Taming the Spirits in Ephesus (Acts 19:11–17)
In this article, I aim to articulate the relationship that Luke develops in Acts 19:11-17 between magic and proper Christian miracles. By presenting material and literary evidence of contemporaneous magical practices, I show how well the episode is attuned to the magical-religious context of the tim...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
2025
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| In: |
The catholic biblical quarterly
Year: 2025, Volume: 87, Issue: 1, Pages: 124-142 |
| Further subjects: | B
Miracles
B Magical Papyri B Amulets B Healing B Ephesus B lamellae B Exorcism B name of Jesus B Acts of the Apostles |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | In this article, I aim to articulate the relationship that Luke develops in Acts 19:11-17 between magic and proper Christian miracles. By presenting material and literary evidence of contemporaneous magical practices, I show how well the episode is attuned to the magical-religious context of the time, and this in turn allows a deeper appreciation of the well-crafted literary strategy by which Luke is able to assert the distinctiveness of the Christian experience and its extraordinary efficacy in contrast to all other deviant forms of religious practice. Greek amulets emerge as the closest material comparandum for the first scene (vv. 11-12), especially in the way these objects were conceptualized, made, and used. As for the subsequent narrative (vv. 13-17), I pay particular attention to the use of names in magical and exorcistic texts. Moreover, by juxtaposing the two scenes, Luke suggests that only missionaries who are fully committed to evangelization are able to work wonders and miracles in the name of Jesus. Those who are not in such a position can only fail, even if they are Jews, whose expertise in performing exorcisms was widely known in the early centuries. |
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| ISSN: | 2163-2529 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The catholic biblical quarterly
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1353/cbq.2025.a950620 |