Illnesses are perceived and understood differently across cultures and over time. Traditional interpretations of New Testament texts frame the affliction lepra ("leprosy") as addressed either by ritual cleansing or miraculous healing. But as Pamela Shellberg shows, these interpretations are limited because they shift modern ideas of "leprosy" to a first-century context without regard for how the ancients themselves thought about lepra. Reading ancient medical texts, Shellberg describes how Luke might have perceived lepra and used the language of "clean" and "unclean" and demonstrates how...
Illnesses are perceived and understood differently across cultures and over time. Traditional interpretations of New Testament texts frame the afflict...