Miracle and Magic in New Testament Times. Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1986.

Kelsey, Morton. Healing and Christianity: A Classic Study. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1995.

Kinsley, David. Health, Healing, and Religion: A Cross-cultural Perspective. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996.

Kydd, Ronald. Healing through the Centuries: Models for Understanding. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1998.

Linde, Paul R. Of Spirits and Madness: An American Psychiatrist in Africa. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002.

Marty, Martin. Health and Medicine in the Lutheran Tradition. New York: Crossroad, 1986.

Marty, Martin, and Kenneth Vaux, eds. Health/Medicine and the Faith Traditions: An Inquiry into Religion and Medicine. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1982.

Pilch, John. Healing in the New Testament: Insights from Medical and Mediterranean Anthropology. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2000.

Plante, Thomas O., and Allen C. Sherman, eds.  Faith and Health: Psychological Perspectives.  New York: Guilford, 2001.

Seybold, Klaus., and Ulrich Mueller. Sickness and Healing. Nashville: Abingdon, 1981.

Siirala, Aarne. The Voice of Illness. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1964.

 

      Shuman, Joel J., and Keith G. Meador. Heal Thyself: Spirituality, Medicine, and the Distortion of Christianity. Oxford: Oxford University, 2003.

Wilkinson, John. The Bible and Healing. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998.

 

ASSIGNMENTS FOR CREDIT

 

      Students taking this course for credit will:

 

1.         Attend all sessions

2.         Write a 3-5 page review of and reaction to two books related to the course:

$                            Joel J. Shuman and Keith G. Meador, Heal Thyself: Spirituality, Medicine, and the Distortion of Christianity (required of all)

$                            One other book with the approval of the instructor

3.         Read extensively from the recommended books (and/or others), in addition to those in #2 (above), as background and resources for #4 (below)

4.         Write a paper (involving both research and constructive thought) of approximately 15-20 pages on one of the following (all paper topics should be approved by the instructor):

$                      A biblical text (or biblical theological theme) related to healing, including a careful reading of the text(s) and theological/pastoral/practical implications

$                      Another theme related to healing viewed in biblical and theological perspective

      (The level of research and/or exegesis for the paper should be appropriate to the level of the degree program in which the student is enrolled.)